A Look at Our moody, traditional Home Office Transformation
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Our home office was the first major project we tackled after moving in. It took us 18 months after construction wrapped up to finally feel ready to commit to another multi-week project. Unfortunately, this room sits right at the front entrance of our home, behind glass doors, making it an unavoidable eyesore. Beyond aesthetics, stacks of boxes filled with books and files had taken over the space, so it was time to take action.
Inspiration & Planning
I had been gathering inspiration from Pinterest, and those ideas became the starting point for our design. We decided to build the bookcases from wall to wall. At first, my husband was concerned they would be too large, but stopping them short felt even more awkward. We did feel carrying the bookshelves to the 10′ ceiling was a bit tall, so we let the door and window headers dictate the stopping point for our vertical height so the line around the room felt intentional.
Built-in Bookshelf
I had been searching for a desk on Facebook Marketplace that could fit between the bookcases, but in the end, my husband opted to build one himself. We installed a vertical tongue-and-groove shiplap between the bookcases to add texture and visual interest. For efficiency, we used a paint sprayer and painted most of the built-ins outside before bringing them in. This way, we only needed to fill nail holes and do minor touch-ups rather than draping off the entire room for spraying or the more time-consuming task of rolling paint—once you use a paint sprayer, you never want to go back to painting by hand (here is my current paint sprayer & here is a great budget option I used for years). We painted the base and trim separately, then installed them last, finishing with nail hole touch-ups.
DEcor Finds
As for the rest of the decor, we scored some amazing Marketplace finds! The Thomasville vintage drafting desk was just $75, and it’s such a high-quality, heavy piece. We also found our office doors for $300—originally someone’s front doors. Since we found them before framing on our house began, we could frame the space accordingly, which saved us a ton compared to the $1,500–$1,800 quotes we were getting for French-style doors! The large world map print was another budget-friendly win—a $10 yard sale find. The vintage-inspired rug, built-in hardware (currently unavailable but I linked similar here & here), return air vent grate, leather desk pad, and art wall light all came from Amazon. We had pre-wired for a light above the bookcase during construction, so this sconce is hardwired, but I’ll also link the battery-operated art lights I’ve used elsewhere in our home here.
Paint colors
For paint, I wanted a moody, masculine dark color. Benjamin Moore’s Cheating Heart had been on my paint wishlist for a while. We had tested it in our downstairs powder bath, but since that room lacked natural light, the color looked almost black. However, our office has a large window with ample sunlight, and sure enough, the blue-gray undertones came through beautifully. It paired perfectly with Benjamin Moore’s White Dove on the surrounding walls, so we went for it.
I love how this office turned out! The dark moody blue, rich wood tones, and vintage-inspired patterned rug create the traditional, classic look we envisioned. It’s a space that feels timeless & functional!
