I tried my best to provide information about where everything is from and detail the process, but if you have any questions about anything, please let me know. I’m more than happy to share!
Now let’s get to it!
Home Office Tour
Ryan was pretty laid back about our home office since I’m the one who works out of the space day in and day out. He pretty much stepped back and let me do my thing and while I think it definitely has a feminine feel, I tried not to get too carried away and still keep our office somewhat neutral. We both ended up feeling happy with the end result!
My color inspirations:
- Gray
- Soft mint green
- Yellow
- Hints of white and burlap
The walls in the office were already painted gray when we moved in. I debated painting them a soft mint green color, but in the end I decided to use mint green and yellow as accent colors since painting is a pain and I figured the gray walls offered a great neutral base.
At first I was concerned the room would look boring because the IKEA Hemnes office furniture we already owned was gray. Gray walls + Gray furniture = A lot of gray! Since we didn’t want to replace the furniture, I was committed to getting color into the room in other ways and began with a rug that instantly brightened up the space.
(As you can tell, Sadie followed me around for this whole home office photo shoot. The fact that I was able to snap any photos of the office without her in them is a small miracle.)
I know it may seem silly, but I had the hardest time picking out a rug. I knew I wanted something patterned but not overly modern or bold. Around this same time, I got an email from Wayfair.com offering to send me a few housewarming gifts. Once I started browsing around the site, it became increasingly clear that they have everything. Seriously. It’s kind of overwhelming but I searched for very specific terms and that helped me narrow my search a bit!
Since I was discouraged at the rug options I found in various local home stores, I figured I would turn my search online and searched Wayfair. The 3’6’’ x 5’6’’ Loloi Francesca Mist rug was like a breath of fresh air!
I knew immediately that it would add the perfect pop of soft color to the room and I am so grateful to Wayfair for gifting it to me!
Once I had the rug in place, I found it much easier to decorate the office since my color palette was coming to life. I already had two yellow vases on hand from when I decorated my previous home office in Ocala, so I simply went on a mad search at every HomeGoods I could find to fill in the blanks with more yellow and mint green accents. (The birdcage between the vases was actually used to collect cards at our wedding!)
I found these chairs and the Tainoki end table at HomeGoods in Charlotte and immediately loaded them into my car along with the yellow and mint green pillows.
(Yes, I set it all up in the store to make sure it looked okay before I purchased everything. I am a treat.)
I topped the end table with a Threshold lamp from Target and two candles, including one of my beloved Rewind recycled wine bottle candles in Spiked Cider.
As everything began to come together, I wanted to lighten things up a bit and then went on a mission to find a white chair for the office that was comfortable, functional and not a total eye-sore like most rolling office chairs out there.
Wayfair.com came in handy again and I ended up with the Boss Office Products High Back Caressoft Plus Exective chair that I accented with the Nellary Paisley Pillow (in ash).
Again, thank you so much to Wayfair.com for sending these two finds to me. I love them!
Next up on my home office decoration journey was my printer cart makeover.
I detailed this makeover in a previous post, but it was super simple thanks to a fresh coat of Valspar Color Radiance spray paint I bought at Lowe’s for $5!
I topped the printer cart with a tray I received from my friend Leah as a wedding gift and use it to hold important time-sensitive paperwork (removed from the current photo for privacy) and notepads. I also placed two super-cheap sea glass-colored jars from IKEA on the tray and filled them with pens and pencils.
Underneath the printer cart is a gold bucket that was once my grandparents’ that I filled with a pile of magazines that feature some of my freelance work and blog mentions.
After the cart makeover, I turned my attention to my bookshelf and did my best to strategically place books, mementos, picture frames and baskets on the shelves so it looked somewhat organized.
I added two baskets from my grandmother’s house on the top of the bookshelf which are still not full, but I’m sure I’ll be grateful for the extra storage space eventually.
To the right side of the bookshelf is a basket filled with race medals (topped with Snowball, my favorite childhood stuffed animal because I cannot bear to part with it). To the left is a decorative ceramic garden stool that is now serving as a quirky door stop!
I try my best to keep my desk mostly clear since I am often jotting down notes while working at my computer, but a few things made it onto my desktop, including an old photo of me and Ryan, a cork paper and pen holder (HomeGoods), a candle (placed in an IKEA dish), decorative mint vase (HomeGoods) and a pad of paper.
