If you’ve been following along for awhile, you know we live in a 1200 square foot house with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Sounds spacious, and it is until you realize you have no storage space and no basement (only a crawlspace). Of course you all know that babies and toddler come with a lot of, well, stuff. So begins the story of ‘Operation Deconstruct the Office and Create a Playroom’.
And then we found out we were having a second baby. So ‘Office into Playroom’ became ‘Office into Big Girl Bedroom’ for Elliot. Regardless, I had a vision of our large storage closet becoming a micro office to make better use of space, but we had a long ways to go to get there.
Cue the current state of the ‘Closet Office’.
Yep, that’s a mini freezer in there. Ample space to work with and it had become a catch-all-closet for our junk. After a serious purge and a reorganization, I had my blank canvas to get to work.
Giving the walls a fresh coat of paint is always the way to get started and an inexpensive way to freshen up the space. I used Beauty-Tone Designer Series Paint & Primer in One from Richardson’s Home Hardware. The colour is the same I’ve used throughout the house: ‘Smooth Operator’ (DR29-1).
The existing shelving I spray painted with a RUST-OLEUM Flat Black and a finishing coat of RUST-OLEUM Semi-Gloss Clear to help with wear and tear. The new ‘desk’ was a piece of laminated pine panel cut to size and stained with Varathane Dark Walnut before being screwed down to the newly installed frame.
My favourite – and least favourite – part of the project was the wallpaper. I envisioned a wallpaper accent wall and knew I wanted to tackle it. I thought as a first timer this small wall space would be perfect to get the practice in. Note wallpaper is not for the faint of heart. Thank goodness I was doing this pregnant or else I would have drank an entire bottle of wine by the time it was done! This Zen Abstract Design wallpaper from Etsy was by far the most expensive part of the project, but I’m super happy with the results for a first time install. And of course to tidy up the loose ends I always use caulking on the seams.
Another first for me was changing a light fixture! A couple of quick questions for my go-to electrician and I was able to put up this Light Fixture I ordered through Home Hardware.
The majority of storage pieces I just shifted over from the original office, of course really downsizing due to space. The purge of clutter always feels good. And a cute final touch of the Acrylic Calendar and Acrylic Wall Organizers as well as the Green Faux Leather Chair really finished off the new space!
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