Hey guys! We’re still working on finishing up a few details in the kitchen and living rooms, but I wanted to share some plans I have for another room we’ll begin working on this month! We’re calling this room the study, though it will function primarily as Phil’s office and a library for our book collection.

This space is somewhat remote from the rest of the house, tucked away by the front door, and a hallway away from the kitchen and other main living space. It used to be open to the adjacent former dining room, and the dining area used to have an opening to the kitchen. But the passageway between the front living room and the dining room has now been sealed off with drywall, and the dining space now has a doorway between it and the kitchen and is being transformed into the playroom. (More on that later!)

Now that the opening between the rooms has been closed up (see floor plan below), we have a private room at the front of the house that Phil can use as he mentors other men and has small group Bible studies. This room was a major selling feature for us as a couple, as it was important for us to have a home that was equipped with an office/workroom for me, and a separate, private area for Phil and his mentoring work. In the past it was difficult for him to have private conversations, because our old home was small and had no doorways between rooms. So now he has a study to call his own (mostly his own!) that will also be a nice quiet place for the kiddos to study one day, or just for reading a book away from the noise of the kitchen and living room. Also, the newly closed up wall gives us a nice place to put a sofa in a small room which otherwise would be awkward to furnish.

I don’t have any actual before pictures of this room, because we set to work ripping out the carpets the moment we moved into the house. (Literally— the first day we owned her!) But imagine a medium brown shag carpet. We replaced it with the same engineered maple flooring that we are using in the kitchen, dining, and playroom areas. Now we need to do some painting, and add moulding details! (Oh, and remove that electrical cord on the wall. UGH. WHY.) But here is our plan!

We’re working on an IKEA Billy bookcase hack on the wall across from the desk, which will surround the window with what looks like built-in shelving, in one of the room’s accent colors. This will make the biggest statement in the space, and in order to help the other walls match up to the bold elegance of a wall of bookshelves, I’ll be adding some easy moulding details and color accents on them. Pretty excited about this! I know color and moulding can really elevate a space, but what good is that when you don’t have any furniture?

So, we’ll be getting rid of our old sofa (this was the first one Phil and I bought together before we were married 11 years ago!), and replacing it with a smaller scale Article sofa, and outfitting the space as seen above. The art is literally the only thing in this room that I already owned before beginning this project. And the desk is a great vintage find I got at a local favorite of mine, Main Street Modern.

In general, I feel really good about the direction this project is taking! But I’m a little up in the air about window treatments. Should I do curtain panels? Keep in mind, there will be about a half inch between the window and the edge of the bookshelves on the one wall. Or perhaps a roman shade? I’ve also tossed around the idea of incorporating a cornice board into the bookshelf design and having sheers hang down from it, so the light won’t be obstructed by something heavier. Any thoughts on that?

Here are all of the links to everything I’ve included in the plans for the space:

• wall color: Behr’s Wabi Sabi and Behr’s Soft Focus
• desk: Vintage Conant Ball design from Main Street Modern
• sofa: Article Modern
• chair: Article Modern
• side tables: Pier One
• art: Milton Avery reproduction
• rug: Amazon
• two task lights: Article Modern
• floor lamp: Article Modern
• glass side table: All Modern
• flooring: Lumber Liquidators