When I moved into my Portland bungalow, the second bedroom was functionally a dumping ground. You know those bedrooms? The ones you convince yourself you’ll turn into an office or guest room someday?
Yeah, mine was one of those before last summer…and honestly probably still is. It became the place where boxes go when you don’t know what else to do with them and that random couch you found at a yard sale but haven’t found a place for yet. I kept saying I wanted to make it into an office…but then COVID happened and I had to pivot to remote teaching.
Let’s just say my dining room table wasn’t cutting it for lesson planning and my kitchen did NOT provide great lighting for Zoom classes. So mid-summer last year I decided enough was enough and hacked my way into making that little corner work.
Let’s start at the beginning.
Typically when I makeover a room I’ll start by picking out paint colours or furniture but not this time! With this makeover, I actually started with function. I needed both an office space where I could spread out work but also a vanity area where I could actually SEE myself in the mornings without staring into the yellow, shade-y lighting of my pre-1920s bathroom.
In order to fit both functions in that little corner of the room, I needed some sort of desk I could use for both. Something that had storage for me but was also visually light enough that the vanity area wouldn’t feel cramped. I ended up finding this small writing desk from our local Portland furniture shop called Rebuild Reuse Revolution.
Super simple dark wood construction with two drawers. It was $180 which is way more than I would’ve spent at IKEA, but I wanted to support local shops and quite frankly I was sick of putting IKEA furniture together with those weird pictogram instructions. However, where this desk really came together was what I hung over it.
I had picked up this vintage round mirror at an estate sale in Sellwood last spring (PSA: Portland is obsessed with estate sales). It was only $25 and the woman running the sale told me it was from an original vanity set from the 1940s. I love the tarnished-metal detail around the circumference of the mirror.
It adds so much more personality than a boring ol’ rectangle mirror you could pick up at Target would have. As far as lighting goes, holy moly is that room DARK. The light fixture that is currently in that room is probably original to the house and hasn’t been updated since like…the Carter administration.
To combat that and add some warmth, I picked up this little adjustable desk lamp at Goodwill. The brass base is super vintage 1970s and matches the style of my house perfectly. And I’m biased but I think it actually LOOKS like a lamp you would purchase at Pottery Barn instead of one you found at Goodwill.
I placed it on the RIGHT side of the desk so I would have lighting for both working and getting ready in the mornings. Now for the GAME CHANGER…the string lights above the mirror. I know…I know…string lights over your mirror sounds super cheap and dorm-roomsy but hear me out.
These string lights are THEE BEST and I order them anytime I need to spruce up a space AND they aren’t these awful twinkle lights. They have Edison bulb-style lights that provide a really warm, glowing light. I purchased them at Home Depot for about $15 and they plug into a normal outlet.
My desk lamp paired with these string lights is the perfect balance of warmth and function when I’m working at my desk or getting ready. But what about office supplies VS makeup? Shouldn’t those be separated?
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Well yeah. But where do you store them then? And how else will I learn my lesson of accidentally grabbing eyeliner instead of a pen during an important parent conference call?!
Trust me I learned that lesson the hard way. So instead of separating them, I embraced my inner-control-freak and got SUPER organised. Ta-da!!
I like to think of it as “military-grade” OR my boyfriend just calls it my “teacher-level organisation skills.” But really I purchased two of these bamboo drawer organizers from Target and each had two drawers. They were maybe $10 each so $20 for the whole thing. In my left drawer I store all of my makeup/skincare.
Top section I keep the stuff I use daily, bottom section is for weekly. Right drawer is strictly office supplies, charging cords, and misc. work items. Above the desk I screwed in two DIY floating shelves I made from reclaimed wood we took out of our house during our renovation.
I stained them to match the desk and used them to store some books I actually reference when teaching (hello teaching style books and manga for my students! ), a small succulent I didn’t think would live in that corner but obviously underestimated this plant’s strength, and two decorative woven baskets I threw ALL the random nonsense in that I didn’t want laying around. My desktop stays relatively clear except for my laptop, desk lamp, and coffee cup. I mean it IS Vermont College of Fine Arts during the school year so coffee is basically my lifeblood.
My morning routine has seriously evolved into something I love. Wake up, stumble to my corner, plug in my string lights and I’m zone-ed into my own personal cloud of warm light. Everything I need to both FUNCTIONAL and LOOK FANTASTIC is literally right there.
The natural sunlight from that window paired with my new string lights is just bright enough where I can actually see what I’m doing with mascara but warm enough to wake up to in the mornings. Revolutionary for a girl who previously did her makeup in her dark-ass bathroom. When it’s time to log off for the night all I have to do is pull out my laptop, switch my desk lamp to a dimmer setting (less blue light before bed is recommended! ), and I’m set for whatever emergency may arise.
Answering parent emails, grading homework, or looking at Pinterest for more projects I have zero intention of completing but can dream about. All in all this little corner desk makeover probably cost me $250 give or take. Desk, mirror, string lights, drawer organizers, floating shelves.
And when I say that as a teacher that sounded LIKE a lot of money but honestly has been 100% worth every cent. Anytime people come over they’re always asking me where I bought my office set up is from and I love telling them I DIY-ed literally every piece but made enough organizational hacks to hide the clutter ;).
And no, it’s not perfect.
Sometimes on those extra stressful weeks I’ll find lip gloss mixed in with my red pens. And no, you can’t spread out multiple projects on my desktop like you could with an actual desk. But for maximising such a small space to serve double duty?
It’s been working AMAZING. Functionality was key when it came to deciding what furniture stayed and what furniture went. And for once I had furniture that could justify itself TWICE OVER in that corner.
Who knows…I may actually like having everything I need to both WORK and GET READY in the same place now. HOURS of staring at myself in the bathroom mirror judging how tired I look versus warming my tired eyes with warm lighting has truly changed me. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box when you’re making over a space in your home.
You don’t need a mansion to have beautiful and FUNCTIONAL spaces. You just need to be okay with your furniture serving more than one purpose.
