Can I share a small office with my husband?

April 4, 2022 Caroline Dilbeck

Sharing all the details for our small office design including debates, priorities, inspiration images, a design board and storage solutions. Come see all the different versions and where we landed. I can’t wait to hear what y’all think!

When we bought our mid-century ranch home, there was no office. This was a deal breaker for Ty who works full time from home. We knew that putting up 4 walls for an office space was a must. Before we even moved in, we worked with a local contractor to build out a small 7’ x 10’ office space in our exisiting playroom. We even made sure it had sound proofing and a solid wood door for optimal working environment (something we didn’t do in our last office makeover!).

Ty was not picky when it came to the office. He wanted four walls and a place to put his desk. And thats literally all he got. We put up a folding table after the office was built and called it a day. But we knew that long term, we wanted to do some sort of built in. With the lead times on everything being super long, we decided to work with a local company to have a build out like the first image from LeClair Decor. I love the storage and it works well in this small space so I figured it would work well in ours too.

At the same time, we were working on the install and design of our pantry with Inspired Closets. Since installing the additional kitchen cabinets, we have so much space! And since paying for many other things that come with buying a new house, we decided that we could pause on the office built ins for now. But Ty didn’t want to be on a fold out table indefinitely. Can you blame him?

INSPIRATION: AN IKEA HACK

Meanwhile, I saw some really cool Ikea hacks (I loved doing Tommy’s look for less green dresser in his toddler room) on Pinterest. The more I got to thinking about the cost of the built ins, the lead time, and our needs now that we have a large built in in our dining area, the more I thought we might need to pivot.

I’ll admit that the final plan has far less storage than the original. But there is room for two, a great landing spot for both of computers, room for a family calendar and command station (something I really missed from our old home), and drawers for storage. I also love the idea that as the boys grow there is a spot for each of them. We know that if we stay in this house longer term, we may consider a dettached garage with office above so this plan really does align more with our phase one plans. Anyhow….

I get a lot of questions about my design and organizing process so I’m hoping to give some insight into that here (albeit long winded). If you want to skip to the final design plan, just keep scrolling!

CURRENT OFFICE

SOMETHING IN COMMON

Through all of my pinterest pins for the office, there was the common thread of these Alex base cabinets (similar) from Ikea and a some sort of wood top. I began looking into what that would look like in our office. I really wanted to retain the built in look even though we were going to hack it together ourselves. When I saw this gorgeous office from Hemma Interiors, I realized we could do the same thing in our office.

Now that I had a real vision for the space, I could start to make some real design choices, measure and pick out materials. I consulted my brother in law who is an expert woodworker to figure out where we could find a piece long enough to support our 125.5” wall (most butcher block comes in 72, 98, and 120). Not to mention, with only 8’ ceilings I had to actually be able to get it in the room. I shared some more of these inspiration images and he sent over some great options from Lowes (I’ll share our supply list at the end of this post).

THE FINAL DESIGN PLAN

Here’s what we are planning to do as you can see:

Two matching his and hers desk spaces
White drawer bases with a butcher block floating wood desktop
Leather Desk chairs
Black modern lamps
White floating shelves (like the original inspiration picture)
Lichen Green Paint by Farrow and Ball (still debating on this!)
Acrylic family calendar on my side of the office

What do you think? Do you think we will be able to pull off this Ikea Hack?