Can I see your home office?

[Captain Catnip]

Bonus if it's small. We have a 10x10 room that right now, has just collected junk mostly. There is an old giant bean bag in it and a beat up Ikea Poang (sp?) chair. We never needed a home office but now I have a job where I work from home some as well as a side gig that an office would be nice for. I need ideas, though. I am hoping to do it pretty budget conscious and from second hand shops if I'm lucky, at least to start. Ignore the numbers on the image, it is appx placement of doors and windows in case anyone has suggestions.

Edit : the closet has the litter box in it.

[namasteak]

I’ll take some tomorrow but DHs is a 6ft wide x 12ft long former closet. It’s totally doable!

[InBetweenDays]

I think ours is 12x12. And needs to be decluttered 

[omglol]

I am literally redoing mine as we speak!

I need a full time standing desk because sitting hurts my back. We got a countertop in the returns area at ikea for like $75, plus some bookcases to put it across. You could do something shorter if you want a sitting desk. It takes up as much space as you want it to! I loosely based it on something like this:

[pumpkin]

My WAH area is a little corner in my guest room. But I was going to say that I got a great sit/stand desk and office chair off Craig’s List from a local company that was getting rid of some stuff for less than half what they would have been new. And they were in great condition.

[pixy0stix]

You want to see my folding table in the corner of my sunroom? LOL!

[twinmomma]

My home office is tiny. I have two sets of 3x3 cube shelves next to each other along one wall, behind my desk. It's like fake, cheap built in bookshelves. My desk floats mid-room in front of the shelves so that I look out the window and have a nice wall behind me for all the zoom calls I'm on. Small upholstered chair in the corner opposite my desk. And along another wall is a set of wooden cubbies for kid backpacks.

[rosiebear]

Jan 2, 2022 20:29:15 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

You want to see my folding table in the corner of my sunroom? LOL!

Lol. Here is a picture of my kitchen table!

[isabel]

My office is 8x10 (not including the closet). DH’s is 9x11 (no closet).

Mine is the white walls. I’ve got an L-shaped desk with a standing desk topper, Poang chair, and a rowing machine. The rest of the floor space is open.

DH’s is the blue walls. His is a lot more “put together” because we just built this space in our basement and were able to have it painted and stuff. He’s got the same L-shaped desk and standing topper, plus a small couch, bookshelf, and his keyboard.

10x10 is a great size for an office. You should be fine to do pretty much whatever you like.

[spindle92]

Did you all clean your desks before taking these pictures because mine looks like a damn bomb went off with all the shit I need to go thru and keep putting off.

[dancingirl21]

Deleted. I realized there are some pretty identifying things in my picture.

[isabel]

Jan 2, 2022 21:42:31 GMT -5 spindle92 said:

Did you all clean your desks before taking these pictures because mine looks like a damn bomb went off with all the shit I need to go thru and keep putting off.

I cleaned up my desk on my last workday before Christmas and haven't used it much since. It's a lot tidier right now than normal. lol

[SusanBAnthony]

Spin-off: does anyone have a combined guest room/office? Is there a way to not have it be cramped? We have a ~12x12 bedroom that has a tall bookshelf, a queen bed with two tiny bedside tables, and a desk. It feels so cramped. I would love to have a Murphy bed but haven't ever heard of a reasonably priced one.

[Captain Catnip]

Thank you!!

[isabel]

Jan 2, 2022 22:08:08 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Spin-off: does anyone have a combined guest room/office? Is there a way to not have it be cramped? We have a ~12x12 bedroom that has a tall bookshelf, a queen bed with two tiny bedside tables, and a desk. It feels so cramped. I would love to have a Murphy bed but haven't ever heard of a reasonably priced one.

Murphy beds are kind of pricey. We were looking at BredaBeds when we were considering one. They're like $1,500ish, depending on the style you go with.

We ultimately decided against buying one and got this couch from IKEA instead. We put it in our basement. We had talked about putting a murphy bed in my office, but it just wouldn't have worked with the low ceilings and there was no way to situate the desk where it wouldn't have to be moved to fold out the bed.

FWIW, the couch is really comfortable to sit on and works really nicely as a bed. We just use a thin topper on it.

[dochas]

We have a pull out love seat instead of a bed. It would be really cramped with a regular bed and the love seat is nice to sit and read on.

[sdlaura]

SusanBAnthony we have a Murphy bed from Costco. I think it was around $3k? I will say that it’s not the most ideal desk for everyday use.