(And yes, you better believe I shoved some paperwork in a drawer before snapping these pics. A clean desktop is nice but oftentimes not entirely realistic.)
I also added a small glass dish I bought at IKEA and filled it with things I use every day: Hand lotion, lip balm and matches to light candles.
On the wall to the left of my desk is a picture of a flower from IKEA that I previously had hung in my old home office and a framed piece of burlap fabric that will serve as a dry-erase board featuring daily to-do lists.
The last project was, without a doubt, the most daunting.
The gallery wall!
I knew I wanted a gallery wall somewhere in our house and the office seemed like the perfect place. I wasn’t really sure where to begin, so I turned to Pinterest for some inspiration and quickly found myself gravitating toward a more uniform look with matching frames.
I’ll be sure to detail the entire gallery wall process in a separate post since I’ve receive a bunch of questions about it, but I love having so many fun pictures and memories hanging right above my desk. (All of the frames are from IKEA.)
And that’s it! I hope you enjoyed this little peek into our new home!
Up next: The kitchen!
***
Disclaimer: As stated above, Wayfair.com gifted me the items mentioned from their site but everything else was purchased by me. Affiliate links are included in this post that directly link to some of the items featured. As always, thank you so much for your support!
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Looks great! Definitely a good move by Ryan to be “laid back” about your decorating. By the way…we ran your jumprope circuit today in our PE classes. Have a good one!
Yay!! So excited to hear this! And I owe you an email!
I love how much natural sunlight you have in your office!! Love all of those big windows and your taste in decor is so chic! Love everything!
Lately, I’ve been daydreaming of a life outside of New York City — with a house and a yard and nature and all those things — your home posts aren’t going to help. But keep them coming I love them!
The big windows, wall color and white molding is all amazing.
Right? It’s like a real home! haha, living in San Francisco, I don’t know anyone who has such a homey looking place with a yard. This would be like multiple millions of dollars here 🙁
Ooooh I love your style! This all looks so good!
The white office chair makes the room. I love it! Great work. It must be awesome to be settled in to your new permanent home.
So elegant, and yet youthful.
I love your style, and am also obsessed with the sea glass color-palette.
I love it! SO cute (:
Where’s the cow painting? I loved it! hehe
I love love the windows in your office. We have floor to ceiling windows in our living room and they are what sold me on the house. Of course there isn’t a room in our place that is as adorable and put together as your office! It looks fantastic!
The pig? Haha! I haven’t found a place for it yet to hang in all of its glory, but I am determined! I love that thing. 🙂
Bah, yes the pig. Is it Friday yet? 🙂
your office is stunning! i love the photo wall!
Love how the photo wall turned out! I spy 10.30.10…which would make today your anniversary?!!!!!! 🙂
It is! Celebrating four years!! 🙂
Congratulations!!! that’s so exciting!
Congrats! Do you have fun plans?!
I can’t believe you spotted that. Nice eye, haha!
I love your office! The colors are amazing!!!
Ahh this looks amazing! My hubby and I are moving in the next month and I will def. bookmark this post for some inspiration! I love the photo gallery, esp the pic of Sadie, ha!
I’m in love with that bay window and the gorgeous fall colors in the background! I would be there 24/7 reading with a warm mug of hot chocolate.
I love your blog and have been following for a while. I don’t usually comment, but today I decided to change that :). Your office looks like something out of a magazine! My husband and I have slowly been trying to redo our house as well and look forward to your future post for inspiration.
This is so sweet! Thank you and thanks so much for commenting!
Love the colors! Where did you get the desk? Simple, yet serves its purpose!
IKEA!
I love the windows and warm sunshine yellow in this room. You did a good job in making the space feel uncluttered, but still friendly and cozy. Looks great!
Oh wow it’s gorgeous! LOVE the colour scheme!!! Can’t wait to see more of the new house!
It came out great! I love the colors 🙂
Oh, I love it! Such a Pinterest looking home office 🙂 Great job and happy anniversary!
