Design

My New (Tiny, but Perfect) Office Space!

May 7, 2015

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Over the past year, we’ve been trying to fit in a little desk somewhere for me. Not only am I the CFO of our family (bills, bills, billz), my workload for the blog and other projects I’ve taken on has expanded and I really needed a place that wasn’t the dining room table for my laptop and wasn’t the top of the microwave for paperwork. We initially thought we’d work a little counter desk in with the kitchen remodel, but once we drew up the plans there was no room really. Plan B was to fit a desk in the master bedroom, but the more I thought about it, a desk in the bedroom didn’t sound all that romantic. And honestly, it would probably collect more clothes than I’d like to admit. And then it dawned on me, could we fit a slim desk on the empty wall in the study?

Aaannnnddddd, I just searched for 20 minutes for a “before” photo of this wall opposite the wall to wall shelves with no luck. I did find a semi-before photo (before we painted the room super dark green) from a shoot I did for Cleansing Cry. This corner usually had a chair stuffed in it, but that’s really it.

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The wall measures in at less than 40 inches from corner to doorway trim and once I started looking for space saving options, I came across this leaning wall desk from Crate & Barrel that was just under 28″ wide. I loved the extra shelf storage above, the fact that it had a drawer, and it was under $200. I slept on it and ordered it first thing the next day.

Small Office

We put it together and attached it to the wall a few weeks ago, and it has been perfect! I love this desk! I love the height it adds to the wall! I love that there is storage space, but not too much other space that it can get cluttered–you know! I love being right next to all the windows in the study. I love being near the front door so I can open it before the fedex guy knocks and Charly barks and the whole house wakes up. I love working late at night at my desk while Chris reads cookbooks on the adjacent couch. How did I not think to put a desk here before?

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The desktop easily fits my laptop and a little linen lamp I also ordered from C&B on clearance. Since the room has no overhead light, that lamp is as functional as it is cute once the sun goes down. I am currently using one of our spare dining chairs as my desk chair, but I ordered a modern black windsor one that will eventually go here. The ironic thing is now I’ve grown to love the way the shell chair looks here and I already know it’s comfortable. Maybe I should have just gotten another one? Ha! We’ll see how that all plays out in the coming weeks.

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The shelving holds: My camera + lenses (I used my sister’s super nice camera for these shots and what-a-difference-I-need-one-now!), a white file box for paperwork to be filed, a big brass M (a steal!!), a sweet grapefruit candle you don’t even have to light to smell (in a good way), a framed photo of Charly sleeping (it is a constant reminder to me that I want our house to feel comfortable), a change dish, a rhino letter sorter for incoming mail that needs attention, a swanky gold stapler and an absolutely fake, but good-looking, plant in a cement planter. (note: links to all the sources at the bottom of the post.)

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Next to my desk, my tripod fits just right and is completely out of view when I am not using it. Admittedly, that was a complete accident–but a happy accident for sure.

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In fact, the entire set up in general is pretty out of view. It’s a pleasant surprise when you turn the corner and you see the hint of something extra.

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Small Office

So this is where it all happens now. It’s made my work so much more enjoyable–even bill paying? Even bill paying! Not to mention, the project itself has been so rewarding. Quick! Functional! Beautiful. –I’m definitely looking around for more of those around here. Sources below!

Wall Color: Clark+Kensington Pine Grove | Sawyer White Leaning Desk: Crate & Barrel | White file box: Ikea (similar)| Brass M: Crate & Barrel | Sweet Grapefruit candle: Lulu & Georgia | Gold photo frame: Target | Change dish: Pier 1 | Rhino letter sorter: Target | Gold stapler: Target | Faux plant: Target | Linen lamp: Crate & Barrel | Beige shell chair: Wayfair | Wicker trash can: Target (similar) | Make It Happen desktop wallpaper: Breanna Rose

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What do you think?

  1. Julie says:

    Where did you get this desk???!!!! I love it!

