This is the home office that I made for myself back in 2019 in the little box room of our home. It served me well until I moved into the studio in Monaghan Town but I hope you can get some inspiration from it.
In this blog post, I’m excited to share the behind-the-scenes journey of turning a corner of my home into a haven of productivity and creativity.
I agree that setting up and decorating a home office is not quite the easiest thing to do. But with some creativity and with some expression of your personality, you can create a space that rings true for you—that lets you express yourself and, very importantly, helps increase your productivity.
My home office has seen some changes over the years. It started with a little black Argos desk in the living room (which had to be moved to the kitchen at Christmas in order to make room for the Christmas tree).
When we moved home, I was lucky enough to get a small room for that little black desk, but as soon as I purchased a 22-inch graphics tablet, I knew my little black desk days were numbered.
I needed something with a little more space, something that could accommodate my desktop computer, printer, monitor, and 22-inch graphics tablet. So, with a quick look on the Facebook marketplace, I came across a large beach effect desk for €30 that should do just the trick. Less than 24 hours later, I had a bigger desk, and my little black desk found a new home in my son’s room. It had served me well.
Anyway, I was never truly happy with the larger desk or my home office. It just didn’t have that WOW factor. Yes, I loved the fact that I now had a room. It was no Google Headquarters, but it was a step up from the living room, and I envied some of the home offices that I saw on Pinterest or YouTube.
I had a fair idea of how I wanted my office to look, and the first step was getting rid of the cream walls. I wanted something bright and decided to go with a light gray colour. The 5-litre tin ended up being way too much, but having it washable was important, as any parent will tell you.
The 5-litre tin cost me €58; add in another €15 for the rollers, brush, and masking tape, and we have a grand total of €73.
The next step was putting up some shelving in order to store my camera, lens, and a few other bits and pieces. I already had the brackets, but the two shelves set me back €25, along with another €12.50 for the black wood stain. So, we have a total of €37.50.
Now you can’t have a home office with just four bare walls. The next step was to get some pictures up. Being a graphic designer who sells wall decor online, this part wasn’t a problem for me. The illustrated poster I did of myself and my wife took the centre spot. Around that, I wanted to get some different shapes of pictures along with some good, vibrant colours.
Most of the frames I had from before, but I would estimate about €60 would cover them.
When I had all this done, I was ready to get to the desk.
I had seen so many home office desks online made up of kitchen worktops and had decided that I would like the same. So, I measured up from wall to wall to see what length I would need.
As it was going to be almost three metres long, I was going to need support, so I popped onto Amazon and picked up four matte effect legs for £28.50, which works out at around €32.
This was an exciting time for me, as I had been collecting the parts to build a new desktop computer, and it was finally ready to build. I got it built on a Friday and decided now was the time to complete the office by getting a cool desk to put this cool computer on.
The following day, myself and Bernie (my wife) popped down to IKEA in Dublin, and there I picked up two Alex drawer units, which set me back €110 for them both. With five drawers in each unit, they would provide plenty of storage space. The only drawback is that A3-sized paper doesn’t fit into them.
That night I got them to build and on a Sunday, I rang my father (who has a van) to ask for a lift to Woodies in Cavan to pick up the kitchen worktop. This was to be the most expensive part of the home office but I have to say, it was totally worth the money. The price was €168.
So that completed my office. It came a long way from the little black desk in the living room. I now have a really cool office with an awesome desktop computer, an almost three-metre long desk that provides lots of space for both monitors, the A3+ printer along with an area that I or my children can sketch or write.
The total cost of the paint, frames, shelves, and desk was €480.50
All that is left now is to get some sort of cable management kit in order to hide all the wires but I have to say, for just under €500 I have built myself a cool little home office that I can sit back and admire.
Anyway, I hope you can take some kind of inspiration or ideas from this home office blog. Your personalised touch not only makes it aesthetically pleasing but also transforms it into a haven that inspires focus and innovation.
