Fall '23 One Room Challenge (ORC) - My Home Office

 

The One Room Challenge has been around since way back when I was first blogging (it started in 2011)! Before everyone even really knew what a blog was, and long before the term 'influencer' was coined. I've always wanted to participate. I love the concept of community coming together to celebrate each other and cheer one another on during a project. It reminds me of two challenges I participated in back in my early blogging days, Blog Everyday In May and the Pinterest Challenge. In the old days of blogging, these types of challenges were pretty common, and the blogging world in general was more about building community and friendship than anything else. Lately, I have sensed a shift back towards that mentality and I am here for it!

While I've always wanted to participate in the challenge, I generally make excuses like; I am too busy, I don't have time, the project is too expensive, etc. But, I'm done with excuses and would rather lean into the fear and put myself out there anyway. So here we are! 

I'm excited to officially be a part of the Fall 2023 One Room Challenge "ORC.' I've decided to tackle my office space. It's a small and manageable space to tackle in 8 weeks, and I think it will have the greatest impact. I spend the majority of my time in this room, and it's generally a complete disaster and catch all/drop space. This disorganized mess makes me feel overwhelmed and unproductive, not ideal for the room I spend the majority of my time. Not to mention it's attached to our primary bedroom so that sense of disorder and chaos spills over into that room. 

My office space was actually a really big selling point to this house. Since Andrew and I both work from home, we needed a dedicated place for us both to work. My office is a loft space above the entry way that you access from our primary bedroom. It has a window overlooking the front of the house, and has a really nice built in desk and shelving. It's just enough space for an office and because of the window and loft space, it's bright and airy. Because Andrew has so many meetings and needs a quiet space to focus, he uses the extra bedroom. And since I don't spend too much of my day on the phone or WebEx video calls, the loft works well for me. 

While the bones of my office area great, it is definitely uninspiring and boring. I need to add a little character and warmth to make it someplace I want to spend my time and inspires me to be productive. Plus, if it's beautiful it will motivate me to keep it clean and organized! Right?

So without further ado, here are the before photos of my office! These photos were taken on move in day, after we had repainted the interior Benjamin Moore White Dove and replaced the carpet as well. The current before photo I'll save for the end, it's a disaster! These help visualize the space more clearly. 

I have so many ideas for this space and I think within these 8 weeks, we can make a big impact! I'm excited to take you along for the transformation! I hope you come back next week for the inspiration photos and mood board I created so you can visualize the direction I hope to take this cute little space. Here is a list of some of the items I hope to tackle with this project! 

• Clean out office cabinets and organize
• Hang new shelf 
• Vision board
• Accent wall with wallpaper
• Valence 
• Gallery wall 
• New light fixture
• Paint cabinets
• Hardwire internet 
• Style desk top
• Cabinet pulls
• New office chair

Also be sure to head over to the ORC page to look at what other creatives are working on this time! There are so many inspiring folks out there, I'm excited to be inspired and cheer them on!