How to Create a Chic Home Office on a Budget

Are you ready to learn how to create a chic home office space? COVID-19 has changed the way we work. Many like myself are now working from home. We had to adjust our homes to accommodate a work environment. Working on the bed or dining room table is not very productive. You need a space that looks and feels like an office to get you in the right state of mind. In this post, I will show you how I created a small office space in my one bedroom apartment on a budget. I ordered and created this home office space within 2 weeks!

: Before

: After

PLANNING & DESIGNING YOUR OFFICE SPACE

Creating home office space requires some planning, creativity and sacrifice. With living in a small apartment, our options were limited but we were able to do. However the sacrifice it required was getting rid of some furniture.

Our apartment has a living room, dining room and sunroom that we used as a second living room. We basically had to convert the 2nd living room into the office space. This required us to get rid of a sofa which was already old and my favorite white coffee table. I actually gave it to my mom for safe keeping when I do move.

One of the first things to think about when it comes to where to set up an office is where is there less traffic and less noise. In this new world, we are video conferencing a lot. The last thing your coworkers needs is to constantly hear doors opening and closing and dishes being washed. Prior to COVID, we had moved the dining room to the sunroom which is closest to the window and furthest from the kitchen. Due to the noise level, I could not set up my office in the room next to the kitchen. So I switched the dining room back next to the kitchen and the office near the window.

That brings me to the next point of consideration – lighting. Also due to video conferencing, you want the best lighting as possible. So setting up near a window is great so that way you can be seen clearly. In regards to positioning your desk you want to look for clean walls, preferably two walls including one with a window.

For a more professional background, have your desk facing away from the way where you back is towards the wall. Some people may want to face the wall with all the pretty frames and bookshelves but that would mean there would be open space in camera view. Perhaps where you spouse or kids could walk behind it. That prevents any embarrassing “video bombs” that we have seen on the news.

WHERE TO SHOP OFFICE FURNITURE

One of my favorite places to shop for chic inexpensive furniture is on Wayfair! I have bought quite a few things from Wayfair furniture wise over the years and they all have been great purchases. With my small space, I wanted a desk that could be converted and made smaller. I did not know if such a desk existed but I started searching for one and found it.

I ordered an L shaped desk that can be converted in 3 ways. It was the perfect size for the space that already had my bar and my bunny house in. It came in 3 colors: white, black and beige/oak. I wanted white because it was part of my color scheme was going for. This desk was also under $200 which was perfect for my budget. This desk also comes with two shelves or cubbies for books and long shelfing for a phone, printer and any other office items you may need for your desk. FYI the desk does fit a monitor and a keyboard if you do not have a laptop.

I did have to do a minor tweak to the desk when it came in. There are two poles on the desk that was an dull gray color. I had gold metallic foil streamer and wrapped the pole with it which really spiced up the desk. It looks even better and more expensive. Also the white cord you see in one of the photo below is a cable organizer. You can fit multiple cords or cables in one organized fashion. Also if you pets that like to chew on cords, this protects them as well.

: Cable organizer & desk with computer monitors

: Desk in L Shape

: Desk in condensed shape

Next, I needed a desk chair that swiveled, reclined and was very soft for my back. I found the perfect desk chair also at Wayfair that was under $120. I bought it in white but also comes in black and red too. There is a version that costs a little bit more if you wanted arm handles. I did not buy it because I wanted to save money and liked the look of the chair without them. However the chair that you get has the functionality to add those arms if you want them.

So you have your “9-5 furniture set up” so then you could set up your “after 5 furniture” as well! No more work happy hours due to the pandemic so you have to make your own drink! I love my contemporary style bar which I bought from Amazon, but you can also find it on Wayfair. I believe Amazon is cheaper. I added under cabinet lights from Ikea too that changes colors, remains stationary for blinks into different colors. You can also buy a drink maker if you are not into making your own drinks.

ADDING OFFICE DECOR & ACCESSORIES

With my office space, I knew I wanted it girly and so the color scheme is white, pink and gold. I found the cutest gold office accessories from both Target and Amazon. What is great is that they are both the same shade of gold which can be hard to match up at times. Anyone can get a traditional black stapler and pen holder but having a shiny gold one steps things up a notch. There is also a gold scissor with stand that I would like to add too!

I also added some white vases with small purple flowers from IKEA (link is below) as well as faux pink wisteria flowers. When I had my work computer, I had a lot of additional equipment pieces, which changed the whole look and feel of my office space. To keep the extra things hidden, I put them in a show box and covered it with pink wisteria flowers which camouflaged it.

I also wanted to some chic photo frames and found the cutest ones from an Etsy seller. She was able to customize the color and swap out prints for my taste. The gold frames I was able to find at IKEA and the Etsy seller made sure the prints out be able to print to the size and be clear. I went to FedEX Kinkos and printed all 3 large prints for $3.50. Don’t order prints online or else it is super expensive. The final touch to my desk was my gold and purple amethyst drink coaster! I bought an Etsy seller as well and she has different colors.

I hope that this gives you inspiration on how to create or redecorate your home office space to make it super chic! Stay tuned for more home decor posts!