We spend a lot of time in our home office. We have plans to build a nice big desk that we can both work at simultaneously, but for now it gets the job done. Just like the rest of the house, this room was also ‘sell my house beige’. It annoyed me. It seemed so gungy and never really felt clean. So a few weekends ago I did something about it. I busted out the white paint. I love white paint. White paint makes the world a better place. Seriously.

Here is what the office looked like before.

Here is what it looked like once I got started filling the holes, painting the trim, etc. The dogs were my helpers. By help I mean they slept on the drop cloth.

I basically put the room back the way it was. This was just a quick refresh, not a full on project. Other than paint, the only major thing I did was to change the window covering.

We’ve had these red curtains from IKEA for ever. We bought them when we lived in a hideous high rise in the city and haven’t used them since. I installed the curtain rod as high as I could and boom! the room actually looks like it has high ceilings – which it does! It looks the way it is supposed to, big, bright, and clean. The perfect place to get the job done. Or this blog. Whatever floats your boat right!?

A quick note about the fabulous chair in the corner. I got this at a garage sale last summer for $5. Yes, FIVE DOLLARS. I love it. Here is what it looks like without the little throw.

Now you understand the throw. I still need to re-upholster it (duh), but haven’t quite figured out what fabric I want. In the meantime, it gets used a lot. It’s my favourite place to enjoy a coffee on the weekend with my iPad on my lap.

The carpet too was a bit of a score. Neighbours of ours moved to England and were selling quite a bit of their house’s contents, and we got this rug for $20 from them. They originally bought it in Turkey. With the red curtains the carpet really pops now. Makes the room feel a little less like a random collection of furniture (which it is).

See what a little white paint can do? It works miracles I tell you.