Good job! The room looks so soft and inviting. Just one suggestion, the rug is too teeny for that size of room. If you search for some tips on rug size I think you’ll see the consensus is to go a bit larger. If moving around on the chair is your concern you could try sliding the rug closer to the window to sort of frame your seating vignette there. Also, I could be talking out of my butt, I’m no interior designer.
Julie – LOVE your home office! Can’t wait to see the rest of your house! 🙂
Oh my gosh I LOVE it! It’s practical and clean, but still so fresh and cheerful. What an inspiring work space! 🙂
Thanks for this post, Julie! I’ve been in my new apartment for about 3 months now and have barely made any dents in my decorating. I really liked your color scheme and you reminded me about how awesome Wayfair.com is. Can’t wait to read your post on the gallery wall!
This post seriously sums up why I love your blog so much. You’re so inspiring! I’ve been wanting to make myself a work space in my tiny apartment bedroom and this has totally motivated me to get on that!
I love love the love the gallery wall! I I have been wanting a gallery wall but to scared to try It. I also love love how you decorated decorated your office with every day price points and not over priced things just for an endorsement. Great work, beautiful workable ever day office.
Thank you!!
We have the same UCF mousepad:) Go knights!
Love the new office! Must be great to be getting settled in your new house. 🙂
Your house looks beautiful. I love the bay windows and molding. Congrats!!
Love it! Can’t wait to see the rest of your beautiful home! Thanks for sharing!
Nooooot that you asked for any input, but I think if you put the 4th frame the is off center from the other 3 (2nd to last row on the left) & centered it in a straight line with the other 3, and then took the highest frame & brought it down to the left side and put it over the other frame that’s the same size & centered those two the wall would look more balanced. It looks great if you left it alone though! I’ve just done a-many of gallery walls & thought I would give my (unsolicited) 2 cents ;).
OMG can you be my interior decorator???? I LOVEEEEEE your office! It’s literally perfect!
Julie'”…your office looks great!!!!…the palette of colors are so wonderfully put together and even when I don’t have a home office, you just gave me very good ideas for storage in my small apartment…can’t wait to see the kitchen!! 🙂
Wow! I am seriously impressed with your eye for detail and color! How do you feel about being hired by me for whenever I design my own house, haha? You did great! I am so daunted, but you inspired me!
Love the office! the only thing is that the rug looks waaaaay to small for that room. It’s just kind of sitting in the middle with no purpose. I’d order it in a bigger size if they have it!
Wow! Looks fantastic!
The office looks so cozy! I love the color choices and can totally relate to the rug struggles. I’ve never thought to look at Wayfair though! Thanks for the decorating tips!!
It’s so gorgeous! I love your decorating style – it’s the perfect mix of modern and not-as-modern, and has a beautiful balance of colors and neutrals. Perfection.
This is gorgeous! I saved this post for later because when we move I want to steal some of your ideas and color schemes!
Looks great! I love the colour scheme you went with – very inviting…makes you want to be in there and actually work;)
It looks awesome!! I dream about a gallery wall some day! I can’t wait to read your post as it seems intimidating! 🙂
Absolutely gorgeous! Great job!
Your office looks amazing! I love the color scheme. I am terrible at picking colors and decorating. Cant wait to hear about the kitchen and that gallery wall. When I get a house, I definitely want to have a gallery wall.
I’m loving that open window with the natural light streaming in!! What a perfect office space! The colors work really well together too. Great job on the new office Julie! 🙂
This office is adorable!! And it seems to resemble the color scheme of your blog design. <3 Too perfect. Great job decorating, Julie! Oh… and Happy Anniversary! xo
Wow! What a beautiful, refreshing space. I love your color choices. How fun to decorate a whole room almost entirely for YOU! That’s one thing about being married (not that I would trade it!)–all our rooms are for “us” or, now, for the baby. It’s a challenge to find somewhat neutral stuff. Can’t wait to see the kitchen!!!
Oh, and happy anniversary!
You did a fabulous job! Everything looks AMAZING. Also, can we talk about how awesome that full-length window is? Seriously!!
That looks very pretty!
Those colors! Love everything about this beautiful office!
OMG I love it!! Great work, Julie!
I just impulse bought that exact desk chair! Found it on Amazon Prime for a bit cheaper even, hope the white stays clean!