When I first moved into my house a couple years ago, you may remember that I converted a small room in our attic into a dressing room for myself. Our bedroom has the tiniest closet I have ever seen, so creating a separate closet area was highly necessary. And I loved it.
Then, when we decided to remodel our kitchen last spring, I totally lost my workspace which was in the breakfast nook. So, I decided convert the closet once more into – you guessed it – a home office!
Where a simple mirror once sat, I now have a campaign desk to corral all my personal papers and offer the perfect spot to hide upstairs on days that I work from home. And where my dresser once was, a huge cork board is now filled with seasonal inspiration.
This little seating area might be my favorite. If you saw our attic feature in Sunset Magazine, you may notice something different! The leather settee we used for that shoot was borrowed because this bench hadn’t shown up yet. While I loved the vintage vibe that leather brought to this space, the price tag was a bit out of budget. I opted for a little bench and chair instead…
Before I show you the rest, here are a few before & after comparisons of the room!
Before, I was letting the wallpaper wall be its own statement, now it’s a nice backdrop to my desk – something pretty to stare at while I’m working!
In our old layout, the dresser was on the far side of the room, along with some additional hanging clothing storage for frequently worn items. I really miss that extra bar, but now we have a big seating area, which is nice! We also swapped out that huge rug for a smaller area rug that I picked up in Morocco last year.
As you saw above, we kept the dresser, but moved its current location to where this lounger was. That chaise is now downstairs in our basement, and while it made for some nice lazy reading it really opens the room up to not have it in there anymore!
One other change that I love is the windows! I wanted to incorporate another print here, but nothing too crazy or it would compete with the wallpaper. When the new Kate Spade collection for The Shade Store came out, I knew it was perfect. I’ve always loved that little dot motif, and it’s sweet without being overly so. The pattern is called ‘Larabee Dot’ in the Domino colorway..
I also knew that ultimately I wanted roman shades in here for ease and privacy, as well as a bit more polished feel.
See how well the two pair together? I’ve always wanted this space to feel a bit more whimsical than the rest of the home, and the little grey dots are right at home here. They Shade Store was fantastic to work with too – they come out to take perfect measurements, and back to install, so there’s no mistakes.
I intentionally designed the layout to have the ‘closet’ area on one side and work area on the other – this keeps the clothes from creeping into my workspace too much.
One of the luxuries of having two offices is, of course, that I don’t need a ton of storage in here. For now the single drawer in the desk and stacks of magazines and books residing on the bench are enough for me!
And because I know ya’ll will ask, here’s a full list of most of the sources for the room!
1. cedar & moss flush mount| 2. jennifer ament mask art | 3. bludot bench in mink| 4. makelike wallpaper ‘lush’ | 5. kate spade ‘domino’ roman shades | 6. mini brass lamp | 7. white wishbone chair | 8. grey sheepskin rug | 9. campaign desk
So what do you think of the conversion? It’s very different from the ultra-feminine vibe we went for when it was a dressing room, but I would say that it actually feels more natural to the home and the space. I can’t wait for summer to
