$100 Office-Guest Bedroom Makeover

In our two bedroom house, as the layout of the home would have it, we’ve had to set up our office in the guest bedroom. On most days we needed it to be a functioning office space with a side of guest bedroom, but we also wanted it ready-set for a visitor at any moment. We needed it done fast, so we could move on to the more pressing home repair issues, and we wanted to get it done dirt cheap, as well.

BEFORE

For our first few months in the new house, this was our office/storage space. The office was set up with Ken’s glass top desk. Although he’d had the desk for years and really like it, it did not have the bones we needed to get our best use of space and storage in the office area.

After some consideration, I knew that I wanted a desk that had a hutch top for storage and compartments under the desk to hide the computer.

$100 office guest bedroom makeover

About $100 later, we’ve managed to give the office-guest bedroom a pretty decent makeover by purchasing a used desk from Craigslist, a thrifted office chair and some 2nd hand wall art. We also pulled various other pieces from our own inventory all the while dealing with the wrong paint color on the walls.

I found this desk on Craigslist for $65. It did take a few months to find just the right one, but it was worth the patience to find a desk that was in the right color scheme, had the size dimensions we needed, had a usable hutch, and had storage compartments under the desk.

The added bonus was that it is also a corner unit, which fits nicely into our 9′ x 12′ room.

I found a clean and good quality office chair at a 2nd hand furniture store for $9. I also found the the weave print blanket for $4 on one of my recent thrifting excursions. I covered the chair with the blanket for some pop and texture.

Side note: This room butts up against the sun porch (Ken’s current game room) and there are blinds on the sun porch windows, so although we know want to put up a window covering, it isn’t required with just the two of us living here. But it’s on the list 😉

I already had the lamp and memo board, and I simply repainted the two old register grates that were in our townhouse basement with a paint wash of black craft paint.

I hung the 2nd register grate on the opposite wall from the desk along with two fun pieces of wall art that were also picked up during my thrifting extravaganza.

I could not walk out of the store without that Schnauzer print, even if it didn’t work in this room, but I feel like it fits right in. What do you think?

If you are wondering why the “Wish it” sign is hanging sideways, it’s because the wording on the sign is actually painted on crooked, haha. Not so noticeable when hung sideways, right? But it was cute… and only $3.

Also pulled from our townhouse basement stock:

-The black metal futon (bed), which was used as a couch in the townhouse basement.

-The wooden crate cat cubby, which sadly isn’t needed for our Kitty anymore because he ran away (can’t talk about it, we are still in morning.)

-The decoupaged newspaper lamp, which came from the basement craft room area.

BEFORE

AFTER

For about a total of $100 in used pieces, choosing not to repaint at the moment, and using other furniture and decor that we already had, we have managed to get another room in this house functioning, equipped with lots more storage space and rather cozy to boot.

BEFORE

AFTER

It’s obvious to me that the paint color is still off, especially at night with the warm lighting, but it IS livable.

I might hang some photos on the wall above the bed, I’m sure I will add bits here and there, and I’ve got an idea for some window treatments. But for the most part, this room is done for the moment, and we can forge ahead to the next few challenges on our list.

UPDATE (2021): We finally gave this space a more complete update. Check out the striking dark blue bedroom /office makevoer that has us pumped to keep going with the rest of the rooms in our home.