Take a Look: My Home Office

My home office has always been a little slice of heaven, even before that faithful day in March 2020 when we were forced to work from home indefinitely. Since moving into our house four years ago, I continually worked on making the space a bit of a sanctuary for me. It’s meant to spur my creativity and invite me to want to work.

Filled with little nods of things I love, I’ve genuinely made this room one of my favourites in the house.

The hospital-like sterile start

OK, so I don’t have any pictures of the room from when we first moved in. HOWEVER, I documented the initial sterile version of my home office after I painted it. Like, seriously, how did I ever think this would entice me to want to work? I know the minimalist thing is for many people, just not this person.

A short bookcase filled with vinyl records with a clear record player on top of it. There are two floating shelves above it with lightboxes and some knickknacks. — I thought having a clear record player was a good idea at the time. Not so much.

A white desk with an iMac on it. On the wall below the window is a railing with pen holders. — I loved this railing with the pen/pencil holders. This is probably my favourite thing from Ikea.

A white wall — This whiteboard calendar was a steal from Michaels at only $24 at the time of purchase.

This look made me feel so dull whenever I was in the room, from the white walls to the white furniture and shelves. At first, I thought this would be a good way of keeping it clean and organized, but really, it lacked any personality.

But it wasn’t all bad. There were some items or staples that helped bring the room together. Curious to know which items stayed throughout the transformation?

The staples

So, you know the turntable changed (I promise, images of the new one are coming up), but what items stayed in my office? What did I feel needed to remain as part of my vision for my home office?

Kallax Shelving Unit – The Kallax series of shelving units is probably my favourite Ikea product of all time. But honestly, this unit that Peter and I affectionately call the 2×4 is the perfect solution for record storage.
Mosslanda Wall Shelves – Another Ikea find, these wall shelves are perfect for displaying awards, lightboxes, and Pop Funkos, which you’ll read more about shortly.
Dry Erase Wall Calendar – This Ashland product from Michaels was such a steal at $24, thank heavens for sales! I love setting it up every month, writing my to-do lists, and planning the month. Now, Michaels no longer sells the same one, but here is the newest version that currently retails for $99.99.
Lagkapten Tabletop – Yes, I know, my home office is furnished by Ikea. You know what, I’m OK with it! The Lagkapten tabletop was the perfect fit for my office, and the Adils legs at only $5 each; this was the most inexpensive desk to fit my needs.

The home office of today

The music wall

Alright, alright, alright. Who remembers that wall with the Kallax unit filled with records, the transparent turntable, and was accented with walls shelves with some lightboxes and other knickknacks? Of course, you do! It was just so blah. Sure, it had some pops of colour on the wall shelves with a print of a quote from Home Sense and a couple of Bob’s Burgers items, but it wasn’t what I had envisioned for the space.

The Kallax is filled with records and holds my pink record player, letterboard, and awards. — Long live music in my life. My record collection consists of a little bit of everything. Fun fact: I always play Chuck Berry first thing in the morning during the week to get the juices flowing and energy up.

So, what kicked off the transformation? It was the dang transparent turntable. It had been bothering me for quite some time. While it looked cool (in theory), the speakers had a Bluetooth connection, and, well, they rarely connected. So, this became something that soon was replaced with a pink Common Craft turntable from Indigo. While they no longer sell them, check out Crosley if you’re looking for a cute turntable in a fun colour.

OK, but back to this so-called music wall. The Kallax is still there, filled with records, and holds my pink turntable along with a letterboard and two of my PR awards. The letter board is something I love because it is filled with drag queen enamel pins and some phrase or quote that resonates with me at that time.

Two white wall shelves filled with lightboxes, awards, and Pop Funkos. — I love how I’ve curated my shelves. It features my inspirations, joys and achievements. So when I’m having a crappy day, I look at this and remind myself how far I’ve come. Or, if I need a good laugh, my *Bob’s Burgers* or *Golden Girls* Pop Funkos makes me think of a silly scene, and all is right with the world again.

Above the Kallax, I kept the two white wall shelves. The lower one has a few more of my awards along with my Golden Girls Pop Funkos. The upper shelf has two lightboxes of varying sizes, along with a print with a quote about creativity and my Bob’s Burgers Pop Funkos. Finally, I have the Ledfyr LED string lights from Ikea throughout the two shelves to help make things feel a tad whimsical.

The planning area

Let’s talk about the calendar wall for a second. While I kept that dry-erase calendar, I made it pop a bit more. Similar to what I did with the wall shelves, I added the Ledfyr LED string lights around the calendar. Again, this was to add more whimsy into the room. I also added my bowling version of my Golden Girls Pop Funkos on the top ledge of the calendar, along with a pale garland streamer above it.

A dry-erase calendar with Pop Funkos on its top ledge, along with pale streamer garland above it. — *Golden Girls* assemble! My dry-erase calendar gets a fun extra touch with these Pop Funkos and twinkle lights.

I have two rose-gold Lexington 3-tier rolling carts from Michaels underneath the calendar. These are handy for storing cables, stationery, additional microphones, and so much more. Honestly, it helps keep me organized. Adding to the storage in my office is a smaller Kallax shelving unit. It doubles as a stand for my second monitor while holding many books that I typically need readily accessible throughout the day.

Where the magic happens

Finally, check out where the magic happens, i.e. my workspace. While I still need to update my blind/curtain situation, this is one of my favourite spots in the house. I have my iMac on a riser from Amazon, similar to this Kahoyi one, which allows extra storage underneath. In addition, I have an extended mousepad to add some colour to my desk, which I change up with a floral print one now and then.

My desk with a large colourful mousepad, an iMac, a laptop and some books on it. Additionally, on the window sill above the desk rest a bunch of little figurines. — Where the magic happens indeed, if you’ve ever been on a virtual call with me, this is where it’s happening.

Underneath the window on this wall, I still have my railing of containers for all my pens, pencils and markers, and just like on the other two walls, I’ve added the Ledfyr string lights as an accent to bring in that prettiness. But, oh! How could I forget the window sill?! Because this office is always cooler than the rest of the house, it’s rarely opened. So I took this as an opportunity to add my mini figurines on there, including ones from Despicable Me, Bob’s Burgers, some drag queens, and Diddl, not to mention my women of NASA LEGO set.

My figurines are on a window sill, and below is a railing with white containers holding various pens, pencils, highlighters and markers. — I love my figurines and my stationery. Honestly, the stationery is a bit of an obsession, but I use all of them at some point throughout the day.

To the right of my desk, surprise, surprise, I have another Ikea shelving unit. This time, it’s from the Lack collection, and it holds another letter board filled with various enamel pins, the Central Perk LEGO set, along with a printer and some notebooks. Again, this unit was perfect and gave me even more storage for my relatively small room.

The last wall

As for the final wall in the room, well, it’s not that interesting. I have a closet on one side that I removed the door from and added pretty pink curtains from Bouclair, with the other side simply having the door. That said, that door needs to be replaced, but we’re waiting to replace the doors upstairs all in one go.

So there you have it. That’s my home office and where I spend most of my days working away or teaching from. I’d love to see what your work-from-home space looks like. Share pictures or links in the comments.

Until next time!!!