office/guest bedroom reveal

After almost a year of living in our apartment, I finally finished our office/guest bedroom. For the longest time, I had no idea what I wanted to do with this space and it really stumped me trying to combine the need for a functional office and the needs of a functional guest bedroom but I think I finally did it! I wanted to walk you through the whole process so you can see creating a space that feels like you takes time, patience, and often a lot of flexibility.

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the original mood board

Click to shop the original mood board

This project turned out nothing like the original mood board but I wanted to show you so you can see how projects and plans change as you begin decorating a space. I originally wanted to go for a moody sophisticated look and even considered painting one of the walls a beautiful green color. However, our lease will be up soon and we’re not sure if we’ll stay or go so we decided it would be too much work to paint a wall to potentially have to repaint it in a couple of months. We also decided that the wall where I had originally planned the gallery wall would be my husband's to do what he wishes. Since it's in front of this desk and he doesn't have another space in our apartment for him to make his own, we thought it would be nice for him decorate it. He's already begun looking up ideas and playing around with upgrading his desk so I'm happy he's sharing my love for decorating even if we don't necessarily have the same style.

And even though I practically scrapped everything in the original mood board, I still think it's worth while to create one. Having a mood board gives you a space to brainstorm ideas and gets the creative juices flowing. And even if there are things you don't use from the mood board, you can see patterns and shapes that you would like to add to a space. For example, I ended up not adding a black dresser because there wasn't enough space with the guest bed open but I did love the way the black looked and decided to add black accents throughout the room.

the rug struggle

The first purchase I made for this room was the beautiful green rug. While I loved the color and brightness it added to the room, it didn’t work for our space. The rug is a washable rug, which is one of the reasons I purchased it, but that means it's very thin. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem for me but since it sits on top of carpet, it would never lay flat. Any time my husband would run his chair over it or Loki would run into the room, the entire rug would crumple up. I was really bummed about it not working out because it was basically the piece that my entire design revolved around. I started to look for other potential options and had recently purchased a new kitchen runner which I loved. That same runner design was available in larger sizes so I bought one for this room. Though the design was beautiful, it felt a little too blue and too boho in a larger size for what I wanted in this room. In the end, we used our living room rug. Three rugs later, I'm sure my husband was contemplating filing for divorce. Thankfully this rug was the one. It was large enough that we could spread it across the whole room and even though it's also washable, it has an almost foam-like backing so it's thick enough that my husband can run his chair over and it doesn’t crease. I actually like how light and airy it makes the room feel and I think its perfect for not only a calm office but inviting guest bedroom. Because of the neutral color, it’ll also be really easy to change out pillows and decor for the different seasons. I am already so excited to decorate this room for our holiday guests.

the original rug vs the final rug (ft. Loki)

the final touches

Once I got the rug situation taken care of, I got the rest of the room sorted pretty quickly. First, I decided to move my desk from my little office nook in our bedroom to our office. Though I loved my original little nook, it was a bit annoying not being able to open the bedroom door more. It's also been nice having our desks in the same room so we can work together.

For a side table, I originally bought another table on Facebook Marketplace which was in the original mood board that I didn't like in the room because it sunk into the carpet and looked lopsided. Instead, I used another table which we had in our entryway that I also purchased on Facebook Marketplace months ago. The other big item we moved in here was the wicker chest. Fun fact: this is the thrifted piece I've had the longest. Over 11 years! We were using it to store linens in our bedroom but since we got a console table for our room, we're using it in this room now to store the linens for our guest bed.

I also had an empty wall where I had originally planned to have the black dresser. I decided to use a peg rail and faux beadboard wallpaper that we already had to add a little bit of an accent and provide a bit of extra storage for guests to hang their clothes or bags without getting in the way of the pull out bed. Applying faux beadboard wallpaper is super easy and you can check out my blog post for a step by step guide.

Lastly, the thrifted painting. I did like the original faux painting especially because it tied in with the colors of the original green rug so well but once we swapped the rug out, it felt very out of place. Instead, I decided to create my own textile wall art to add a little bit of something interesting to the room while still keeping it modern and neutral. This is such an easy diy that you can do at home. All I did was paint over the faux canvas with some beige paint and then I hot glued the square of fabric down. Super simple and you have a modern art piece.

In the end, since I basically scrapped my original idea, I inadvertently ended up using things I already had in my home to complete my room makeover. I probably spent about $50 on a handful of new things specifically for this room. This goes to show you, you can really transform a room with minimal spending using things you already have and getting a bit creative.

You can check out the full video reveal of the office/guest bedroom below!