DH’s office we had built on the backyard is 8 by 12 on the outside, smaller on the inside. We have a Joybird sleeper sofa and the rest is his office. So it’s a combo guest room/office but mainly office.

[InBetweenDays]

Jan 2, 2022 22:08:08 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Spin-off: does anyone have a combined guest room/office? Is there a way to not have it be cramped? We have a ~12x12 bedroom that has a tall bookshelf, a queen bed with two tiny bedside tables, and a desk. It feels so cramped. I would love to have a Murphy bed but haven't ever heard of a reasonably priced one.

The loveseat in our office is a pullout. Rather than being a regular mattress it's an inflatable mattress so it doesn't get the creases and you can't feel the bar. We've had it 12 years and is still very comfortable. Plus the dog loves to lie on the couch while I'm working. 🙂

[sent]

My house has a very large living room that we didn't use at all for the first 3 years. I had originally put all my stuff in one of the smaller bedrooms upstairs to turn into my home office. I didn't like going upstairs, it felt too far away from the TV and refrigerator. Sometime in the blur of early 2018, I decided I actually wanted my home office downstairs in the empty living room because it flows into the kitchen and I like being near the food LOL. I bought a large desk with hutch from Raymour & Flanigan but in retrospect, I don't love it. It doesn't really match the color or style of two older Crate and Barrell pieces I had from 12 years ago that are also in this space, a desk that closes up and looks like a giant cabinet (love this piece) and separate china cabinet hutch thing that I now use to store books and papers. I need lots of desk space so I have everything along the walls and I had a large folding table in the middle of the room for more desk space. I have a nice recliner I bought in the 2018 blur to rock DS to sleep. We moved that down into my living room-home office and it's great. I'm sitting on it right now typing and sort of watching TV at the same time. I nap on this all the time. I bought a new TV for the family room last year and moved the older TV into my living room-home office.

I think about re-doing all the furniture with an entire matching ensemble from Pottery Barn of bookshelves, a desk, a corner desk, and table that juts out from one of the book cases for another desk surface to make it look "nice." Instead last year I took up 2 moms in the neighborhood that were giving away a corner desk (doesn't match anything) and a slim ikea table (matches the Crate and Barrell stuff). I'm not ready to spend all that money yet. I think I will buy a couch for the living room first since the kids like to come hang out with me and watch TV.

[shortstax]

Jan 2, 2022 20:29:15 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

You want to see my folding table in the corner of my sunroom? LOL!

I was inspired by this "standing desk" so I now rotate it in too:

[SusanBAnthony]

Jan 2, 2022 22:38:28 GMT -5 isabel said:

Jan 2, 2022 22:08:08 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Spin-off: does anyone have a combined guest room/office? Is there a way to not have it be cramped? We have a ~12x12 bedroom that has a tall bookshelf, a queen bed with two tiny bedside tables, and a desk. It feels so cramped. I would love to have a Murphy bed but haven't ever heard of a reasonably priced one.

Murphy beds are kind of pricey. We were looking at BredaBeds when we were considering one. They're like $1,500ish, depending on the style you go with.

We ultimately decided against buying one and got this couch from IKEA instead. We put it in our basement. We had talked about putting a murphy bed in my office, but it just wouldn't have worked with the low ceilings and there was no way to situate the desk where it wouldn't have to be moved to fold out the bed.

FWIW, the couch is really comfortable to sit on and works really nicely as a bed. We just use a thin topper on it.

We actually have that couch in our basement! I agree it is pretty comfortable to sleep on.

I should probably consider just getting rid of the bed. The reason we haven't is that my parents come pretty often for 1 night. Average of 2-3 times a month. So making and unmaking the bed seems like a bigger chore than having a less spacious office, given that we don't WFH full time. That's why a Murphy bed is appealing.... You just pull it down. At least that's what I tell myself, I've never actually had one.

But my house isn't going to sprout an extra bedroom.

[isabel]

Jan 3, 2022 9:25:34 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Jan 2, 2022 22:38:28 GMT -5 isabel said:

Murphy beds are kind of pricey. We were looking at BredaBeds when we were considering one. They're like $1,500ish, depending on the style you go with.

We ultimately decided against buying one and got this couch from IKEA instead. We put it in our basement. We had talked about putting a murphy bed in my office, but it just wouldn't have worked with the low ceilings and there was no way to situate the desk where it wouldn't have to be moved to fold out the bed.

