Our house is definitely not big, but it’s right for us. We use every spare inch of it, except for one room: our formal dining room. We just aren’t formal kind of people, but even rarely used, it holds an old table and thrift store chairs. And dust.
I’ve been itching for a home office for months. We can’t justify moving and I simply don’t want the expense or headache of one.
[I couldn't find a lot of inspiration for such a transformation. I googled and asked friend's opinions, I made my hubby move furniture in and out and was actually unsure of this idea.]
But I finally got up the courage! So. I talked my hubby into letting me change our formal dining room into a home office. (He was very agreeable, he just didn’t think it would look that great).
Before:
(Yes, that’s the table that got hung in the doorway at midnight. It was hilarious, but only to me. My hubby did not laugh one bit).
After:
This is now the busiest room in the house! My hubby included (yes, he loves it!)
What I did:
I kept the paint, curtains, rug the same and two of my dining room chairs. I just didn’t want to spend more money than needed. I also kept my dining room hutch.
Nearly everything else came from Ikea! You can really stretch a dollar in that store. We bought the gorgeous chair, shelves, desk (which is really a $69 dining room table!), and storage boxes. I got the desk lamp and skirt around the desk (which is actually one curtain panel I cut and velcro’d) at Target.
This room inspires me.
Who knows, I might even write a book in it!
It looks great!
GORGEOUS!!!
I LOVE it!
Bee-YOO-tea-ful!!!!
That is brilliant! I love it…
Beautiful! Great job!
It looks great! Now if only I had a formal dining room I could turn into a sewing room I'd be all set. My current office shares a room with the playroom and guest room. No room left for more stuff!
It looks awesome! I'm so glad you did away with the formal dining in favor of the office. You will love it and your family will too.
It's breathtaking!!!! Please come do the same to my formal dining room that I use probably once a year
LOVE IT!!!! GREAT JOB!!!
It's beautiful!!! I lost my formal dining room last year … to a play room:( Definitely worth it but still makes me a tad sad!
I think it looks amazing!!! Excellent job!
nice work, it looks great!
blessings,
shana
Wow! Looks great! Love it!
Now that's an office!!
That is AWESOME!!!
Fabulous! My sister actually did the same thing with their teeny formal living room – since they do all their "living" in their bigger, comfier family room. Without seeing the results (yours and my sister's) I would think the idea sounds really weird, but it's really a great use of space. Families are living differently these days than when some of our houses were built, so you might as well change the rooms to suit the way you really live. Brava!
Oh, wow! WOW! LOVE. IT! Need to show my hubby to see if I can do the same with my "you walk into the front door and this is what you see" room in my house. We can't make up our minds what to do with it, but I think he might go for something as put together as that!
This room is fabulous! I know you will get a lot of use out of your new office. Great job.
He doubted you?
You outdid yourself!!
Janet
Oh, it's LOVELY! We made our DR into a "kid office" but it's not nearly so cozy and inviting!
Very pretty room! Looks like a wonderful room to feel inspired in.
That is a fabulous transformation!! Great work!
Oh, wow! Looks great!
Absolutely gorgeous. I love your new home office truly inspiring and so calming.
Gorgeous! Will you come and find room for one in my house? I love it!
Gorgeous! Will you come and find room for one in my house? I love it!
Haven't been by in awhile! That looks sweeeeeeeeet!
Love it, you did a great job!
We just turned our formal living room into a home office, even put doors on the open doorway. We Love it and it gives my husband more privacy and quiet when he works from home.
That came out great!
Love it, love it, love it! Love the skirted table…and the shelves…and the chair. I was waiting to see that hutch on the curb, though!
If it starts to feel too crowded in there, I know someone who will take it off your hands!
I like it! And I recognize that chair as the backdrop for your hubby's He Said videos!
Ahh…reclaimed space…so wonderful. It looks lovely! Great job.
That's an incredibly cool transformation for use of space!! I wish someone would come and do that to my entire house… I haven't any creative genes whatsoever!
Love it, love it! What a great use of space!
