We’re finally to the Kelly Cottage office low budget makeover to which I’ve alluded a post or two ago. Since I’m slow as Christmas, I’m breaking it into two several posts.

A Look Back

In this year’s journey through my room-by-room low budget makeovers, you’ve seen the “breathtaking back foyer fix-up,” the “lovely laundry-room revamp,” and the “pretty pantry perk-up.” (Looks like I need to “redo” my post titles with this sudden burst of alliteration inspiration…) I started at the back door of my home and have been moving gradually forward. I decided to skip over the kitchen for now, as I feel like I’m still working my way up to the “main” rooms. That brings us to my office. And boy, has it opened a whole can of worms!

First things first: DECLUTTER!

I’ve told you in previous posts how the most dramatic improvement in any room (besides perhaps a drastic paint color change) is decluttering. Well, the “Achilles-heel” of most decluttering projects is PAPER CLUTTER. There’s almost no other area where you can spend SO MUCH time for SO LITTLE noticeable improvement. 

But y’all… it’s necessary AND rewarding!

 And aside from the worst jumble of cords you’ve ever seen, the majority of my clutter in the office is paper-related.

So for the last couple of weeks, I’ve been taking a deep dive into my remaining paper clutter. I say remaining because I’ve actually put in a concerted effort over the last several years to get a handle on my paper. As a former school teacher, who’s also a 15-year homeschool mom and a fastidious record-keeper, married to an attorney (!) who has practiced either full-time or on the side for the last 20+ years, I’ve got no shortage of paper. 

I will probably go more in depth in a future post about my paper problem and what I’m doing to solve it, but for now, let’s just say it’s been an extra challenge before I could ever start working on the fun part of the office redo.

But this past weekend, I finally started to get my hands dirty on some repair and makeover work.

Goals

As I’ve said before, my goal in each room is to SIMPLIFY the upkeep as much as possible, by removing anything not essential to the main function of the room and rearranging any elements of the room as needed.

I’ve also wanted to make the rooms more user-friendly to my aging eyes—therefore lightening up the mostly dark colors.

And finally, if I can do anything within my strict budget to beautify the rooms, I’m attempting to do that also.

So here’s the situation:

• a desk that provides very little workspace, with messed-up pull-out keyboard drawer, with lamps I still like
• some necessary digital clutter, some not so necessary
• bookshelf of cookbooks and personal and professional interest-related books
• filing cabinet; metal, slide-out drawer filing organizer; and tiered organizer hanging on wall (behind bookshelves, not visible in picture)–none of which are being properly utilized
• over-full French memo board, framed full year calendar, write-on-wipe-off to-do board, and decorative plates

• dark orange walls—with TONS, TONNNNNSSSS!!! of surface imperfections
• same wide trim like you’ve seen before, with 100 years worth of paint runs, bad caulk jobs, and nail holes

• dark light fixture that directs glaring light downward
• butler’s pantry with no intentional decorating scheme for several years now, and storage underutilized. (Will address this side of the room–pictured on the right–in another post.)

And the progress so far…

So for the Office LOW BUDGET Makeover Part 1, I’ve tackled…

1. A lot of the paper clutter as I mentioned above. It’s really still a work in progress. I’m looking to actually eliminate my filing cabinet, because it’s more long-term storage of items I no longer need than actually active files. AND LONG-TERM, HARDLY EVER CRACKED OPEN STORAGE SHOULD NOT BE IN ACTIVE, MAIN LIVING AREAS OF YOUR HOME (Plus I really need to consider that if I almost never look at it, do I need to keep it anyway…?) My desk area should be reserved for active, daily, CURRENT pursuits and any accompanying needed supplies. I emphasize this for myself, because it seems like I should know this by now, but I need reminding. If anyone else is helped by this, well… BONUS!
2. Repairing and repainting the walls.
3. Procuring supplies to finish the redo: I went back to the ReStore and bought a hollow-core door plus a cabinet I plan to repurpose to fashion a larger desk. I also bought a new-to-me light fixture. Stay tuned to see how it all turns out!

Blessings,