DIY Dream Home Office

After 2 years of living in our home the attic was untouched and in its original state but functioning as my home office and storage unit. So I was ready to tackle it and turn it into the inspirational space I needed for DIY Huntress Headquarters. The full project will actually be in two separate blogs because there was so much to be done. This first installment will be tackling demo and home improvement projects. In the second we’ll tie it all together to make the space look beautiful. So make sure you stay tuned to see how it turned out!

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Want to see this build in action? You can watch my build video here (+ make sure to subscribe to my channel)!

Tools + Materials

Tools

Lighting

Home Improvement

1. Demo

Here is the attic in its starting place. A little dated and filled with random items. Virtually untouched from the day we moved in.

Demo started with removing the trim. This room had a lot of trim so I started around the floor and then worked my way up.

I wasn’t sure if I would be able to remove this half wall but I knew I really wanted to take it out to give the space a more open feel.

There was definitely a happy dance when I was finally able to take it down. I could see a much cooler open railing going here to make the space feel less closed off and I was so excited that it was possible.

Then it was time to work on the ceiling trim. I had already done this in my guest room makeover and it was not a fun process because I had to fix the drywall beneath the trim since for some reason whoever did this ceiling didn’t bring the drywall all the way to the edge…yay. Either way it had to get done.

I think what they did was put the trim in first and then add the drywall. Because of this, when I tried to pull the trim down it felt like the whole ceiling was going to come with it. So I went in with my dremel and scored along the edge of the trim to try to separate it from the drywall.

That did the trick and I was able to get the trim down. Mostly. There were some pieces I wasn’t able to take down but I address that in the second part of this attic makeover.

2. Smart Lighting Upgrade

The light bulbs in this fixture were not working for me (neither was the fixture but I’ll get to that later after the construction is done in this space).

So until I got to swap out the fixtures I wanted to at least change the bulbs to some that were more efficient and matched each other since the previous ones weren’t even the same. I went with these smart bulbs so I could control them from my phone.

3. Turn the Room into a Loft

I built out the wall a bit before drywalling it in. This space to the left will become a little sitting nook but I wanted to make sure the banister was going to be up to code and attached to a strong structure.

4. Install Laminate Flooring

It would’ve been best to have the walls sanded and painted before installing the flooring but because I had a friend coming to help me with the second part of this project I needed to get the floors installed before she arrived.

If you’re looking for a step by step tutorial on how to install laminate flooring you can see how to do it in this video or in my guest room makeover video.

5. Paint

Before painting I sanded and primed the walls.

Of course once I finished painting I second guessed the color I chose. It’s the same color as our guest bedroom but the lighting in this room just isn’t the same and the color wasn’t doing what I wanted.

So I slept on it and ultimately decided to repaint the room greige. Which is much more my speed. You can see it behind me in this photo with my first ever wallpaper purchase! (Which I didn’t install at this point, stay tuned for part 2 to see how it came out!)

6. Upgrade Light Fixtures

I upgraded the lighting fixtures to flush mount fixtures because the ceilings are so low in this space. This gives great light without taking away any of the height of the ceiling.

The fixture was also a smart light so I can control the hue and brightness from my phone.

7. Update Electrical

The wiring in this house is not super current (see what I did there…?) but I wanted to be able to control the lighting in the sitting nook, especially because this is near where our guests will be staying and we don’t want them to be in the dark. So I added these plugs which can turn any lamp into a smart lamp and you can control it from your phone. Problem solved, and I didn’t have to re-wire anything.

8. Plan for Next Steps

Is this a finished project? Nope! You’re going to have to stay tuned for part 2 to see how my home office turned out. But I was very proud with the progress up to this point, from taking down the half wall, to painting, laying down the floor, and updating the lighting, this space came a long way. But the real magic happened with the rest of the renovation so make sure you come back to see how I completed the space!