This spring, we dove into the task of renovating a space that had long been burdened by clutter and plain white walls: our office! What started as a purely functional space evolved into a hub for creativity, where we work with our team, entertain guests, or crack open a good book (check out our favorites here).
In this post, we’ll take you through the entire process of renovating of our office space into a moody, multi-purpose den —from the initial creative vision to installing the final touches.
Let’s start from the beginning: here’s what we were working with back in February:
Despite our best intentions to keep the house organized, this room slowly became cluttered overtime. At the time of the renovation, it was almost exclusively being used for overflow and storage. In other words, it became a dumping ground for stuff. It held extra furniture, our Peloton, a rowing machine, a TV, an office chair, and well… just about anything that would fit. To declutter this space was a big undertaking but once we got the renovation bug, we quickly found inspiration to give it a much-needed facelift.
After clearing out the room (this was quite the process… check out our vlog to see what we mean), we came up with a plan. We knew we needed a lot of storage, and that it would likely need to be custom to account for the fireplace bump-out in this room. It was also important to us that this space could be multi-purpose i.e. as an office, a lounge area, and for entertaining. It needed to inspire creativity but also encourage relaxation. This led us to design a built-in units and shelving throughout the space, which double as seating and storage. While these multi-use functional solutions required additional time and construction to plan out, it allowed us to get the most out of the space.
The first step of the renovation was starting with a blank canvas. This was important to give us a neutral base for the moody paint and creative vision that we had for this space.
To add utility to the space, we worked with our neighbor-turned-friend, Greg, to install built-in shelving. It was important for us to maximize the dead space between our windows and fireplace, which we were able to do through this custom shelf solution.
For the cabinets, we used basic casings, but added a bit of texture by creating a shaker-style border around the doors. We also had to add ventilation in the wood as these cabinets double as radiator covers!
Finally, we installed easily accessible outlets on the bottom of the cabinets. This makes it easier for us to work in the room without having to worry about extension cords to access electrical and charging stations.
Next, we got to work on a custom seating area. This is one of our favorite DIYs to-date because it looks like it was hard to make, but it was a very simple process! We took flexi-board to create a curved shape around the unit and completed the look with plywood. By installing cabinet hinges on the unit, we were able to transform this seating area into a secret storage unit. For the final touch, we designed a custom cushion for the top of the seating area, which pulls together all of the moody tones (mostly purple and brown) throughout the room. Watch our office renovation vlog to see the process of building this unit.
Another fun DIY project in our office den refresh was designing custom closet doors. The previous bi-fold doors didn’t match the new look, and we wanted to infuse some historic charm. Cue: the Brownstone Boys vintage glass door hack! You might have seen us do this in the past. We cut an opening in the doors to install a beautiful textured glass, which hides the clutter in the closet. The finishing touch was installing a pair of vintage doorknobs, which made this corner feel designed.
Last but not least, the paint. From the beginning, we knew that this room would look incredible with a moody color drench. After looking through hundreds of samples, we decided to use Brinjal from Farrow & Ball. It was a bold move to paint the whole room in such a deep color but knew it would pay off. (P.S. Look how far Barry has come with using color??! ????)
We opted for Farrow & Ball’s Dead Flat finish, which is an ultra-matte paint that can be used on a variety of surfaces from wood and walls to metal and more. It was the perfect texture for a room full of woodwork. For the application, we used this paint sprayer to ensure an even application.
For the final touches, we added some of our favorite furniture from the West Elm x Billy Cotton collab including the couch, chairs, and coffee table to complete the set. Then our Loloi x Chris Loves Julia rug REALLY tied the room together. We are so happy with the final outcome.
Overall, we couldn’t be happier with how this room turned out. It’s SUCH a big difference from where we started earlier this year, and we have so many more plans for this space!
Keep up with the project on Instagram, and check out our vlog below to watch our process.
