My son and I swapped spaces right after we returned from the mountains. We moved his play area upstairs into the extra bedroom that was my office and my office downstairs into the living room/dining room area. After some internal deliberation I decided it made sense to do the swap before school started. My son wanted to do it right away, I wanted to do it the week school starts (he goes back on a Thursday) so we compromised to a date in the middle.
Here are some before pictures:
Downstairs play area in what is supposed to be the formal living room.What will be my son’s half of the closet upstairs.Baker’s rack staying in the upstairs play area.My half of the closet that I am keeping.The table I use as my desk, a general view of how the room was set up as my office.
We spent two days lugging items up and down the stairs, moving furniture and cleaning.
After photos:
The start of my son’s Lego City. He kept the table and those houses are on a “mountain”.His side of the closet.My side of the closet, not too bad.
We swapped the treadmill and the baker’s rack to give more open floor space. I kept the top two shelves of the baker’s rack. (He can’t reach them anyway and I needed a place for photo albums!)
It already looks messy but that is okay. That is why we moved the toys upstairs.
And here is the downstairs:
The living room area now looks like a living room.The dining area with “my office” in the background.Play area storage is now my office, piece one.Piece two. My printer is inside on a slide out shelf.I love my dog table!Most of the time I work at the dining room table but piece two is set up for a desktop computer. I store my laptop in the drawer with the all the wires for the printer and power tucked inside and I can work there too. I brought my chair down to use because it is on wheels, easier than moving a dining room chair and more comfortable.My son and I each had a cubby so we just swapped contents. I like how the cubby and my office chair are hidden from the front door by the couch.So basically my new office is in the entry hall. It seems a little odd but hey, it works. (I have a lamp shade coming in the mail. I needed an odd size and couldn’t find one around here. I stumbled on a vintage burgundy plaid one that is the right size on Etsy!)I like how the office area isn’t “in your face” when you are sitting in the living room. From the couch you don’t even notice it.
I am very happy with how all my stuff fits into the space. So far my only concerns have been a lack of privacy for me (the first few days every time I got on my computer my son and/or husband appeared over my shoulder commenting on what I was looking at) and I don’t think my son loves being upstairs alone as much as he thought he would. I believe both problems will be solved with the start of school.
A few other changes that were a result of the swap:
This wonderful nightstand moved from my old office to the upstairs hallway and makes an excellent place for a very large dictionary.
Remember how I wasn’t loving the way my Agatha Christie’s fit on the wicker shelf?
I finally came up with a solution. I swapped the wicker shelf for a wider, shorter bookshelf I had in my bedroom.
I like the way this looks much better, more space.The wicker shelf re-purposed in the bedroom. Better for the wicker, less weight.
So there you have it, one major reorganization project finished.
