Budget Office Space

My husband suddenly started working from home this spring, and I gladly gave up my office space within our homeschool room so he could have his own space to create.

When I got the phone call that his company was suggesting employees work from home for a couple of weeks (due to the virus) I literally stopped what I was doing and ran to the homeschool room to get it prepped for him. I started tossing things in the garbage, tidying the bookshelves, dusting, and rearranging.

I was so excited about the opportunity to have him home more! I pulled a desk out of the basement that I had just picked up at IKEA two weeks prior for crafting/creating shirts and journals.

Adding this desk meant he could have an “L” shaped workspace with more surface area, and we could leave our main computer up for the kids and me to use when needed.

Our office space has been a blessing to me for blogging the past 12 years, and through all of the side-hustles I’ve done over the 15 years we’ve lived here, so I was (and am) glad to see him get a chance to enjoy it. The Lord knows how much he has poured into this space for me, building shelves, painting, rearranging, etc.

If you follow us on Instagram you know that every year we go on a week-long camping trip, and each year I love the time together so much that I dream of ‘selling it all’ and living in a Winnebago with our little tribe. While this isn’t the season for us to pursue that, the thing I love most about our annual camping trip is living with less, and spending more time together.

I feel like the past few months we’ve really been camping at home, in a sense. Our schedules are clearer than ever, we’re getting more time in the fresh air by enjoying daily walks and playing in our yard, and we aren’t nearly as focused on our material possessions.

Anyway, I’m telling you all of that to say this lifestyle change for our family meant that I needed to do a little rearranging to make a new space for me to keep up my work here, that I so deeply love.

This is a personal preference, but I enjoy working where I can see the daylight streaming through the windows. This meant the basement was out of the question, even though there were a few spaces that would’ve worked there. I snatched up a little corner space in our kitchen, which is so handy because this is where I usually am anyway preparing snacks, meals, and teaching the kids.

I gathered what we had around the house since we don’t know how long Mr. Awesome will be working from home, and because with one full-time income and six people under our roof, we are trying to be good stewards of our money. Trust me, the urge to purchase new things for this space had to be suppressed. HA!

The simple Ikea desk came from one of our kids that wasn’t using it much in their room. They appreciated the extra floor space for playing once this was removed. I would like to get a nicer chair, but this has been working for now and is surprisingly comfortable (update, I swapped this out with an extra wooden kitchen chair).

All decor items that I used were found around the house. I love decorating with books, and these are all books that I am currently referencing or reading. I’ll link those below if you’d like to peek inside the covers or read reviews over on Amazon.

I always love taking a peek at friends’ book stacks, so here’s a close up for you.

I think it’s important to add a little life to an office space, either with a plant, or fresh flowers. I also have a cute little rotating assortment of kid crafts on display.

I added the lamp when I needed some extra lighting one night. Here is a link to the puck light I have inside. It is attached with a plumbing fitting that my husband glued on to the light. I snipped the cord since I purchased this second hand and didn’t trust the wiring. This trick is called the Magic Light trick by Nesting With Grace.

If you find yourself needing a little workspace, look around your home first and see what you can pull from other rooms. If you are still searching for that particular something try asking friends or put a shout out on Facebook to see if you can purchase what you need secondhand. It will save you money and give lesser used items new purpose!