Whether you're working from home, schooling from home, or just looking for a space to pay the bills, a dedicated space is crucial for getting things done.
In the spirit of transparency, I have to come clean - these pictures are from last year. Yes, that year. 2020. Ew. I long for the days when this home office space was dedicated to business calls and housekeeping. After almost a year of virtual learning this workspace is now cluttered with lists of sight words, white boards, crayon drawings, and posters featuring the days of the week.
When the school year started we signed our first grader up for full time traditional school. We also registered our one year old in a fantastic Mother's Day Out program at a local church. After two days of traditional school our whole school district went remote. All of a sudden our new backpack, school shoes and lunchbox were pushed aside to make way for school laptops and writing workbooks.
Now more than ever I am grateful for a dedicated study space where my daughter and I can watch YouTube videos and sing the Month of the Year songs. The big window provides ample natural light and the built-ins ample space to spread out our work.
White my daughter sits in the big desk chair - which is actually the chair my husband got when he graduated from residency - I cozy up on one of the armchairs next to her. The biggest benefit of this seating arrangement is that I'm close enough to supervise, but still out of view of the Zoom camera!
The sitting area in our home office was one of the first spaces we furnished when we moved in. I'm an avid reader so having a well-lit place to curl up by myself with a book was a must-have. Now I'm grateful to have a comfortable place to sit while I help my kiddo with her school work!
The small gallery wall above the chairs features maps of every location my husband and I have lived together since we met. It brings me joy to see how far we've come - literally AND figuratively - every time we are in here.
I love our home office and we get quite more use out of it than I had originally planned for, but I still gleam so much home office inspiration from other bloggers and designers.
One of my favorite real life home office space's is Mary's from Meeting Mary. If you aren't already following her, you're truly missing out! Mary was one of the first people I "met" when I started blogging and we quickly bonded over our shared love of pantries and coffee. She and her family live in a gorgeous historic Victorian that they are renovating room-by-room. She's also a HOOT. Seriously makes me laugh-out-loud all the time!
Alright FOCUS - I'm here to talk about her work-from-home space! With two kids tackling virtual learning at the same time, Mary needed to be extra organized. One of my favorite spaces she created was this desk space in the corner of their play room. The white boards, corkboard and bold map create easy-to-see information hubs while giving off pretty, gallery wall vibes. She also has designated spaces for art supplies and other learning materials, allowing both kids to have their own learning space while still being able to share resources.
Last fall I dedicated an entire blog post to gorgeous homes I had the pleasure of touring during the OKC Parade of Homes. One from Wheeler Homes had this gorgeous home office space right off the kitchen with two beautiful sliding doors to give them privacy. This space is light, bright and has ample windows to elevate the atmosphere and create a home office that encourages creativity!
In another post I shared this work space from RH Modern. The sleek lines and gold hardware made my contemporary heart go pitter-patter and if you remember, I even shopped til' I dropped to find this same look for you for LESS!
My favorite thing about this space is all the open shelving for pretty displays mixed with ample closed storage for messy files and things you don't want to deal with!
Here are some additional home office spaces for your inspiration! Some are small and cozy, others have ample storage. What works for YOUR work from home space will be uniquely YOU so make it that way! Whether you need a large desk for all your monitors or a small typing table, cabinets for all of your paperwork or just a small shredder in the corner, there are so many beautiful options available.
What are your home office must haves? I also want to know what this past year has looked like for your? Are you working and schooling from home or venturing out? Let me know in the comments! Until next time!
Jenna