Mission Re-Decorate: The Office

If you read my post on re-decorating our entry way, you know that we are in the process (the slow budget-conscious process) of re-decorating our home in the style we now know we love. The entry way is one runner rug away from being complete. I have ordered a rug and hopefully I can show you the before and after photos next week when it gets here!

So, now that the entry way is complete, it is on to the next room! The Office! Well, this room is actually our formal dining room. After much consideration, we decided to re-purpose the rooms in our home to make the house more functional for our needs. We NEVER used our formal dining room...EVER! I hated that! What a waste of space! It is an open room that is off the main hallway in our home and I thought why not turn it into an office. Especially now that I have started my business up again, we really needed a space where I could work and entertain clients. My husband and I both agreed that this was the smartest way to use that space.

One thing I can't stand is when a home builder "tells" you what each room is suppose to be or where you have to put your bed, TV, etc. just by the layout of the room or house. Who says this room HAS to be a formal dining room? Even our living room is designed with a small cut out in the wall next to the fireplace that "tells" you to put your TV here. I ignored that too and put it on the opposite wall. I challenge you to design your home the way it works for you and your family. Ignore what the builder/architecture tells you to do!
The first thing I wanted to put in the office was a desk. I looked all over for a simple, Hamptons style desk and guess what?! I found NOTHING! Or if I did find something I liked, it was over $500. I didn't even want a desk with drawers. Just a table top with 4 legs! Is that too much to ask? I guess so. And after weeks of feeling frustrated and hours scrolling through Craigslist, I came across these 2 table bases. I was instantly drawn to them because of their style and then I saw the price...only $30 for the pair! I had to have them!

Once they were in my possession, my creative juices started flowing. What could I use for a table top? I scoured Craigslist again, went to Ikea, and then ended up at Home Depot. I liked the idea of using 1x4's to build a table top. We bought 4 of them along with some dark brown/black stain. I thought I would just stain them, lay them side by side and nail them down to the bases. The boards were already 6' long and they were only $5 each!

I painted the bases white to give them a more fresh, beachy look. Then I stained the boards. I had never stained anything before, but it was so easy. I just used an old rag to rub on the stain until I got the color I wanted. It only took one coat since the stain was so dark. I wanted to boards to have a beach wood or reclaimed wood look. Once everything was dry we nailed them down to the bases with a nail gun.

I am so happy with the way it turned out and it literally only cost $60 to make!! This type of project could be done with your dining table, coffee table, end tables, etc. And if you can't find table bases sold by themselves, I would just look on craigslist or at garage sales to find an old table that you could remove the base from and re-purpose it with a different top! I hope this inspires you to make something creative!