--- title: "How I designed my vintage office" url: https://darlinglovelylife.com/2013/11/how-i-designed-my-vintage-office/ description: "Recently, we decided to put our savings into remodelling and decorating our home. We plan to be here a long time and for this house to really be a little…" published: 2013-11-05 updated: 2013-11-05 --- # How I designed my vintage office Published 2013-11-05 [Interiors & gadgets](https://darlinglovelylife.com/category/pretty-interiors/) 5 November 2013 · by Sara - Darling Lovely Life editor · filed under [black lace curtains](https://darlinglovelylife.com/archives/), [DIY home office](https://darlinglovelylife.com/archives/), [floral wallpaper](https://darlinglovelylife.com/archives/), [interior design](https://darlinglovelylife.com/archives/), [ooh la la swivel chair](https://darlinglovelylife.com/archives/), [pastel interiors](https://darlinglovelylife.com/archives/) Recently, we decided to put our savings into remodelling and decorating our home. We plan to be here a long time and for this house to really be a little nest for us. However, redecorating an entire house is a daunting project. We weren’t sure how to go about it and so decided to take things room by room. Working from home full time and especially in a job where feeling fabulous is part of the job description, it’s important that I have a real space in which to get things done, and not just a small desk in a corner somewhere or slouched in front of the TV. I had seen a few pictures on Pinterest and in [Pearl Lowe’s](http://www.pearllowe.co.uk/) Vintage Craft book of little offices in wardrobes, and really fell in love with the concept of having a small, enclosed space that could hold lots of pretty decorations and be neatly packed away at night if extra guests need a place to sleep. # How I designed my vintage office ## Wallpaper This wallpaper was a bargain £10 per roll from [Wallpaper Direct](http://www.wallpaperdirect.com/) and brings a really pretty, floral focus to the feature wall behind my desk. ## Wardrobe office I bought my wardrobe for about £20 on [eBay](http://www.ebay.co.uk/). We took several days to sand and paint it in Javan Dawn 1 ([Homebase](http://www.homebase.co.uk/) paint) and brilliant white. Initially, the wardrobe and bureaus we bought looked like this: ## Bureau My pretty pink writing bureau was just £10 from eBay. John and I fixed the foot, which had a slight crack in it, sanded it and painted it a pale pink (check back in a couple of days for a feature on how to paint furniture). ## Phone This pretty pink rotary phone is by [Steepletone](http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=steepletone&tag=googhydr-21&index=electronics&hvadid=31502391080&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=19495389971038528538&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_4kkx49nozv_b) and is available from many online retailers. It’s the same model that’s winging its way to our recent competition winner! ## Typewriter My turquoise typewriter was about £25 on eBay. It is decorative but apparently does work when spruced up! ## Flooring The flooring in my office (and throughout the house) is soft wood floorboards painted with several coats of hard-wearing floor paint and sealant. ## Lace panel This lace panel was £10 from eBay. I chose black lace to give the room a slight gothic edge to counteract all the pink! ## Chairs My spinning office chair was my one extravagant expense shipped from America. You can buy it online from [Pottery Barn Teen](http://www.pbteen.com/) (it’s the Ooh La La swivel chair), but be warned, the shipping costs more than the chair itself! The corner chair was a plain white chair before I went at it with Decopatch decoupage patches from [Hobbycraft](http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/)! Now it’s a patchwork floral chair that matches the rest of the room! ## Decorations I decorated the room with pictures, oil paintings in gilded frames, beautiful and inspirational pictures and photographs of my friends and family. My calender is a vintage cats calender that my lovely friend Heather gave me for my birthday (she knows me well). **And that’s Darling Lovely Life HQ – where the magic happens every day! As they say, it might not be much, but it’s mine! Check back in a fortnight for our second interiors instalment where I give you a sneak peek into my vintage-inspired bathroom!** --- [Back to November 2013 in the archive](https://darlinglovelylife.com/archives/#m-2013-11)