Dining Room to Home Office Reveal

This Dining Room to Home Office reveal transforms a former un-used space into a bright and cheery cottage workspace.

Budget friendly room makeovers are one of my favorite things to do, and this Dining Room to Home Office makeover is one of my all time favorites we’ve ever done.

This Dining Room was in our farmhouse by the sea.

Not only did we want to change the look of it, we wanted to change the function of it as well.  Although we loved the idea of a formal dining room, we knew we’d use it far more if it were an office as well.

We moved almost everything out of the room

and covered up the floors.

Since this room was built in 1927 and had some specific issues with the old drywall, we prepped the surfaces by wiping down the walls with a damp cloth and priming it all. {This step is un-necessary if you already have nice dry walled walls!}

One of the most dramatic changes was to paint the stained trim.

We used green painter’s tape around the panes so we wouldn’t get paint all over the glass.  It made  clean up so much easier! Then we painted the trim using primer and semi gloss paint.

Once the room was primed, I fell in love with how bright it seemed.  I questioned whether or not we should paint it white?  But, in the end, we went with the original plan ~ Gray Cashmere by Benjamin Moore.

I cut in the edge work,

and my husband rolled on the paint. (Click here for our paint supplies list + tips and tricks for wall painting.)

Once one wall was done, we arranged the table (soon to be desk, also) in front of it to see if we wanted to leave the other walls white or paint them gray, too.

We decided we really liked the blue-gray against the dark of the wood, so the whole room got a nice cozy coat of color.

Once it was all painted, we began adding in the furniture and furnishings.

Although this room isn’t quite “finished”, here’s where it is so far.  And since I’m sure you’re like me and like to see rooms in before and after fashion, here it is for you.

Before (as a Dining Room only):

And after (as an office with the Dining Room option, as needed!)

Before (note the hole in the wall…It finally got fixed!!):

After:

Before:

After:

Before: (That curtain is hiding one of the world’s strangest closets…)

After:  (Update: See the closet with a sliding barn door we added later.)

We just love how bright & relaxing the room became.  And, more importantly, we used it a TON more after it became a dual purpose room!

I wanted to inject some fun, happy color into the room, so added in some accents of orange.

The exposed brick chimney and hits of stained wood furniture still give the room a sense of history.

I had fun adding in accessories that were not just for looks, but will help organize all our office “stuff”.

Paint Colors for this Dining Room Home Office

• Wall color: Benjamin Moore Gray Cashmere
• Ceiling: White Heron (in flat matte finish)
• Trim: White Heron (in semigloss finish)

Other Painting Resources:

• How to choose the right paint sheen for a project
• How do I paint my front door and what do I use?- paint for metal doors exterior
• How to paint straight lines
• How to make chalk paint with baking soda

Want to learn how to do your own room makeovers?

If you’d like to know some easy secrets to how to do room makeovers on a budget, I put together a FREE guide with videos just for you. Simply click here or the button below to have it delivered right to your inbox.