Back in 2019, David gave our home office a complete overhaul by gutting the room and building extra large built-ins complete with storage cabinets, adding a window seat, and changing the flooring out. This ended up being incredibly timely for us given the stay-at-home order that happened in the spring of 2020 and sent us into the world of working from home for several months. After a career switch for me that has given me the option of working from home, I decided to give the built-ins a little facelift from our original home decor.
While my interior style has changed a bit from when we first bought our home, I am very much enjoying moving pieces around to freshen up our spaces. All the updates that I made in the space cost under $250 thanks to thrifting at local spots and going through our decor to see what we had and give it a fresh look! Keep scrolling for our recent home office built-in updates!
3 Ways I Updated Our Home Office Built-Ins
Wallpaper for the Back of the Shelves
I picked up some peel-and-stick grass weave-like wallpaper to line the back of the shelves with for a little texture. I used this toolset to cut and install the peel-and-stick wallpaper. Also, I would highly recommend keeping this toolset on hand if you have any upcoming wallpaper projects coming up! It took me about a day to install and 1.5 rolls of wallpaper to complete the project. It was a simple enough change that has really given a nice pop of color and texture.
Freshen Up Decor
After going through our closets to see what type of decor I had, I began swapping out the decor on the shelves. I took off all of the book covers for my hardback books. However, I didn’t take the ones that feature some of our travels. I picked up some twisted candle sticks to use in these candlestick holders. This 16″ vase with these cherry blossom stems gives some height to our top shelf. I snagged this set of 2 vases and these feather stems, with plenty left over for some future updates coming to other rooms. While visiting a local thrift store, I found of these Grecian busts for the space as well. Lastly, I added this curtain rod, these curtain clips, and these curtains for the window.
Updated Table Lamps
The last update I wanted to make was to the acrylic lamps that I have had for years. After trying a few different options, I finally landed on these gold table lamps. These are the exact height, width, and finish that I had hoped for.







