Our home office refresh

After ten months of working from home, it was time to give our office a much-needed makeover! Take a look at the changes we made to minimise clutter and maximise creativity in our simple home office refresh.

Our working environment can have a huge impact on our mood, productivity and creativity. Especially when you’re surrounded by the same four walls for many of your waking hours! 

Having worked from home for more than ten months, our home office was well overdue for a refresh. Along with our brand new skylight to let in some more natural light (more on that to come!), we wanted to make a few key upgrades to create a workspace that felt inspiring, comfortable and functional.

Here’s how we did it!

The before

Before my current job, I was self-employed for close to three years – so working from home was nothing new to me. My previous set-up was okay, but I definitely needed a change! 

Install floating shelves

One of the first things we did was install two floating shelves above the desk. This is something I’ve wanted to do for some time. I love how easy they make it to change up your décor or have a mini restyle.

I deliberated for a long time on whether to go for white or timber shelving – and actually planned to stain these Tasmanian Oak timber planks to a darker shade. However, once I saw them up on the wall, I thought they were perfect just they way they are. So, for now – raw they stay! 

Add storage to reduce clutter

Another simple swap that made a big difference was to remove the old open shelves we had in the corner. We replaced these with a small cupboard to give us more storage and hide our tech. 

Although the strategically placed chair in the before photo makes it hard to see, the shelves stored our printer, modem and X-box. (Side note: although the X-box isn’t used in this room, our lounge room TV is mounted on the other side of this wall. Chris has wired it up to be able to play from the lounge room, which means we can keep the lounge area super simple and minimal – no TV unit in sight!)

While these things are essential, they kind of kill my vibe, so keeping them hidden away works perfectly. And, there’s extra space to store away some of my books too.

Think about floor coverings

As much as I adore the rug in the before photo, it really was not made to sit under a desk chair, but it’s important to have something to stop the castors from damaging the floors. 

The rug you see here is actually an indoor-outdoor rug, which means it’s super sturdy and designed to withstand some heavy duty traffic – perfect for under the chair! 

The funny thing is, we actually purchased this for outside on the deck, but it was completely wrong for the space. Before returning it, we thought it could be worth giving it a go in the office, and were so surprised by how well it fit the room.

Upgrade technology 

Of course, the pièce de résistance of our office refresh is our beautiful new iMac! For the last few years, I’ve been completely content working off my little Macbook, and I’ve quite enjoyed the flexibility working from different parts of the house when the mood strikes.

But, since Chris’s old laptop is now dead and buried, we needed another option – and we wanted to have something more permanent for us both to use. It’s only been a few weeks, and already, I’m converted!

Since completing our refresh, I feel genuinely excited about spending time in here. While I haven’t completely farewelled my laptop, (got to make the most of working from home while it lasts!) it feels good to work in an environment that is airy, bright and clutter free.

Shop this space

Here’s a list of the main items we purchased to complete our home office refresh. I tag most home décor items over on our Instagram page – but if there’s anything you can’t find, leave me a comment and I’ll get back to you!

• Desk: Skarsta from IKEA
• Chair: Oxford Office Chair from Fantastic Furniture
• Shelves: Timberbuild Hardwood Multi-Use Panel from Bunnings
• Cupboard: Brimnes from IKEA
• Rug: Morum from IKEA
• Computer: iMac from JB Hi-Fi
• Vase: Joshua Ceramic Vase form Pottery Barn
• Plant: Ficus Benjamin from Facebook Marketplace