  2. jo iglesia says:

    hi Julia,

    how do you recommend we hang our wall decors without having to commit to one space? I would like to be able to move wall hangings around.

    thanks!!

    -JO

  3. jo iglesia says:

    Hi Julia,

    Not sure how you hang your wall décors, but I need some tips. I want to be able to move around paintings and other wall hangings without having to commit to one space. What do you recommend.

    -Jo

  4. kukido says:

    Gorgeous little office!!! May I ask you which model of camera does your sister have? These pictures are fabulous!

  5. Jinny says:

    Can you share where that art is from in the first picture? Sorry if it’s posted somewhere else, haven’t found it.

  6. Victoria says:

    Okay, so… can I have that chair that used to be there? :)

  7. Judi says:

    Gorgeous as always, Julia! I just moved my home office to a larger room but now I almost wish I didn’t have space for my iMac anywhere except a small, leaning desk. Just lovely.

    And thanks as ever for listing all your sources. Loved those brass letters sooooo much that I just scored what I think is the last “K” on the East Coast (for me) and “L” (for my husband). Now considering the lamp….

    • Heather says:

      I love those letter plaques too and was going to buy one when I saw this post, but got distracted and didn’t. Imagine my joy when I went back today and saw they were marked down to $0.97!!! Will be enjoying my letter C soon for less than $6 shipped!

  8. Meg says:

    Best part of the house – the desk, the chair and those beautiful windows. Great find on the desk.

  9. CUTE, cute. Girl, you have me itching to paint our green room (originally inspired by yours!) a darker shade now!

    • Julia says:

      Do it! I know it was kind of anti-climatic when I posted about going darker, but man! it made the biggest, best difference in person.

  10. Perfection!

    Also, I bought that same linen lamp from C&B last year and it is so darling. It sits atop a tiny antique black bookshelf in our guestroom and never ceases to earn compliments!!

  11. Leslie says:

    Very nice! My and the man got some cheap desks from Ikea for our office but then one day I went to the Container Store and saw their leaning desks and I fell in love. I really like yours too!

  12. Love the new desk area. And I’m with you on the chair. Even though I haven’t seen the other one you ordered, the current one seems pretty perfect. I hope to fit a small desk area into our home on a small wall of our living room after our little bundle of joy arrives. Gave me some great inspiration!!

  13. So minimal yet functional! My home office desk is swimming in papers right now too – I like your idea of having less tempting surface area to avoid accumulation and clutter. :)

  14. sarah says:

    I love it… looks like it was always meant to be in that space! Also curious about what your system is for filing other paperwork??

    • Julia says:

      My rhino is now basically my inbox. Once I tend to whatever the mail needs (paid, called on, put on the calendar, etc.) I put it in the white box on the top shelf. Then usually once a month, I file (or discard) everything in our filing cabinet we have in a storage room downstairs. Almost all our utility bills are paperless now–it’s mostly medical or blog contracts.

  15. Karen F says:

    this is perfect – love it! It’s like that desk was always meant to be there. I like the way you styled it, too. So pretty!

  16. Meagan Briggs says:

    The rhino!!! I need it!!!

  17. Evelina says:

    This looks so beautiful! I am totally crushing on that wall colour. It makes everything pop so nicely.

  18. I absolutely love how this little office has turn out. One of or spare bedrooms is supposed to be an office but it has become a dumping ground mainly because it’s upstairs so not handy when you have a baby crawling around. The only nook where I could put a desk downstairs doesn’t have an electric socket booo ;) I’ll have to have another look and consider moving/ changing some furniture around :)

  19. Kelli says:

    Love how this turned out and see adding the desk somewhere in our home in the future! Quick question on your paper filing and storage – where do you hide it? We have cut back a lot on paper bills and pay most of our stuff online but there is still seems to be a stack a papers each week that we need to be file/saved/stored.

    • Julia says:

      Our filing cabinet is in a storage room downstairs. I file things about once a month or when my white to-file box gets full.

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