Wow! This is awesome! Can you come do this for our dining room!
yes this room rocks! Write a book. I'd read it! lol! congrats! Just hit ikea today myself and came out with some great finds!
do you shop the As Is section ever?
I love it! It totally looks like a picture from a magazine. I bet your house feels a little bigger, now that you've got a "new" room to use!
Just doing a little blog surfing tonight and hit upon your blog. Love the new "office." Great transformation.
I also appreciate your candor and honest testimony in He said She said.
It is a blessing to others to see you work through this and continue on in Faith and Trust. What the devil means for evil, God transforms into good. Paraphrased by me:)
I also hope your trip to Kenya is one of great reward. I went to Tanzania in '08. A trip I will never forget, and hope to be able to repeat in the time I have left here on earth.
What a lovely space – I would love to work at that desk:) Jo
So gorgeous! And so organized… I appreciate the inspiration
IT is wonderful! Do you want to come help me at my house?
Oooh, I love the fabric!
Congrats on a great room renovation!
I love it!! Now maybe I'll go work on my craftroom.
Looks great! Nice to picture you there composing your fun posts!
can I hire you to redecorate my house? lol. I love what you did with it!
wow- that's fabulous! I LOVE it! I may have to bookmark this one for inspiration later.
Plus, it looks like the perfect place for sipping sweet tea!
Kristin,
Very nice! If I lived there, that room would inspire me too!!!
Great Idea,we would never use a formal dining area either. We like our shared kitchen/dining space.
Wow! Great looking room! Now I want a home office!
I love love love how this turned out!! We didnt build a dining room in our house for the same reason, it wouldnt get used but wish I did just so I could do what you did
very very very jealous of ikea though, closet to me is about 9 hours away!
I have no doubt you'll write a book in there! It's gorgeous! Great job!!
great job! I too was skeptical, but it's lovely – no crazy cords or "cheap looking" furniture!
Oh that looks WONDERFUL!!!
Fantastic! It doesn't look too much like an office with the hutch still there and the cozy chair. I would want to be in that room all the time.
Wow, this looks amazing. Can you come decorate my house?
Adorable. Good job. We made our formal dining room into an office too. Get's way more use!
I bet that room is feeling so happy and loved right now!! Good for you and it looks so beautiful. Oh, and um, manly too for your husband.
We are using our tiny dining room space for a sitting room and I'm so happy with it. Although, really, we still never use it. Sad.
I love it! So wish we had an extra room to convert. I would do it in a heartbeat! : )
I LOVE it Kristen!! I've been looking for a hutch in my office…love yours!!
Wow.. great transformation! I use our living as an office, but it looks NUTHIN like this! You have great creative skills.
I might have to steal the shelving, I KNOW that is what is missing here. And to think I was gonna use a cork board, but this looks so much better!
Great job!
So beautiful! I absolutely love the colors. Will be saving the pics in my ideas file.
great job – love all the black and white! know you'll super enjoy it!
I love it! It came out absolutely gorgeous, the colors are FANTASTIC!!
Oh my lands, I love it. So does my husband.
After seeing this we spent 20 minutes staring at our dining room- we could do this, and this, or that….
I love how you use things like curtains from Target my fav store too, and re-purpose them.
You are talented, woman!
Beautiful! We are getting ready to move back to Houston and I can't wait to decorate my new house. Where did you get the chandelier?
I found SO. MUCH. STUFF. at Hobby Lobby today that would look fabu in your new office – I thought of you when I saw it
WOW!! It is truly a thing of beauty!! I love it!!
Hey! I found these frames that would look great in your new room. They are part of a giveaway!
Check it out:
http://littlebgcg.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-very-first.html
Janet
I would buy and read any book you wrote!
Great room! 
Looks fabulous! Love it.
It's perfect. I know it's nice to turn an unused space into something that gets LOTS of use!!
Wow! That looks great. You've inspired me to reclaim and redo my home office space. I've already got those Ikea shelves too!!
Oh my! Can I come use your desk? I love it! Makes me want to drive 2 1/2 hours to the nearest idea and make a home office. Beautiful space. {I came over from the Nester's tumblr site.}
WOWSERS! That looks awesome! Way to create Kristen!
