My husband and I purchased a house a year ago and have been working to bring it up to modern times.
It was originally a three-bedroom, one-bathroom home, but the previous owners had converted the third bedroom into a master bathroom and left a small 12×4 ft room.
Initially, we didn’t know what to do with such a small room.
We considered using it as additional closet space but ended up trying to make it work as a home office.
The previous owner used this room as a walk-in closet, but since it wasn’t connected to the master bedroom, Rochelle decided to convert it into her home office
I work from home, and my job focuses on analysing and synthesising large amounts of data, so I often need to work in complete silence to focus better.
When decorating the home office, my main goal was to design a tranquil and organised environment where I could fully concentrate while also making it a space where I’d enjoy spending eight hours a day.
I’m a huge Anglophile and have been to England many times, so one of the ways I personalised my office was by putting up all of the little trinkets I have gotten from England while visiting.
Rochelle is happy that she can showcase her cherished possessions in a private space
For example, I have a commemorative Platinum Jubilee plate from my last visit, a small plate commemorating Queen Victoria’s 200th birthday from another trip, some beautiful gold prints from a street art seller on the South Bank, and my personal favourite — a little Queen Elizabeth figurine that waves when the sun hits a solar panel on her purse.
These little touches personalise my office and make it feel like more than just a workspace.
From start to finish, it took me about two weeks to redecorate my office.
I bought everything from Amazon.
I wanted quick delivery and was ready for my office to be more than just the one sad work desk I had been using for the year prior.
Rochelle made use of vertical space in her small home office by installing a wall-mounted desk by Nathan James Theo
When I was looking for furniture for this room, I wanted a desk that saved as much space as possible and that I could easily scoot my office chair into when not in use.
My previous desk was too low, so my office chair couldn’t be pushed under it.
The desk and chair combo took up the entire 4 ft width of the room, which blocked half of an already tiny room from use.
It not only completely opened the room up for movement by having enough height to push my office chair under, but it also created a perfect use of vertical space with the wall shelves for storage.
I also have two cats that like to spend their time in the office when I’m working.
I initially considered getting a small cat tree for the window area, but instead decided to try finding a small but functional chair for both the cats and me to enjoy.
Rochelle’s cats, her husband, and herself all love this chair. The cats lounge on it, her husband sits there when dropping by for a chat, and she likes to snuggle down in it to read a book
The main struggle we faced while furnishing this office was removing the furniture that was already in the room before we remodelled it.
The computer desk, computer chair, and large bookshelf were all far too large for this small room, and as a result, they ended up leaving several paint scratches on the walls when we moved them out of the room.
