One of my recent projects was our loft area upstairs. This loft area was one of my favorite things about our home before we purchased it, but shortly after we moved in it became a catch all room. -_- Everyone has a catch all space, don’t they?? It was constantly cluttered and so disorganized, but this space had so much potential to be one of the most functional and fun spaces in our house. I finally decided to tackle it and hoped that it would become a favorite family hang out spot in our home, and I do believe that has been accomplished here! I’ll share a whole room view before and after below.
Before:
After:
The first thing I did was collect a bunch of empty baskets and containers (some I already had and some I had to purchase), then the time consuming task of sorting and organizing began. Several hours over the course of a couple of days went into this process, and once it was done it felt so good! For labels I used a heavy grey paper, a hole punch, some white yarn, a marker for some and these awesome stamps for others. I find myself using these alphabet stamps for so many things, especially gifting.
Then, I was able to move onto finding homes for the organized baskets and containers and I could focus on the aesthetic of the room. We tend to gravitate towards a home style along the lines of mid-century modern, so this room may somewhat reflect that.
My Dad gifted us these awesome vintage speakers and a record player, so my husband insisted on a small couch for this room for a cool hang out spot when listening to his records. We had purchased the lamps on either side of the couch from Target several years ago on clearance and I was actually considering donating them until it dawned on me that they would be perfect in here. So happy I didn’t donate them! (As you can see from the pictures, the cat seems to enjoy this room anyway, lol)
My next focus was the double desk area. This was actually my husband’s and my desks, but we never actually used them at the same time so we figured we could purchase a larger corner desk for us to share and set this area up for our kids. With our oldest in school, we knew he would like to have a comfortable designated area for school work, projects, reading, and drawing, etc… We put this desk together several years ago with the two white desk tops from Ikea, the orange filing cabinet from Ikea and we ordered the 4 hairpin legs from some place I can’t remember online. The two upper shelves we had previously installed (all materials for them from Lowes), but I added the smaller shelves below for all the books so they are easy for little arms to reach. I was able to get all the kid’s supplies, and fun activities organized in baskets and containers on the higher up shelves. I cannot even tell you how my oldest son’s eyes lit up when he saw his very own desk area. I constantly find him wanting to be there and it makes me so happy we chose to do this!
Our desk area was a bit more tricky as we needed small left return desk, which I did have a difficult time finding online. I eventually found a desk that can be used as a right OR left return desk depending on how you put it together (in case you don’t know, this just means that the you can make the longer side of the desk -the return side- either way). I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am with this desk! I put it together myself in a couple of hours. I like the look of it and it has some shelves on the return side that I have been able to put to good use as well.
Okay, I wanted to make sure to touch on this light. I LOVE THIS LIGHT. so. much. I am shocked by the affordable price point on such a cool statement piece and honestly would love to put this same light or the smaller version in other rooms in my house. I absolutely love everything about this light, and it is the perfect size for this room. I ended up going with the larger version as I felt it appropriate for this size room. I’ll share the two versions I was considering below. Keep in mind it does not come with the bulbs, so that is an added cost. I’ll link the ones I purchased and another option that I had considered.
Many of the items in this room I already had, but I did end up buying several things for this home office upgrade. Below I will link as many things I can find that I purchased for this room – new & old – as well as similar items for things I am unable to link, and items I love that give a similar look and feel to items in this home office space. I do receive a small chunk of change if you choose to make a purchase from one of the links below at no extra cost to you, which I will probably use to purchase more fun things on the internet and hopefully create some fun content. Thank you for stopping by! 🙂