Living Room Office Corner

Working from home while raising two toddlers is a challenge I had no idea how to prepare for, and now we have two people doing that, and no, one of our twins did not get a job!

Since my husband started also working from home full time, we realized that having an office on our second floor probably wouldn’t work so well anymore because we spend most of our time on the main floor. We also realized there was no dedicated home office space on the main floor, so we needed to create one.

One day, I decided to bring one of our desks downstairs, and there it sat, looking all sad and out of place for a few weeks before we started to make some changes. First: we added shelves!

Then I decided that this $15 thrifted desk needed a paint job because that shiny wood grain veneer wasn’t cutting it! This is where Para Paints comes to the rescue! Using their Premium Primer-Sealer and Ultra Melamine Cabinet & Furniture paint, this desk went from brown to light grey (because I thought I wanted a light colour at first) and eventually to its final colour, a dark grey called Grey Shadow (409F).

First, I primed the desk. I didn’t sand it at all and put on one thick coat of primer.

 Then I applied the lighter grey, which was so lovely, just not right for this desk and this space. That one was called Timberwold (407C), and I have plans to use it elsewhere.

Great colour, right? Well, unfortunately, in our family room that gets zero natural sunlight, it just looked white like the walls and blended in with the sofa in there, which really wasn’t good. I needed the desk to stand out a bit more.

This is where the darker colour comes in…and what a huge difference it made!

Isn’t this a great dark grey? I love the way the space turned out, and that this colour pops against the white shiplapped walls. Plus, it doesn’t blend in with the sofa now. It stands out in the best way possible.

As you can see, I wasted no time accessorizing the space and had the help of my friends at Structube to put this corner together, with this gorgeous desk chair and some accessories. The Cove chair was an instant favourite with Marquis, who sat in it at the store and completely loved it. It’s high and super comfortable, but most importantly (to me), it’s GORGEOUS!

We also picked up a floor lamp. The Northbrook lamp also comes in a table lamp, but we chose this one because the lamp sits in between the sofa and desk, which means we can have task lighting at either location by easily turning it one way or the other, and this way no desk space is lost. Win-win!

A few other accessories we got: that adorable faux cactus that is actually super realistic-looking and the planter it’s in, the Samaria coasters (which are so unique and gorgeous!), and the Lori bookends that are basically my dreams come true in all their black and white glory!

This corner of the family room is now super functional and happens to look great, which is kind of what I’m all about when designing a space, as you might already know. 

I’ll also report that although this desk was only painted a few days ago, the paint is holding up SO well! It does need a bit of time to properly cure, but I’ve tried scratching it, and nothing is coming off. Super impressed!

I’ll be sharing a full house tour next week, so you’ll see what the rest of this room looks like, and it’s changed a LOT since the last time I photographed it, so stay tuned!

Until then, there are 4 other Para Paints projects you can check out by my super talented friends:

Love Create Celebrate | Harlow & Thistle | The Sweetest Digs | Lemon Thistle

And lastly, this post was sponsored, and that means I was given product in exchange for it, but it doesn’t mean I’m not being honest with you! I love everything you see here!