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Secondhand Sprucing: Office Upgrades + Thrifting Tips

by Kate Riley October 9, 2012 10 Comments

Hi everyone, Kate here for the final round in the Secondhand Sprucing series. Today we’re looking at some inspiring home office makeover ideas from creative DIYers. Setting up a small home office in your home requires two essentials — a desk and chair. Beyond that a lamp and a storage solution for files are an added bonus.

Desks are easy to come by if you keep your eyes open. Just look what can happen when you dedicate a few hours to revamping a discarded secondhand desk.

Desk (Repainted curbside desk find by Sunset; White Craigslist desk makeover by How Does She; Mint painted desk by Bridgey Widgey; Striped desk makeover by Because I Like to Decorate)

Desk chairs are often the ubiquitous and mass produced swivel varieties. If you’re going to spend hours of your time working in one place, introduce a dash of panache to your office space with a reupholstered or repainted desk chair.

Chair (Office chair makeover via Apartment Therapy; Office chair makeover from Design*Sponge; Spray painted office chair by Young House Love; Office chair makeover by Sincerely Co.)

Finding a great desk or chair can happen if you head out early to garage sales or get lucky when stopping by your favorite thrift store. With Craigslist, it’s just a matter of finding what you need in your area when you happen to be online. Craigeasy is a helpful tool for narrowing down what you’re looking for with an image search. Thrifting is always a treasure hunt, and you never know what you’re going to find. Here are a few of my best tips for shopping thrift stores for great secondhand furniture finds.
Centsational Girl Tips

Design For Mankind Office DIY: A Surprising Desk Makeover

by Erin Loechner September 14, 2011 25 Comments

By now, you realize that Ken and I like things a bit… quirky.

A smart DIY for an inspiring office.

Never the couple to leave a piece of store-bought furniture untouched, we’re big fans of customization in all forms — even when it’s not an entirely necessary upgrade.

It's a perfectly good desk, right? Eh.

Take, for instance, our existing, run-of-the-mill office desk. It’s perfectly functional, but a bit… boring. And when you work from home, an office should be anything but boring. This weekend, Ken and I put our heads together to create a unique desk that we’d be proud to work at daily. Behold! We pulled it off:

A vast improvement in our eyes.

Inspired by this quirky place setting placemat, we loved the idea of creating a silhouette-based illustration that would make us smile, while reminding us to keep our desk clean and tidy. With a designated spot for our phones, beverages, headphones and laptops, the desk leaves the rest to the imagination.
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My DIY: How to Build A Modern Art Shelf

by Erin Loechner July 20, 2011 23 Comments

One of the more difficult parts of renovating is living among unfinished spaces the majority of the time. And for a gal that works from home, a less-than-finished office can sometimes lead to a less-than-inspired workday. So, last week, Ken and I decided to fast track our office plans and finally make the space a priority. We’ll have much more to share in the coming weeks, but for now, we can’t wait to show you the insanely modern DIY shelf we recently finished building:

Building A DIY Modern Shelf - Erin Loechner

Grab a friend, and get to work!

As an art collector, I have more art than I know what to do with. Rather than investing thousands of dollars in permanent framing, I wanted a statement shelf where I could switch out a few of my favorite pieces periodically. I envisioned something modern, slim and seamless. And like he often does, Ken knew exactly how to create my dream piece.

Busting out the level...

One of the key components of our DIY shelf is the lack of bracket support. We wanted the shelf to appear as a floating mantle, so brackets were definitely not an option. Yet we wanted the piece to be sturdy in case we chose to display art / design books in the future.
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Daily Delight: Writing Desk

by Lili Zarghami March 23, 2011 1 Comment

As computers get smaller and the paper that attends personal business disappears, the need for a large-scale desk goes with it.

AT-AT desk

While on the look-out for small, yet completely functional desks, I saw this gem from designer Tomoko Azumi. Dubbed the AT-AT Desk (Stars Wars fans, that’s a reference for you), it closes up and acts as a lovely sideboard when not being used. Just right for a home “office” that doesn’t have it’s own room.

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Daily Delight: Office Space

by Lili Zarghami February 12, 2011 3 Comments

I often feel like I have to have my home office (read: desk in the living room) be perfectly set up before I can get any work done.

wood office desk

I might be able to thwart my procrastination tactic with a double-wide beauty like this — or really, any of these cool workspaces. I’m especially fond of the partition that separates it from the living space; just enough privacy without being shut away from the rest of the house. Dying to know what they did with their computer wires. Any ideas?

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Daily Delight: Pretty Organized

by Lili Zarghami January 1, 2011 6 Comments

Happy New Year! Living in an apartment poses certain challenges, one of the biggest of which is keeping the clutter to a minimum. So for 2011, one of my resolutions is to find a way to become more organized.

supershoppertoo, Flickr

The closet above has been converted into an office and organized to clear the clutter in such a pretty way. Definitely going to keep this in my inspiration file.

Is mastering the art of organization one of your 2011 goals, too? Here are 5 helpful resolution suggestions for your home from HGTV.

Office Space

by April 21, 2009 1 Comment

We just moved into a newly redesigned office, but before the move we were working in the most boring corporate space you could imagine: white walls, gray cubes and lots of florescent lighting. When people used to come in to pitch a show, they’d be shocked by our office. Most people think that when they come to HGTV, they are going to walk into some beautifully decorated haven. After two years of working in such a bland space, I can personally attest to how important a well designed office space is. First and foremost, a well designed space will make your employees happier, it will show them that you value them and want them to enjoy their time at work. A happy employee is invaluable, OBVIOUSLY. Second, bringing a client into a dreary uninspired space will probably make your business seem a bit, well, dreary and uninspired. Your office space makes an impression before you do and my mom always said that the first impression is the one that lasts.

So without further ado, I present to you, dear HGTV Fan, my list of the top five most awesome, inspiring, all around bestest offices in the universe…

Welcome to The Redbull Headquarters…

Lego’s Development department…Can you say Dream Job!?!?

Welcome to the Googleplex, where you can get a haircut or a massage, bring your dog to work, go swimming or play pool or volleyball…All during work hours!