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Desk Decor - Sneak Peek at my New Home Office

Sinead Doyle

Everyone has a room in their house that is seeking a purpose. For us, it's our third bedroom. A little bigger than a box room but not quite large enough for a guestroom, we'd been deliberating for a while about how to use the space.

For the last few months, it’s been a bit of a dumping ground: unpacked boxes from our house move, suitcases, and general ‘I’m not sure where to put this’ miscellaneous crap has been piling up.

Back in February, we settled on turning the space into a home office/den. Two months on – and following a big blast at the weekend - it's finally beginning to take shape.

Desk Goals

As it’s at the front of the house, there's great natural light in this room, which I wanted to accentuate, keeping the space light and airy. After looking around for a while – and spending more time than I care to admit on Pinterest - I settled on a White 'Graphix' desk from Made.com. At £149, it wasn't cheap but it was amongst the more affordable options in the style I was looking for.

Sitting alongside my old Billy bookcase from Ikea, which has just about survived another house move, the desk has created a nice welcoming home workspace. And, when we eventually get our own home, it could be used as a table for a while - potentially saving us from eating our first meals from our laps.

I picked up a bargain basement white chair from ebay for the princely sum of £37, which matches with the exposed wood edging of the desk, to complete the look.

The Little Details

My copper obsession continues, with a copper clock from Made.com; some little copper trimmed glass tea light holders I picked up in Tiger a while back; and copper and wood hanging shelves from Sostrene Grene amongst the items that have caught my Magpie eyes recently.

The addition of a cute little succulent from M&S; assorted photo frames (Paperchase and Dunnes Stores); some lovely notebooks gifted by friends that understand my stationery obsession; and a nice little chevron keepsake box (Oliver Bonas) that’s currently housing pens and other odds and sods help add to the ‘non-worky workspace’ vibe I was shooting for.

It’s a work in progress. Some of the frames are pictureless and the tea light holders don’t currently have tea lights in them but I’ll get round to it. Sometime.

Once You Go Mac You’ll Never Go Back

Perhaps the most important - and indulgent – purchase was my new Macbook Air. I had been toying with the idea of buying one for a while. Whilst I have a laptop for work, I was getting tired of dragging it back and forth from the office. I also wanted to create a mental separation between work and home and to encourage myself to get back to blogging and writing.

The transition from PC is taking a little getting used to but I absolutely love it so far. The functionality between iPhone and the Macbook is fantastic, which is particularly useful for blogging. Photos taken on my iPhone automatically save to my Photo stream on the Macbook and with the addition of Office and Firefox, it doesn’t feel like a completely alien piece of tech.

The Finishing Touches

I still need a few pieces to finish the room and to add a bit more personality to the space. First on the post pay day to-buy list is a nice desk lamp, perhaps in a nice pastel hue to add a much-needed pop of colour.

I had my heart set on this great Clapton Sofa Bed from John Lewis in teal to complete the den type vibe and to make the space more functional if/when we do have visitors. Sadly, it’s now out of stock but I’m holding out hope it’ll come back in sometime soon.

I’m also on the lookout for a nice rug – something simple and  contemporary, with a splash of colour to combat the overwhelmingly magnolia and beige palette of the room. From my limited research, I’ve been horrified at the prices of any decent looking options. And it seems the word ‘geometric’ adds about £150 to the price tag. The search continues...

Shop my Desk Decor look