A Masculine Home Office

Creating a space on the main level of our home where my husband could sit to search the web and do light office work was an assignment I had for a few months already. It was a very inexpensive makeover and I'm here to report that the man of the house is happy, spending a good chunk of time every single day in this little space.

It was last year while in the middle of the pandemic that I had to turn this unused space into a makeshift office where my daughter could study and take virtual classes.

I quickly built and installed this trio of floating shelves and she loved them.

Teal, white and pink girl office with floating shelves

Well, it was a temporary solution as she was in her final semester. Now that she's out of college and the world is slowly going back to normal, she didn't need this workstation any longer.

However, before dismantling the entire setup, I remembered that my husband wanted to have another work area on the main level of the house, as his main office in the basement gets way too cold for his liking during winter.

My task was to turn this little corner of our living room into the right masculine home office and I think I totally nailed it!

THE BIGGEST CHANGE CAME WITH PAINT

Yes, the teal had to go. Instead, I used this dark color, a remnant of what I used in my bedroom. I thought about using/buying black paint, but I turned against that idea. Why buy more paint when I could use this pretty charcoal color!

The beauty of DIY'ing, as I usually say, is that you know exactly how everything was installed and you can uninstall it easily.

The shelves were brought down to paint the wall. Oh, and those shelves were painted right there, on top of the carpet. No spills. ;)

A NEW (THRIFTY) DESK

Last year when I was gathering furnishings for this bedroom, I scored this pretty desk on Marketplace for only thirty bucks. In the end, we didn't use it there, as my client ordered another desk.

I've used this little desk in our mudroom all this time. I filled it with Christmas décor for the holidays, but lately, it's been the spot to store Louie's stuff. 🐶

I could've left the floating shelf/desk in place, but when working on a space you need to work around your client's likes and needs.

dark desk with cubbies and little drawers

Similar options: | Desk 1 | Desk 2 | Desk 3 |

Mr. RLC loves gadgets!

A flat surface would turn into a pile of papers, boxes, and bags filled with electronics in a blink of an eye.

I knew this desk would be perfect for him with those cute drawers and the little cubbies for papers and electronics.

He was fast at setting up his space.

The first item to debut was his cell phone tripod mount.

For you and me, a regular 15-dollar cell phone tripod would do.

Ha, that's not the case for Mr. RLC.

He "MacGyver-ed" a solution - the contraption you see in the picture below.

According to him, that's exactly what he needs. 🙄

Hanging down there by the back corner of his desk is another contraption. I have no idea what he uses it for.

We came to an agreement that the shelves would be off-limits for his treasures. As he has ample storage in the basement shelves I built a few years ago.

For now, one of his precious headphones is also serving as décor.

| Noise-Canceling Over-Ear Headphones |

When I asked him what type of headphones they are, he gave me an entire class on headphones. :)

The headphones pictured here are the ones he uses for listening while searching the web or when watching news or documentaries.

He has another set, this one, with multiple device support, even better noise cancelation, very cushiony, and with five microphones incorporated among the many features JUST for listening to music!

Ha, I didn't know that. 😳

He also has this - this & this set of earbuds.

Back to the shelves, I also gave him this wooden box full of little drawers to store more of those contraptions.

Ugh, this picture made me remember I need to go and sharpen that line. That wasn't a steady hand. :/

On the top shelf which is hard to reach, the big clock was centered and hung on the wall. Glass cloches displaying little American flags and white pumpkins are on each side. Mr. RLC loves collecting American flags of all sizes. One of the flags displayed here he got from an event from his time working alongside the government. The little dog next to the pumpkins is a recent ceramics piece my daughter made and he fits perfectly here!