- Oct 19, 2020

Boho-Chic Office/Sewing/Creative Space Makeover! (Promo codes included at end)

I have a ROOM OF MY OWN and I love it ya'll!

When you share darn near everything in marriage, having your own space to exercise your decor autonomy is one of God's greatest gifts - Yes Lordt!! 😇 Put that on a T-shirt.

COVID-19 has pushed us all to get to know our homes a bit, for better or worse. Outside of the jungle that is, or was, our backyard (check the Blog post for our grass seeding project) this is the first major interior room project we've done thus far, and it was a much-welcomed change of pace, saving my skin from those ruthless mosquitoes - just a bumpy mess ya'll *eye roll*. But back to the topic, working from home full-time and starting this blog reminded me of the importance and urgency of having a space for all of my boredom preventing activities. The couch, kitchen counter, and a random folding table just weren't doing the trick for a girl with so many dreams, so I took NO TIME to dig right in!

(Befores)

The feeling I had with developing this space brought me back to when I was living at my mom's house growing up, when she was doing home renovations that involved transitioning our small living room into an additional bedroom. I gave this woman all the bids I could for that space so that I could move out of the 3-person bed bunk situation I was in with my two younger sisters - was over it and done. Even back then I was trying to live my best room life! Just so you know, when I finally got that room, I painted the walls lavender - a perfectly appropriate 11-year-old color choice that definitely shook my white/beige wall color-loving mom's nerves at first - she survived and learned to love it lol. This time around, I wasn't dealing with a bedroom upgrade, but rather a more adult-ish improvement - renovating my office and creative space!

(Slide through for shopping ventures at IKEA!)

Project Breakdown!

Room Purpose - serve as space for:

1) 9-5 job

2) Blog

3) Sewing and craft room

Theme:

Boho-chic. The 3 points above to me sing bright, white, and fun! Creative spaces have to be light enough to encourage thought and imagination, but fun enough to inspire and bring that homey element - which for me translates to whites and bold colors! Thus, the boho-chic design style was calling my name!

Design:

Open. I really wasn't sure at first how to design this space as an office, sewing room, and guestroom, so I perused Pinterest and sat silently in the space to try to physically feel the design I needed. After some thought, an open concept seemed to hit the nail on the head. Using tons of wall space for a long desk for work and sewing, a display area for my crafts, a spot to sit and relax, and a tv for sanity seemed to provide the setup I was seeking. ✨

Projects - "What are thooose!?!":

Desk

The desk was from IKEA and unfortunately when I went shopping for office stuff, so did the rest of the country, so things weren't available per usual. The Linnmon desk I originally wanted was sold out in the size I needed, so I bought two Pahl desks in 50" and 30", combining them to make a roughly 80" long desk. The Pahl desk is actually for kids in that the legs are made to be adjustable for growing little ones. My DIYer mind kicked in and decided to buy different legs to make it work for me - this required drilling of new holes in the desk top to fit the legs I bought.

I also used IKEA's Alex drawer and installed my own drawer pulls to boost the look.

TIPS: Need drill for creating holes in both the desk top and drawer and optionally for screwing the legs in.

(Slide through for desk build)

Floating shelves

If you're not familiar with power tools you'll need to be for this one - a drill, stud finder, wall anchors, and a level to make sure things are sturdy and balanced will get you through this job.

TIPS: Use a stud finder to determine the types of screws and anchors needed to mount shelves. Each house/building is different, some are made with concrete bones, others with wood (most homes), so find out the material that's in your walls. If wood, use a stud finder (red tool in pic) to locate the wood studs, and if your shelves need to be mounted ontop of a stud location use wall anchors for wood studs.

(Shelf install)

Wallpaper (removable/peel and stick)

Peel and stick wallpaper is THE BEST OMG! I loved how easy it was to install - it was like

placing a sticker on the wall that removed cleanly when needed, and believe I needed to every now again as a rookie installer - goals!🙌🏽

TIPS: Use a wallpaper smoothing tool to apply. The paper I used was very pattern heavy which made it hard to align while applying, so I had to get creative with spacing and cutting around patterns to make it all fit as best a possible - it wasn't perfect (there are some spaces between sheets on the wall in order to make sure it all looks aligned from afar, but it really turned out great.)

(Removable wallpaper install)

Cabinets with lights

I wanted a shelf for books and office supplies but also for displaying my crafts - the IKEA cabinets were perfect for this and the lights made it even more so - they also helped provide lighting to this room, which the room lacks .

TIPS: Just buy the lights - game changer. No major power tools required.

(Slide through for cabinet w/lights set-up)

✨The Reveal!✨

(Use promo code "Liv10" for 10% off African map rug)

✨Bed Addition Update!✨

A month later I updated this room to serve as a guest bedroom when my sisters visited. I had a couple of days to find a mattress for this room, so I hit up good old reliable Amazon to order a queen mattress and box spring.