(Mini) Office Space

One challenge facing many homeowners is a lack of space, and when space does become an issue, often times the first thing to go is the home-office. Since the danes have their own room (which stores their crate, food, beds, and toys) and the other spare room is a guest room, we had to get a little creative. Beau needed a space where he could work on his freelance and where all of his things were together, organized, and separated from the chaos. Well...he got two of the three - there's no escaping the chaos when you live with two great danes...and me. Especially when your "office" separates the kitchen and the dining space.

The kitchen wall opposite from the sink and dishwasher steps back about one foot as you leave the kitchen and walk into the dining space. It creates the illusion that you're leaving one room and entering another when in fact, it's all one big room. Either way - starting where it is set back a foot, there is a seven foot space before you hit the frame of the bedroom door. Also know as...Beau's office space!

To meet the needs to this fairly tight area, we needed furniture that would allow us to walk through the kitchen into the dining area comfortably. The perfect solution was a very narrow antique piece of furniture we picked up from a antique store in Denham Springs, LA a few years ago. At about a foot and a half deep and 5 feet long, it fits the space perfectly! It's tall enough to hold a trash can and other miscellaneous baskets and wires underneath while allowing a clean work space on top. One key is to keep a desk like this clutter-free. Since it is such a tight space to begin with, the clutter seems to be amplified. We kept ours simple by only adding small speakers, a lamp, a candle, and ornament sticks (I really don't know what to call them!) To give the space a more "office feel", we added this simple alphabet art piece (which we ordered from Ikea and shipped via Love Blue Bag).

Hopefully this will help inspire you to get your office off your dining room table or out of your closet and find a space that REALLY works!