Living Room Turned Into A Home Office & Design Studio For Two | Makeover

Welcome to our home office and design studio makeover. We've recently started working in this space after months of planning and moving into our new two-story cottage-style home an hour away from Sydney. When we first saw this house, we immediately fell in love with its expansive open deck and stunning water views. While these are beautiful features, the biggest selling point of the house was actually its layout. We loved how its two separate levels However, the main reason why we loved this layout so much was because the main living area could be converted into an office and design studio. Since I spent 80% of my waking hours around the office, whether it be reading, editing, shooting videos, researching, or working on client projects, it makes sense to dedicate the big open space for this, instead of cramming them into a small room. This video will be the first episode of my home makeover series, so stay tuned till the end to get a peek of what's to come. We started by laying out the plan based on a few requirements we've determined early on, which includes two desks, one facing towards the wall and the other facing outwards, a bookshelf for our book collection, a breakout spot to read or chat, and a large pinboard and cabinet for ongoing client projects. I've always wanted more storage space for my samples, and a large flat surface to experiment on, but this wasn't a reality with the limited space in our old apartment. My vision for this space was to have a central piece of furniture that resembled something like a walk-in closet island. I needed to set up those at least 80cm deep, with drawers on the front and back, finished off with a flat top. When I started exploring my options, I quickly realized that these types of custom setups generally cost tens of thousands of dollars. This was not an amount I was willing to pay, as I knew that with a little bit of creativity, I could achieve a similar look at a much better price. I considered IKEA custom kitchen cabinets, but quickly realized that my ideal setup would still be very expensive, around $6,000. I would also waste a lot of time constructing the flat pack drawers. I then came up with the idea of purchasing two large dressers and placing them back to back to achieve a similar look and function. I was quite fortunate to stumble upon two beautiful dressers on sale for under a thousand dollars each, and this became the first purchase of our new home. Balancing the overall aesthetic of the studio space was a challenge, as I wanted to keep my existing sit-stand desk, incorporate the black and brass dresser, and also give the space a touch of old and antique, as a nod to the house's existing features. While the house was recently given a fresh coat of paint, there were plenty of beautiful old features around, like these antique stained glass windows, these French doors with worn brass handles, and the antique brass knobs in the kitchen. I wanted to celebrate these features in the design, and not let them get lost amongst all the modern furniture and decor. There needed to be a unifying element in the space, so we decided to mix a few different types of timbers together that all have warm undertones. This can be seen in the oak flooring, the light ash in the existing desk, as well as the walnut and mango wood features that all have a warm, antique feel. We also added rattan, linen, and terracotta into the space to contribute to the organic feeling. Another piece that we looked for early on was a large tree for the corner of the room. The ceiling height was actually pretty standard at 2.65 meters, but the space didn't appear to be that tall due to the windows and blinds height. I wanted to add a large tree to elongate the space. Some options were to get birds of paradise, fiddle fig, or an olive tree. I also considered one of my new favorites, the shady lady. However, I could not find that plant anywhere in Australia. The spot that we wanted to place the tree is drenched in natural sunlight throughout the day, so we decided to hunt for a nice olive tree as it'll thrive in these conditions. We instantly fell in love with this beautiful olive tree from our local nursery. Furniture pieces slowly started arriving, so I started assembling the tables and chairs for the reading or breakout area. Luckily, it was a very straightforward process. I only needed a couple of screws and about 15 minutes to put it all together. The other side of the room is where we put our bookshelf, which was much trickier to assemble. It is a really heavy piece because of the marble top, so I had to get creative assembling it. The instructions said to screw in all the shelves with the frame prior to flipping it up, but it was quite heavy, so I screwed in the top and bottom shelf for stability, stood it upright, and then slotted in all the remaining middle shelves before screwing them in. We decided to embark on a small DIY journey to save a bit of money. I wanted an H-pod for the olive tree, something quite rustic with an earthy finish. However, most of them cost around $500 for a 50cm pod. I saw a post online about creating a DIY H-stone vessel and decided to replicate the method with a pod. I went to Bunnings and purchased a $50 terracotta planter, as well as some chalk matte charcoal spray paint from Rustoleum to recreate the H-pod style. I firstly went in with two coats of the spray paint on the outside, and a light coat on the inside to get the natural rugged look, which I then left to dry overnight. The next day was the fun part. I grabbed some dirt from the backyard and added some water to it to create a mixture that I could coat the planter with, essentially creating a mud. I was a bit worried at first because it didn't look that nice, but the magic happened when the mud dried. I brushed off the excess dirt and sanded the pod down a bit with a paper towel to give it a much more natural look. I really wanted to put a pinboard in my studio as most creative offices have them. They are an integral part of the early design process for finding inspiration. I specifically wanted one with a linen surface and wooden frame. But to my surprise, they cost $500 or more each, and I needed two of them. This wasn't something I was prepared to spend $1000 on, considering I'm going to poke holes into it. In my last apartment, I had a felted acoustic pinboard that did the job, but didn't look that nice. I