The Office Nook Reveal

Waaayy back sometime last year, I started working on this office nook. I'm not fast when it comes to makeovers, but that is okay. I like to take my time, find good deals, and really think things through as far as how we use the space.

This is not the most stylish, up-to-date office nook, but it is very functional, practical, and realistic for our family. I'm good with that!

This little space is between our den and kitchen area. Do you see that counter on the right? It became a MAJOR dumping ground for anything and everything that comes into this house. Mail, papers, bags, groceries, random toys, everything! My goal has been to make  homes for these items so that things can easily be put away. They still generally land on the counter, but they don't normally stay there for too long.

This is where this space started. The desk was the same, and I had a nice gallery wall, but there wasn't much useful storage.

This was still way back in September of last year. I had added a new shelf system, but was taking my time when it came to adding containers.

I ended up painting the round hat boxes because the shape and size worked really well for what I am storing in them. The white boxes are just inexpensive photo boxes from Micheal's, and the black boxes are document boxes that I picked up on clearance at Target.

My favorite additions to the space are the things we added to the wall. The shelf above the desk was a scrap piece of plywood that I stained, and then mounted with cheap L brackets that I spray painted gold. I probably have $5 in that shelf. I re-purposed the clothespin memo board that I made and turned it into a bulletin board. I hated to take the other board apart, but I need something that faced the other direction. The wall files have been the perfect solution to keeping the paper clutter off of the kitchen counter.

I'm sure that I will continue to tweak this space some, but for the most part it is done. Sometimes I miss having a room dedicated to an office space, but really, I think having everything very handy is more practical for us right now. What about you? Do you have a dedicated office space in your home or do you have a small office nook tucked in a corner somewhere?

I will be linking this post to these blog parties:

What You Wish Wednesday
It's Overflowing
Enchanting Inspiration - House by Hoff
Liz Marie Blog
House of Rose
Blissfully Ever After
Love of Home and Family

Making Home Base
Design, Dining + Diapers
Hit Me Me With Your Best Shot
Creative Ways - Posed Perfection
Creative Spark - My Paper Craze  
I Heart Organizing - Monthly Organizing Challenge
House by Hoff - Get Your DIY On 

Slime + Office Nook Progress

Okay, I could have been a little more creative with the title, but this is what you get.

My boys came across a YouTube Video on making SLIME several months ago. I decided we would turn it into a play date homeschool science experiment, and invite some other kids/moms from our Mom's Meetup Group. You know, because making slime with a bunch of boys sounded more fun than just two!

I, of course, turned to Pinterest when it came time to decide on a recipe for said slime. I finally landed on this one, from Little Bit Funky. The recipe worked great, and we had success with both the clear glue and the regular white glue.  I think it's safe to say that all of the boys had fun, but I know for sure that mine had a blast. I am still picking up little pieces of slime from the floor, but that is only because Henry thought it would be fun to throw it, so it kind of exploded into little pieces.

 

I was a bad mommy and didn't get a group picture of everyone with their slime, but I did have my boys pose for a quick pic.

I think they were aggravated that I made them look away from the slime to look at me.

In other news, I have made some progress with the office nook. Before you look at this and wonder if progress has really been made, please know that this is real time. I have a real (small) budget, and haven't had a ton of time to work on this. I am also really trying to think through all of my decisions to make sure that it REALLY functions well. I will eventually get to the pretty part.

 This is where we started. You can read the details here about how I needed to add some more functional storage.

The first thing we did was unplug everything and untangle all of the messy wires. There are still a lot of visible wires, but we aren't done yet. We moved the tower to the other side of the desk, and then added this ClosetMaid Cubeicals Cube Organizer from Target. The size and price were right.

I am still trying to decide what containers I want to use. I originally wanted to use some from Thirty-One ( they are the perfect shape, color, and size for the cubes), but I decided that I needed something smaller so that the items could be more organized. This shelf is holding a lot of stuff, and smaller, more specific categories are going to work better. So, the search continues.

I did just win a $50 gift card from Staples via Two Twenty One. I plan to use it to help me finish up the little project. We don't have a Staples locally, but this will be a good reason to finally get my hands on some of the Martha Stewart Home Office with Avery items that I keep seeing everyone use.

 Do you have any items from her line that are a must? Do tell.

An Office Nook - The Beginning

 

When we moved into this house a few years ago, we had no idea what we were going to to with this odd space that was between the den and kitchen.  We talked about using the playroom as an office/playroom, but that didn't seem just right. We finally decided that this would make a great little office nook, I'm really not sure what else we could have done with it. I have to say that this space looks better in pics than it does in person.  We have a desktop computer that has a TON of wires. I have tried all different things next to the desk to try to hide the wires, power strip, huge tower, etc. This space has always just seemed off to me, but I wasn't really sure how to make it better. Sure, a new family laptop would be GREAT, but my husband really seems to prefer a desktop. Right now, this is the computer that we are working with.

The other thing that I am hoping to address with changing the space up some, is to add more practical storage for our stuff. We homeschool, I'm an Independent Consultant for Thirty-One, and we have all of your normal household type stuff to deal with. We have storage for these things, but it is a little too scattered. I am hoping to find a more central place for all of these things. 

I do have to say that this space has improved from where it started originally. 

Yikes! That was a sad attempt at a gallery wall, and a really bad picture. I am still learning my new camera and have a ways to go, but thankfully I am making progress.

Do you have a room in your home that is a dedicated office, or have you carved out an office nook somewhere in your home? 

Stay tuned. This is a real time project, so it will be a few days before I can show you the progress.