Living in an apartment has it’s perks, but when it comes to decorating, it totally sucks! When we moved into our current apartment, we didn’t use our dining room or kitchen table for three months. We opted to eat from our coffee table in the living room, and I hate to say it, but we did this so we could watch our favorite TV shows. How’s that for family time?!

Since neither of us stepped foot into this room for heaven-knows how long, I mentioned the idea to Eric about turning it into a temporary “office” space for me to work from. Although he gave me the thumbs up, the only thing I’ve managed to do is move the kitchen table to the back wall for more room and setup the printer.

It’s time to get down to business. Here are some things I would like to do:

1. Hate the mirror. Sure, it’s nice, but my inner design style wants to trash it. I am thinking I will save on costs by re-doing the frame myself. Any color ideas?
2. I would love get rid of the kitchen table and place a desk in here, however, that’s just not in the deck of cards for us right now (we don’t want to purchase anything until we are in our own place). So, I will use the table as my desktop and instead find creative ways to organize my clutter and change out the decor.
3. This wall makes me yawn! It’s a lot larger than the picture gives off, and it screams stark white. I have thought about adding simple-printed fabric to the entire wall or tape up wallpaper. Thoughts? Trashy or classy?
4. I’ve also toyed with the idea of flanking some chairs, hanging a shelf, or finding a drink cart to help define the space of the office.
5. Would a rug be too much? Decisions, decisions. I may hold out on this idea since a rug is a more permanent, expensive item.
6. I hate the plastic blinds in apartments. They do nothing aesthetically and break every time they are touched. Should I add some curtain panels to hide them? I’m thinking I will get some textiles from Ikea and try to rework the window treatments.

Now I need to narrow down these ideas so I can execute my plan. What would you do to make this dining room feel more like an office? Keep in mind that I cannot make any permanent changes since it is an apartment. I’d love to hear your input!