Create a stylish and budget-friendly office space with these DIY office decor ideas, including a wood desk and painted concrete floors. Here’s how to transform your workspace into a productive and inviting environment without breaking the bank!

My dear friends, I’m so proud to share my newest home office makeover that is long overdue!

This is part of a larger makeover series I started but didn’t finish!

Studio makeover series so far:

1 – Collections storage revamp with painted shelving, floor and walls

2 – How to paint white concrete floors

3 – Paint studio adjustable shelving

4 – Stencil organizing rack made with 2x4s

View all Studio Makeover Series to date HERE

To recap:

My home office layout is a ground level space where I design stencils and house my home decor collections. It attaches to my paint studio and photo studio as well. It’s a busy room that explodes with clutter on a regular basis.

The original floor was a short pile carpet that was old and needed to go in a space where I regularly spill paint.

Over the years, I took small jabs at various areas, ripping up carpet, painting the floor and walls, hoping to blend the mini revamps at some point! So today’s update is a big one! This is the final piece to the puzzle that makes all the difference!

What this post offers:

However this project makeover comes with perks… this post is all about revamping a space without paying an extra cent, using what you already have! It’s loaded with easy ideas on how to repair, fix, paint, and even repurpose collections to set up a home office for free.

So if you too have a home office space or otherwise that could use a little fresh take, allow my own office revamp to help inspire you with these easy-to-implement office decor ideas!

Here’s where I started yet again just a few short days ago…

Budget Friendly Office decor ideas: DIY wood desk and painted concrete floors

Messy office before

The work table in the middle of the room is one busy piece. When it’s clean, I use it to design stencils. But when I do photo shoots, the work table becomes a dumping ground when I pull collections from the shelves. This was just a few short days ago.

And with walls partially painted, they’d be caught in photos and look rather ridiculous, like I ran out of paint.

Plus the collections storage shelves needed a dust and reorganization.

What inspired this makeover

I was using an old dresser to house office supplies, which recently got a makeover. (more on that soon!) Upon moving it back in place, I forced myself to remove the carpet and paint the floor and walls just around that given area first.

But one thing lead to another… doesn’t it always?

Removing the carpet

I guess that wasn’t challenging enough. So I reduced the size of the farmhouse desk, then shoving it around while I removed the carpet, underlay and tack strips. Whadda job… which filled up the entire back of my truck.

How to lift existing carpet off a concrete floor:

Removing carpet isn’t hard… it’s just labour intensive.

Use a heavy duty exacto blade to score / cut carpet in liftable sections.
Rip up the carpet underlay.
Use a crowbar and rubber mallet to lift carpet nail tacks around the edge of the room.

See some carpet removal tools HERE

I used: a wider crow bar, rubber mallet, heavy duty exacto blade, small gardening knee pad

Wall colors – Cloverdale Paint Ecologic Eggshell in White (not tinted)

Once the carpet was all up, I painted all the walls the same lovely white as the rest of the room. YAY!!!

As you can see, my personal preference is to go white with a slightly warm undertone for an entire room. It’s bright, happy and it works!

Sika Mix and Go – Mortar Repair

Patching the concrete indents from nail removal

Next up was to paint the floors white like the adjoining floors already were – see the photo studio and paint studio.

But first things first! When I removed the nail strips, chunks of concrete came out leaving chunky deep holes, so it was time to patch that up first. I didn’t do this step in the photo studio, but I did in other areas which improves the overall look. So here’s what I did…

I used a mortar repair to fill the nail holes left in the concrete floor.

See mortar repair kits HERE

I’d recommend Sika Concrete Patch (already mixed) and a small metal spackle knife.

How to patch the concrete floor holes:

Dump mortar powder into a bucket.
Mix with a little water until you reach concrete consistency.
Spackle it on over each hole.
Allow to dry.
Sand with a sanding sponge.
Apply a 2nd coat if needed. (I only applied 1 but 2 would have done a nicer job)
Vacuum well, then paint!

Floor paint – Cloverdale Paint Porch and Floor / Colour – EX270

Painting the concrete floor white

It was finally time to paint the concrete floor white, like I did in my photo studio you can see in THIS post: How to paint a concrete floor white

Luckily I didn’t need to prime the floors first.

My floor paint choice is made by Cloverdale Paint in Canada.

I’d recommend a concrete floor paint, paint roller extender handle kit that has a smooth low nap roller and paint tray.

The paint was cut in around all the edges with a paint brush, then I followed up by rolling it on with a handle extender which makes painting floors so much easier than bending over.

I painted 2 coats on 2 different days.

How to build a farmhouse desk from reclaimed wood HERE

DIY wood office desk made from reclaimed wood

But upon moving my big DIY wooden desk around, I realized it needed some additional work.

Of course it did… this farmhouse wood desk was one of my first ever builds, so it was a little on the rickety side, plus it was a little too long.

HERE is some rustic wood desk looks that may work for you if you don’t wish to build.

The desk length was reduced to fit just under the window this round by simply shortening the front and back horizontal boards on the right and left side. Super easy fix since the entire desk was put together with screws.

I then added some extra support boards in a zig zag pattern along the back so the desk didn’t sway back and forth. Worked wonderful!

How to build a farmhouse desk from reclaimed wood HERE

Then I sanded all the loose top boards with an orbital sander before replacing them. They looked brand new again!

The top boards are just sitting on the frame loose. I like the boards left loose so I can juggle around all the computer cords required for my office and sign making equipment, so this works great for my needs and they seem to stay put!

I also love the smaller desk length which helps me get into needed corners from both sides and to open the windows easier.

A few extras such as cleaning the window and track properly, replacing a few older plug sockets, painting the floor trim, then removing everything off the storage shelves to dust and reorganize.

