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Finding balance when working from home can be a challenge, albeit a desirable one for most. A freelancer often wishes he or she could just leave work at work, by closing a door to it all, but having a home office is a luxury that one can not usually afford in a small home. Fortunately for my brother Matt, the previous owners of his small bungalow had almost finished converting a single-car attached garage into additional livable space.

When Matt moved in, the remaining projects for the conversion were pouring the footer for the wall where the garage door used to be, installing new flooring, and putting in baseboards and trim. The office was completed at a slow and convenient pace, and thankfully, the completion date conveniently fell around the time Matt lost his office job and began freelancing full-time as a graphic designer.

With housemates (my husband and I) no longer sharing the space, Matt is finally closer to fleshing out the vision of his dream office, complete with functional storage for his design libraries, paper collection, and, of course, wall space for posters and inspiration.

Matt's Design Studio Sources:


  • Desks: Ikea

  • Shelves: Ikea

  • Arcade Fire poster: Tad Carpenter

  • Office Chair: Office Max

  • Bertoia Chairs: Craigslist

  • Sideboard: Habitat ReStore

  • Lockers: salvaged from the closed Hoover Company Factory in North Canton, Ohio.

  • Bench: antique store

  • Letter Hooks: Anthropologie

  • Coat Rack: Urban Outfitters

  • Record Player art: Urban Outfitters

To take a look at what the office looked like right after the construction was completed, check out the house tour from when the three of us lived together: A Bright & Beautiful Bungalow From An Ohio Trio

For more detailed information regarding the entryway, see this post: A Bachelor Pad Landing Strip: Three Men & Lots of Shoes

Images: Amanda Johnson

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