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The Farmhouse Office: Before + After

Kate Richards

The room that was destined to become my office was, surprisingly, the room that actually sold me on this house when we walked through it for the first time. Which is a special kind of bananas because it was also quite possibly the worst room in the house.

Exhibit A:

Before. PS: what was happening out there in the yard originally? Can’t wait to share the before and after of that space soon.

But, I could see it, man. I could see my desk sitting under that window, looking out onto what I knew would someday be a glorious garden, and I could just see it. This was where I would work and write. Drinking with Chickens wasn’t even a blip on my horizon yet, but I knew that this room was the start of something.

After.

The very first thing we did was rip out that drop ceiling (to be replaced by drywall), and swap the solid exterior door for a french door.

Before-ish.

After.

The opposite side of the room had a gaping maw of a derelict closet (complete with past water damage), another solitary wall sconce by the door (the only light in the room), and lots and lots and lots of patchwork wood paneling of various species, sizes, thicknesses, and browns. And, of course, that glorious, filthy, terracotta tile floor.

The really, really astounding part to me now, as I look back on this space (from the comfort of my fully finished, clean, watertight office), is that we actually slept in that “before” room on an air mattress for quite awhile as we began work on the house. And it was most definitely as grimy as it looked. Probably would have been cleaner to sleep outside.

Before-ish.

We replaced much of the mismatched paneling with drywall (also drywalled the ceiling and added overhead recessed lighting), but left a portion of the original paneling to serve as wainscoting on the east and south walls, and then two walls had original shiplap that we left intact, too. But painted it allllllllllllllll white-NO REGRETS. That dark wood was just too much in this small space (as cool as it was that it was old wood). We brought the inside of the closet up to snuff and then added mirrored closet doors in order to reflect as much light as humanly possible back into the room. The tile floor was replaced with our beloved Pergo Portfolio laminate wood, and then we all know by now that I am in the midst of a very passionate love affair with peel-and-stick wallpaper.

Really, this space was mostly cosmetic issues, so it was a pretty straightforward spit and polish.

After.

But it IS a small space—which makes it tricky to pack in a functional office that can still flex as a guest room in a pinch. ENTER: THE DAYBED. Essential!!!! Mostly just essential for the dogs while they hang out with me during work hours—but also essential for me to be able to dramatically fling myself onto when I’m having a particularly stressful day.

After.

After. Is much comfy.

Finding a functional desk for this space proved a little tricky, but this corner unit did the trick. And of course, we piled in as much storage via IKEA Kallax storage systems on the adjoining wall. I turned a set of reclaimed shutters into vertical mail file storage, as well as an upcycled piece of steel into a big magnetic message board over the desk. A Gilly-approved velvet chair rounded my workspace out nicely.

And I can’t tell you the hours of my life I’ve procrastinated from work by daydreaming out that window into the garden (more on the yard later).

After. Yes, Spork was the DWC employee of the month when this image was taken.

This chair has been extremely popular.

My reclaimed bottle collection sits on this window sill where it can catch the light. They are all earthquake puttied down because: CATS. Also: earthquakes.

Another favorite collection displayed in my office is my shelf of miniature vintage chickens.

Did I mention that I like chickens?

THE END.

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