Next up is the fun part… the office is now ready to move into! Here’s the results.

The completed office

Welcome to my much brighter, and prettier downstairs small home office! My goodness… the entire neutral color palette makes this office design feel so much lighter and brighter, yet has tons of warmth thanks to the reclaimed wood and added faux plants.

This is a great little office that faces North, so it gets loads of natural good lighting, thanks to the large picture window, yet still remains in the shade which is perfect.

The soft textures and warm tone of the blanket draped over the office chair helps to warm up the white space, giving it a comfort vibe. An office chair throw pillow if you will…

Let’s take a closer look at some of the office decor ideas.

Get this look with jute rugs, faux plants

View my ‘rustic office’ section HERE on Amazon

Old crate for binder storage with faux plants

This long antique crate sits on the desktop, which happens to have the perfect sized spaces to fit a few binders and standard sized paper. Perfect! And all reclaimed wood looks nicer with a pop of color from a few faux plants, don’t you think? The look of natural elements never does it wrong.

I forget to water real plants so this works for me. Heh.

rustic crates with wire mesh for storage

wood office supply organizers

Wooden tray for office caddy / coaster

This sweet little wooden tray is a recent thrift store find! I’m using it to house writing supplies, along with a couple of cute plants. It can also double as a beverage coaster if I bring a coffee downstairs.

How to make DIY wood trays

Making the office pencil holder

Shop for small rustic wood trays

Small wood table into loose paperwork shelves

To house the rest of my office supplies I like to have nearby without a major hunt, I repurposed a small coffee table into a wood paperwork organizer!

The coffee table was pushed under the desk, then a crate was placed on top for bulky office needs such as staples, etc. The two trays are wooden signs I got for free. I turned them good side down and they fit perfectly as paperwork drawers! A few felt sliders underneath have them gliding as smooth as ever.

I didn’t even bother painting the table as all the wood components hide the issues!

Dresser paint details – coming soon!

Dresser for office supply storage

And the main instigator for this total makeover is thanks to this dresser makeover!

I haven’t yet shared the creative process of achieving a faux wood texture and grain sack stripe on the dresser yet, but it’s coming soon! However I love the moody tones and overall vibe this personalized touch has.

One of the most effective office decor ideas was to add this dresser, which has lots of shallow drawers, making it perfect to store smaller office supplies. There’s a whole drawer each for paper with envelopes small office supplies, biz cards and labels, stencil packages, CD design software and more! Dressers can offer stylishly hidden yet easy accessibility to all your needed supplies!

Other unique dresser makeovers:

From vintage dresser to coffee table

Stenciled fabric look on a dresser

Subway sign styled dresser makeover

Rustic heart with scrabble letters HERE

Custom wall art

I also added a lamp on top of the dresser for a nice evening ambiance, plus a couple of rustic wicker baskets with a faux olive plant.

For wall art on the blank wall, I chose a wooden valentine I made awhile back. I loved the tones and find it inspiring to display my previous creativity, so it was a good fit which can be easily changed out to other art or favorite photos when desired.

Make your own office sign with THESE OFFICE STENCILS

Check out some rustic office signs

Shelving – Ikea Gorm painted white

Floor to ceiling shelving storage with baskets

Now moving to the storage side, this transformation perfectly marries what I had done around the shelving previously. Here’s what’s new!

Adjustable storage shelving

How to make your own DIY wood shelving

These items are collections I frequently use for decorating shoots and to decorate my home with. They are a photographer’s dream since it’s a little like having my own store to pull from! The shelving is by IKEA gorm which was painted white, which are fully adjustable so you can make similar shelving work for any given space size.

When these open shelves get dusty, I can taste the dry air, so they were well overdue for a good dusting!

Each shelf was emptied, dusted with a feather duster, then everything reorganized so I can find what I’m after.

I think the wall storage filled with rustic collections kind of gives a gallery wall or accent wall vibe, as they are all things I find so fun and inspiring to look at! It’s a happy collaboration of all the things I find in my shopping travels, which I reuse constantly for photo shoots and to decorate my home with.

Storage staged by type and colour

I attempt to place items in sections, so if I am looking for plants, something red, galvanized, wood, rusty metal, it’s easy to find.

Just excuse the missing ceiling vent I forgot to install. For at least 14 years now since that ceiling went up that you can see HERE! (shows how the room looked when I first moved in)

And while everything feels so cohesive and good, that white floor is a big win! To not be staring at that nasty strip of carpet that choked me with dust constantly is now going to be a breeze to clean dust-wise!

Now I just need to keep it white. Heh… I’m debating on 1 or 2 long jute-look carpet runners for added warmth and cleanliness.

So from a dusty, jumbled up mess…

To white and bright, fresh and clean, with style! These office decor ideas may be simple, but they do work!

And while that work table is needed…

I plan to make a space to keep it folded up until it’s needed so I can enjoy this roomy space just like this!

Video tour of office decor ideas

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View above to see a short video tour of this space!

Shop for desk pads / industrial black desk lamp

There are lots of other little things I’d like to work on such as a new stylish desk chair, desk pad, and fix up the rest of the room. But for now, I love the work feel and can’t wait to use the space for a few upcoming deadlines!

I hope this home office workspace makeover gives you a little fun inspiration to finish up a long overdue project by going full tilt! The push was challenging at the time, however whether it’s a small nook or a large space, working in increments gets the job done!

Did these office decor ideas help inspire your own office makeover perhaps?

Other home office decor ideas:

(includes home office designs / home office design ideas)

Wood framed painted bulletin board with crate desk

Make an office flip desk from a coffee table

Pallet and ladder office desk with large OFFICE sign

DIY office bulletin board ideas

See all junk-styled offices HERE