Guest Blogger: Maggie's Home Office Makeover

Thanks to Maggie for sharing her home office update, while I take the day off.  Happy Labor Day!  Check back tomorrow to participate in my first ever link party.



Hi, I'm Maggie from Maggie Rose. We recently updated our crowded home office - and it was a lesson learned that you don't always have to spend a lot to get a dramatic transformation. Sometimes it's a matter of getting rid of items rather than adding them. Take a look at our before (yikes!):



Cute but crowded - and the other side of the room was just as bad, furniture lined every inch of wall space...



Something had to go, but since we both do work from home, we weren't up for sharing a desk. Finally the pullout sofa (leftover from my pre-living-together bachelorette pad) went on the chopping block. We just didn't have enough over-night guests to justify the space it took up, and it was a clutter magnet. We sold it on Craigslist, then started rearranging. I had loved my desk at the window, but our (black) cat Thisbe loved it more and was leaving fur all over while knocking things off. So all I knew was my desk had to move. Here's what we came up with:







You'll notice that we decluttered more than just the sofa - the shelves are emptier. I also rearranged books and storage so that like-items were now together (the sewing books are now with the sewing machine on the small white shelf). I cleared most of the stuff off my desk to be less tempting for kitty.

The only new items were for my new wall space over my desk. The bulletin board is a cork board from Target covered in linen and finished with brass nailheads. I also got a Made By Girl print ("I love you, blogs and coffee") and framed it in an Ikea frame we already had. In the corner above the printer, we used Lindsay's free flag download for a little bunting banner.

Thanks Emily for letting me share my little project! It took some heavy lifting, but in the end, having a dramatic change (SO much more space!) for so few dollars was totally worth it!