FWIW, the couch is really comfortable to sit on and works really nicely as a bed. We just use a thin topper on it.

We actually have that couch in our basement! I agree it is pretty comfortable to sleep on.

I should probably consider just getting rid of the bed. The reason we haven't is that my parents come pretty often for 1 night. Average of 2-3 times a month. So making and unmaking the bed seems like a bigger chore than having a less spacious office, given that we don't WFH full time. That's why a Murphy bed is appealing.... You just pull it down. At least that's what I tell myself, I've never actually had one.

But my house isn't going to sprout an extra bedroom.

I mean, I think a Murphy bed does sound appealing. I guess it’s just a matter of whether you want to spend the money.

I decided it wasn’t worth trying to make a bed fit into the space available to us. People can use the couch bed or we’ll put one of our kids on a crib mattress and let guests use their rooms. It also would have been an issue to have someone sleeping in my office. But I work from home consistently and need access to that space.

My mom is here frequently, but not like your parents. 2-3 nights every couple of months.

[jlt19]

SusanBAnthony, maybe try looking at a daybed? We have the Hemnes I think from Ikea and when we build out the office/guest room in the basement, I plan on turning it into a couch like piece, then it can also pull out to be a King sized bed when needed. You do have to store the 2nd mattress elsewhere though, so not sure if that would be an issue.

[TR]

I think my usable space is about 10’ x 12’. I have a closet and French doors on opposite walls limiting my options on layout. I’m desperate for some kind of drawers/shelves instead of what’s going on now by the TV. If anyone has any suggestions, hit me up! H got me that convertible/standing desk for my birthday and while I appreciate it, it’s a smaller surface area than my old desk was and there’s no drawers or shelves so everything is a mess right now. 

[TR]

Oh and mine has the loveseat because it was originally just my den where I could watch TV and read if H was watching soccer in the living room. Then I went back to school and added a desk and now it’s been a full-time wfh space since May. So I probably would’ve done things differently if I were starting from scratch.

[brooke77]

Jan 3, 2022 10:58:39 GMT -5 jlt19 said:

SusanBAnthony, maybe try looking at a daybed? We have the Hemnes I think from Ikea and when we build out the office/guest room in the basement, I plan on turning it into a couch like piece, then it can also pull out to be a King sized bed when needed. You do have to store the 2nd mattress elsewhere though, so not sure if that would be an issue.

This is what we have. I really like it and it’s pretty comfy (per our guest). You stack the mattresses on the daybed when it’s not pulled out.

Our room is not huge, but pretty functional. We have a desk/chair, daybed, dresser and Peloton. I don’t think it’s very cramped.

[notsopicky]

Mine is probably 10'X10'. It's this little room right by the front door with wood & glass French doors. I redid it summer 2020 since we weren't traveling.

I bought some of this furniture set from Coleman: colemanfurniture.com/tinley-park-dove-tail-grey-home-office-set.htm: the writing desk, the tall bookcase and the "printer stand". I chose taupe textured carpet, taupe walls, and white trim (window, blinds and the French doors). I painted the whole thing myself! Decided to do the ceiling too, and that was the right call. It cost around $5000 all in (furniture, paint, carpet, and the junk guys to take away the old stuff). I still want to get a navy accent chair, and I have to hang up the navy curtains. I had a navy suede chair, but it was a piece of junk so I got rid of it, in favor of a leather gray La-Z-Boy chair that H recommended.

[SusanBAnthony]

Jan 3, 2022 10:58:39 GMT -5 jlt19 said:

SusanBAnthony, maybe try looking at a daybed? We have the Hemnes I think from Ikea and when we build out the office/guest room in the basement, I plan on turning it into a couch like piece, then it can also pull out to be a King sized bed when needed. You do have to store the 2nd mattress elsewhere though, so not sure if that would be an issue.

This is probably the way we will go since often we just have one person so usually the twin would be enough.

[kaneen]

Mine is purely an office. I don’t have any sleeping/lounging space but it doesn’t sound like you want that so here’s mine.

[pandorica]

Mine is just a fold out desk in our guest room (and it took me a year of WFH to get that much) but this thread has inspired me. Although instead of swapping the guest bed for a daybed to get more office space, I want to do it to make it a playroom. So some day it will be a guest room/play room/office. I'm sure everyone will be jealous of my space then 🤣