Name: Katie Skelley
Location: Madison, Alabama— suburb of Huntsville

I can totally empathize with Katie's dilemma: you need a home office, but the only viable space is the dining room (in my case I had to convert a closet into a home office, while my better half converted the dining room table into her desk). But Katie didn't just decide to work in her formal dining room, but fully convert it into a home office with enviable personality reflecting her love of color and her family...

After a year in our home, we realized that we used our formal dining room a grand total of five times.  With two small children, we were not in a formal season of life, but what we did need was a place to work on projects and puzzles.

I dreamed of a brightly colored space where I could blog and work on my freelancing projects. I envisioned a room that was a little more quirky and creative than the rest of our home, which is of a more traditional style.  

The best part of turning our dining room into a home office was that we did not have to go out and purchase a desk—our table fit our needs perfectly!  If you are going to use a dining table as a workspace, I do recommend fitting it with a glass top first.  It does not cost much money and will protect the table.

The kids like to sit on the bench and work on school projects. When I write, I set up an external monitor and keyboard for my laptop.  We have planned parties, completed craft projects, and built elaborate puzzles in this space.  And when I say "we", I mean "they"—I am hopeless at puzzles.  Turning our dining room into a crafting space/home office was an inexpensive way to get the most use for the space!

(Images: Katie Skelley)


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