came up with the idea of wrapping my current pinboard with linen, but the wooden frame was still missing. When I was walking through our local Kmart, I came across two huge canvas artworks on clearance for $10 each, that could be used as frame for the DIY board. I pushed the artwork out of the frame and then used the frame to trace the pinboard and cut it to size. I then seamed the fabric to get rid of the creases, and then gently stretched it out so it was taut, and used a staple gun around the sides. I then popped the boards back into the frame, and secured them with Gorilla Glue that I cured for a few hours with books on top to stop warping. One of the highlights of the space is this Karman chair from Steelcase. Most ergonomic mesh chairs tend to be on the hard side, which can be uncomfortable when not sitting upright. On the other hand, cushioned seats tend to get hot. The Steelcase Karman is a perfect blend of both worlds. It goes beyond the traditional mesh chairs and naturally responds to the body's movement. Essentially, both the seat and back will flex with your body as you move around, providing support no matter the position. The back flexing is more pronounced, which Steelcase calls life back. This is perfect for someone like me who often leans when thinking. Another thing I noticed is how different the mesh felt. The material is what Steelcase calls intermix. It felt much more comfortable than traditional mesh, like a soft fabric surface, but with the breathability of mesh. The seat material also has an integrated cushion under the intermix textile that provides similar comfort of a cushioned chair. There's almost no adjustment outside of recline, height, and the 4D armrest, but that was part of the design. It is beautifully engineered as a single piece that just naturally flexes with your body, one that feels like an extension of your back, instead of something rigid that creates pressure points as you change position. The armrests are one of the best I've experienced. They swivel, rotate, slide back and forwards, as well as up and down. Another selling point for me is the comfort edge design of Karman. Unlike the rigid edges of traditional mesh chairs, Karman's edges will flex to eliminate painful pressure points on people's backs and seats. The chair itself looks classy and quite artful. Without any design excess, that will no doubt look great in various office environments as well as at home. When it came to styling the place, I really wanted to add character to the space through a combination of old and new pieces. I spent a lot of time scouring Facebook marketplace, as well as vintage and antique shops to find original artworks at an affordable price. One that I really liked was Autumn Solitude by Lionel Bollard, that I managed to pick up from an antique store in Melbourne. We also sourced this handmade timber artwork from a Japanese workshop during our trip to the Hokkaido region. What's really special about this is that they don't use any coloring in their pieces. Instead, they work with the natural colors from timbers that they source from all over the world. Each piece is carefully handcrafted, so they're all slightly different to the next. I placed these pieces on a timber shelving unit that I sourced from Canadian maker Croft. The unit features two shelves with rounded edges which gives some softness and visual interest to an otherwise empty wall. We considered painting the wall with a moodier color, but decided it was too much as we didn't want anything to detract from the view, which remains the highlight of the space. On the other side of the room, we got this gorgeous blue pillar table lamp for the sideboard. It reminds me of the pillars from Greek and Roman architecture, which goes really well with the woven cane panels of the sideboard. The sideboard area is still a work in progress, as I haven't quite found all the right pieces. I'll continue to style it in the next few months along with the rest of the house, so be on the lookout for upcoming makeovers. To continue the vintage feel, I added a bronze wall lamp by the olive tree as well as a vintage Murano lookalike table lamp on the bookshelf. We styled the rest of the bookshelf with curved objects, colorful books, and pastel colors. I styled some of the books flat and others upright depending on whether I had read them and whether I need frequent access to them. Above the desk, I styled a rather bold artwork called Connect by Dan Hopte. It was done by the same artist who did Homeland that used to be in the bedroom of our old apartment, but is now installed above the stairs. In the middle of the room is a space for a huge arrangement that can be swapped out regularly depending on the season. My plan is to flourish from nature in areas surrounding our home to pick out interesting branches. For now, we're using these branches which we're trialing out for our future store. For the lighting in this whole area, we used Philips Hue books with a customized natural light profile. It can change to various color temperatures depending on the time of day before it dims itself at night. Having additional light sources other than just ceiling lights is crucial in making a space look much more refined and welcoming. With everything completed, it is now time to take a look at the before and after. While it was previously an empty lounge room, it has been transformed into a creative space and home office for two. The process of building this home office took roughly two months. From designing, researching, ordering, and waiting for products to arrive, then assembling, organizing, and styling, it was quite a long process. I've had a huge surge of creativity since I completed this space which really benefits me in this line of work. I spend every morning writing, reading, and then researching in the breakout area with a cup of coffee to start my day. I then move to the desk area for deep work including client projects and video editing. I also laid out a studio for filming in the spare room which I will show in detail in an upcoming video. I'll also be sharing a complete tour of how I use this new office space, my workflow and design process, as well as an in-depth view of the technology I use in my home office in the upcoming weeks. That wraps up our home office and design studio makeover. If you enjoyed it, make sure to give it a like and comment below. Thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next one.