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Today, I'm back with a third, and mostly final, update to our home office. I've now been working here for almost the entirety of AndSheWrites existence, and I've updated you twice before on its progress, here and here.
This office began as a blank slate--just wood floors, four walls and a kallax shelf from Ikea! We now have a large Burke Decor desk (found gently used on Facebook Marketplace), a pretty chair, a statement floor lamp, Young House Love's "magic" rug, a tiny side table and ottoman, a DIY credenza and the XL 1Canoe2 calendar. We moved a woven chair and some artwork from other rooms in our home, and the office feels pretty complete these days.
Our DIY Credenza
The biggest update since my last office post is definitely the credenza. One side holds kids' art materials and STEM kits, and the other houses paper, documents and other office materials.
As I mentioned, I'd been looking for a white credenza for a while, but they were hard to find (almost all had a chippy/shabby chic look) and very expensive. My husband stumbled across a credenza project made from two unfinished upper kitchen cabinets and a board. These items were easy to find at the hardware store, and gave us 72" of storage across the back wall for under $300!
We painted the cabinets to match the trim in the rest of the room, and stained the top board to match the desk. We've found that Varathane Briarsmoke is a pretty close match to its finish, and the two now look pretty cohesive in the space. It was really just a weekend project, and did not require significant carpentry skills.
Materials
- two 36" wall cabinets, unfinished
- pine board, cut to size for top of cabinets
- semi-gloss latex paint, 2-3 coats applied to cabinets with a mini roller and brush
- wood conditioner, applied to the top board
- wood stain, applied in your preferred finish to the top board
- 4 knobs (optional), we haven't decided!
- screws and scrap wood (to connect the two wall cabinets and secure the top board)
What Next?
I don't love the chair in here, and will eventually purchase something a little brighter and cozier, but I'm in no hurry. Adding this darker chair to the space helped me realize that I don't really want any additional brown in the space, so a leather club chair is no longer on my wishlist! We're also hoping to add shutters to our main level windows in the next year, so that will also add a bit of polish to the room.
As I begin dividing my time more and more between my home office and work, this space will likely get a little less use. However, the natural light and large desk have made it my favorite place to work, and I'm grateful for the attention we've given this room over the last year!
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