Today I’m sharing my modern farmhouse office, including before and after pics and all the details of how we transformed this space into my ultimate home office!
One of the perks from working from home? Getting to design and finish my home office! This was a long process (that still isn’t totally complete) but it was so much fun as this is the first room in our home to be updated, and I couldn’t wait any longer to share with you guys! Also because I’m trying to become an advocate for the Chris Loves Julia way of thinking – love and share your home throughout the whole process, instead of waiting for everything to be complete and perfect (because when is a home ever complete right?!).
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before
So far the home office has been the biggest structural change to our homes layout. This room was originally the dining room for the previous owners, and you can see the lovely chandelier they had up in the second picture below.
We didn’t like this space as a dining room – it didn’t feel grand enough. If you check out our before walkthrough of Two Lakes Lodge, you can note that we have a second room on the first floor with a grand vaulted ceiling, which made much more sense to us for the dining room than the current setup. So we walled off the office on both sides, threw in a double door (which I envision to be glass doors with iron frames one day. . . soon?), and plan to turn the small pass through hallway that was between the former dining room and kitchen into a walk-in butler’s pantry. This all makes so much more sense for our family, and I think it’s really important to find these types of ways to make a home work for you.
after
I knew I wanted to put built-in shelving across the whole back wall, and luckily I have both a handy husband and father who worked together to create this amazing masterpiece! I love having all this storage and being able to display all my books and knick-knacks. (Anyone else hate that word? What’s a better word? Tell me below please 😀 ).
We picked up this amazing vintage wooden desk from an estate sale last year, which I’m absolutely in love with. My husband and I lugged it out of the house where the sale was happening and got it into our truck, and as we were exiting the driveway, we had an elderly couple who were hanging out with some friends on the sidewalk stop us and ask us about the desk. The man said that it had been his desk, and that he had initially used it in his college days at Harvard back many decades before! I love hearing a good story behind a piece of furniture, and I love that I get to continue to keep this history alive every day. We sanded and stripped the desk and then I ended up liking the wood color so much that we just sealed it, instead of staining it first. I then chose to add a glass top to it as well, to give it a more modern vibe. Pairing it with a brown leather chair completed the look!
Another great vintage item I love in this office is these car prints. My parents found them in my grandparents house when they were cleaning it out many years ago, and being as my husband is a car aficionado, they gifted them to him a few Christmas’s ago. When we moved into the new house, I wasn’t sure where to put these pieces, and he suggested trying the office. I updated the frames to maximize their presence in the space, and I just love how they turned out!
Our last few finishing touches will be mostly electrical work, as we have to install a flush mount chandelier and also install another electrical outlet in the floor for all of my desk “stuff” to plug into, so that we don’t have cords extending out over the floor anymore. Eventually, we will replace the double doors with some beautiful iron and glass ones, and put in hardwood floors with an area rug (when we do the rest of the first floor floors as well). I think wooden flooring would look great with this room!
Now it’s your turn: what’s your favorite element of our home office? Which part would you change? Share with me below!