Kim in Alabama
That looks fabulous! Great job!
I like it better as an office than a dining room. Love the skirted table. FUNctional and SO cute!
I LOVE it!!! Great choice for color and decor!
Yay! A fresh new place to be creative in…
Can't wait to hear more about that book.
I have been working on one for about 5 years now.
Blessings
You did a great job with the conversion.
You have such great color sense and taste! I love how you were able to use a lot of your things, and since you did, it blends right in. I love it!
I love it! We did something very similar except instead of an office, we turned ours into a reading room. We had only used our formal dining room 3 times in 3 years and now we spend more time in this room than in any other. Check it out http://adventuresofmywonderfullife.blogspot.com/2010/01/bee-in-my-bonnet.html
Oh and I love your blog. I only recently found it and tune in every day! Thanks for sharing!
love it! such a great use of otherwise wasted space!
Beautiful!
I love how you tied it all in together!
Color me jealous! That room is GORGEOUS!!!
Oooh, I love it!
I really, really like this! Weonly use our dining room when we have company, about 8 times a year… I don't know why I never thought to claim that space before…
I just love it and you sure did an amazing job!
Just beautiful! Black and white are my absolute favorite!
So pretty. Love the black and white with red. So classy. I think it would be one of my favorite rooms in the house too. Glad hubby likes it too.
Enjoy it!
Cindy
This is totally inspiring. We are in the process of totally redoing our house and we need to do something with our office. I love the way this turned out! Can you come do my office next?
That looks amazing!! I am so jealous.
Your new office is gorgeous. I am loving your blog so much! Just stumbled onto it a couple of days ago and watched your Chik-fil-A sweet tea vlog. Well today I found this video by Tim Hawkins singing a song called Chik-fil-A and I immediately thought of you. It is hilarious. He's a Christian comedian if you've never heard of him, so nothing to worry about there–he's just really funny. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsJHqstPuNo&feature;=related
Looks great! I love Ikea, but unfortunately (or fortunately if you ask my hubby) we have to drive 2 hours to get to one. We've started changing our formal dining room into a project/sewing/creating area for my boys and me. I agree it is a much better use of space. GREAT JOB!
It looks fabulous!
Really lovely. What a great use of space. You may just be the next TLC home decorating diva.
It is gorgeous! I love it!
I'm inspired too!
Get busy…..write sister write!
It looks sooooo PRETTY…lovin' the black and white!
Blessings,
Linda
Kristen, I know this has been said 95 times, but it looks awesome!! Very nice. I especially love the shelves and black storage boxes!!! =)
jealous, jealous, jealous! that room is GORGEOUS!!!
I love, love, love it! I have always thought of offices as kind of junky looking and pretty boring. You have changed my mind completely. We do have a dedicated office that is kind of junky and boring, but I am so inspired to remedy that now! I have about 15 other projects lined up first, but I am looking foward to making our home office looke beautiful
I love it! It is so pretty!!
WOW !! This is beautiful !! AND, functional … excellent job !! Thanks for sharing. Beccs (Adventures in Decorating)
WOW!
Great job! Our dining room has been a home office for me and hubby from day one (almost 4 years ago). We LOVE it.
Holy MOSES that turned out cool! I love it. SO practical and SO pretty! Nice work, mama.
What a great transformation!
Your post totally inspired me (and my husband). We had 5 (yes 5) people and 4 computers sharing our current office (formerly the formal living room). Within 24 hours, the dining room is now MY office and I can breathe again. Thanks for sharing.
You did a FABULOUS job! Wow! I just looks like it was meant to be! Love it!
Looks AWESOME! Um…can I come work in your office? I WISH I had a space like that!
I will not covet. I will not covet. I will not covet.
Fabo! Love it. Good for you.
So pretty. Love it all.
What a beautiful space!!!! Great job!!!
What a great office! I love the red, black and white and you did an awesome job! It is just gorgeous! :o)
Oh my goodness – this is SO NICE!! I would love to have an office like this!!!!!