A Cozy Work From Home Office Setup

Missy Carlin
Nov 27, 2024
6 min read

Updated: Jun 24

Second hand office furniture and a gallery wall brought inspiration and color to my work from home office setup

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We finished our basement in 2022 after we found out we were having a second child and knew we needed more space in our little cape cod for our family to grow. The main goal with the basement was to create a playroom for the little ones with plenty of room to run around and plenty of storage for all the toys that perpetually popped out of the woodwork. Making room for our second child also meant that we needed to turn my work from home office into her bedroom and I needed to find a place where I could work remotely in our house. This meant the new basement needed to serve two purposes- toddler playroom and marketing manager workspace.

These aren’t two things you’d typically think work well together, but we had no choice with the space we had. I claimed a corner of the finished basement as my home office setup and worked to make it a place where I felt productive and creative as I solved all the world’s (or maybe just my company’s…) marketing problems.

The corner of the basement appointed my work from home office setup

Here’s how I transformed a simple basement corner into a cozy home office setup.

Simple and Compact Office Furniture

Because there wasn’t a lot of space to work with, I couldn’t create the large and in-charge chic CEO /lady boss office I one day imagine myself in. The small space meant keeping furniture simple. I was lucky enough to inherit a beautiful Crate & Barrel desk from my colleague who was moving and no longer needed it. It’s a deep wood finish and is very lightweight. We also needed some more storage for files and office supplies, so we got rid of our small IKEA filing drawers and I found a Pottery Barn filing cabinet on Facebook Marketplace for a great price! I wasn’t really even looking for one at the time but came across it and couldn’t pass it up. Funny enough the seller ended up being a childhood friend, so I knew it was a good sign. The wood finish was also very close to the desk I already had, so it was a perfect match.

My office chair was a little harder to find. Turns out that any chair with the word “office” put in front of it makes it 3 times the price…I also didn’t really need a formal office chair with wheels, just wanted something comfortable. Wandering through World Market one day I found this velvet dining chair that happened to be on sale. After sitting on it, it passed the cozy test so I brought it home with me– it’s also a perfect shade of green.

The layout I created with these three furniture pieces in front of our basement closet door creates a perfect little nook for me and is just the size I need to hold me and my big ideas as I work.

Vibrant and Expressive Gallery Wall

I worked for awhile in my little corner with nothing on the stark walls and on a particularly uninspired and dreary day in remote corporate America I stumbled upon this art print from Janet Hill of a lady doing a cartwheel. It had a colorful playfulness and free spirit that I was particularly longing for that day so I bought it to hang on my office wall. (There’s more philosophy and psychology surrounding that interpretation of the art piece for another post perhaps…)

After I hung it on my wall it started to feel like it needed more color and life surrounding it– so it ended up being the inspiration for the whole gallery wall I built around it, making it the ultimate, cozy work from home office setup. I decided to use the themes of bright mixes of color, female subjects, and florals to choose art prints that would live together seamlessly. I ended up with more color than I’d usually use in a space, but it helps brighten up days in front of the computer for me. I used gold frames as another way to make all the art work together and bring cohesion to the gallery wall. Here are the art prints I used:

The Handstand Art Print by Janet Hill

Liberty and Laurel by Janet Hill

Flowers in my Head by Raquel Silva

Decadant Woman After the Dance

Peony by Philine Van der Vegte

Shirley Poppy by Emily Winfield Martin

Brownstones by Janet Hill

Whimsical touches

Building on the playfulness of the art I chose for the cozy home office setup I brought in some other more whimsical pieces to match that vibe. This includes a little brass snail (because, why not) and a brass lamp with scalloped rattan lamp shade I found at HomeGoods. The desktop organizer was something I already had that I spray-painted a mauve color that complements some of the colors in the art. Like I said- all these colors and pieces are not necessarily things I’d usually consider my style for interiors but it felt like it’s what was needed for the space to add some personality and also blend a bit with the playfulness of the toddler playroom all around it!

Another fun find was the woven basket with scalloped lid -- another HomeGoods find. I use it to put the garbage in because who wants to see that? And if you're sensing a trend with woven and scalloped things - they're two of my current weaknesses in home décor.

Plants

Plants are always a MUST for me in any space--even a basement office! This wasn’t always the case as I’m more recently becoming a plant lady, but now I can’t imagine my home without plants all around. And while this home office setup is in my basement with minimal light, I do have a window and ledge where I have two plants living, and a grow light in the desk lamp that I put the others under from time to time to ensure they are getting that light they need. Plants bring a freshness wherever they are and it doesn’t hurt that they’re my favorite color! Indoor planters are also a way to bring even more beautiful décor to a space.

Soft & colorful rug

This cozy rug was a great find. I love that it creates a surface area that brings the whole corner together with the colors and pattern it has. It makes the corner my own little office island. It is also incredibly soft and covers up our white basement carpet so I don’t spill my daily coffee all over it.

Creating a space that inspires

Because I’ve been getting a little weary from the work from home life, creating a cozy home office setup was important in helping to build up some inspiration and motivation for myself. I think this is why the space turned into something I wouldn’t normally call my ‘style’. However it is stylish and I love it because each piece I chose to bring into it is inspiring to me in some way. Whether it’s the refreshing green plants or the lovely flower lady lurking behind me from her frame, I feel surrounded by visuals that spark energy or creativity in me. I love how any given space may come together completely different than you may have envisioned but you still end up loving it because of how it feels! Life lessons from my cozy home office.