Diary of a Home Office Makeover: Part 1

I tend to rearrange furniture when the seasons change and have noticed a new trend that goes along with rearranging---purging. This year, I started my purging early. Before summer actually began, I decided to do a huge overhaul in my home office. My home office is more than just a desk and some files: it's where I work full-time and where I create, blog, paint, etc. Continue reading to learn about what's in store for my office makeover and how I've accomplished the first part of this process: purging.

Ugh, those sliding doors on the closet … you know the kind: those fake wood doors every apartment has that never seem to slide properly and come off track. I was at my wit’s end with these doors and finally decided to dismantle them, stowing them away to never be seen again.

I’ve been digging spaces where a small home office is placed in a closet, so I moved my vintage tanker desk in there. Of course, this meant I had to stop being polite and start getting real with my craft/decor stash.

I moved most of the stash out of the closet and went on a purging mission. Anything I hadn’t used in at least 6 months went into a pile to donate or pitch. This is the preliminary 9-5 workspace. I’m still working on some decor tweaks:

Once my purging was finalized, I set to work on how to organize all my items. I bought lots of boxes and sorted out all kinds of things like beads, tape, hardware, ribbon, etc. Again, I went through these items, taking out anything I hadn’t used. Even things I had hopes for at one time went into the donate/trash pile.

The warm weather meant I could finally get to spray-painting, so I painted a dark gray IKEA Lerberg shelf to match the others. The symmetry of the shelves helps to give a sense of order to the room.

I also decided that if when I have a hankering for new decor or projects, I must first give something up. I’ve heard about this method being used for clothing and so far, it’s worked great for my creative workspace. It felt so good to make several trips to the dumpster and pile up a bin full of goodies for the thrift store.

To further help with organizing, I took two of my Expedit bookshelves from my living room and moved them into the office.

I’m still working on my office makeover, but the hard part is over. Now, I’m plugging away at Part 2: decorating (which is way more fun). This involves creating a cohesive color scheme and giving this room flair that it previously lacked.

Previously, the office had touches of tropical decor, but I’ve changed that up a bit or Part 2. The peacock is the new muse:

Stay tuned for more details as I continue forth!

Do you like to purge? What are your favorite tips for purging?

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