Building A Home Office on a Budget

I hung a pair of Roman shades that we brought with us from our house in Portland (before that, they were in my parents' house—a good reminder that if you get custom window treatments, choose a neutral color because windows often are standard sizes and you may be able to use those window treatments again if you move).

The furniture—a pine trestle table, rolling chair, and a small, drop-leaf desk—are all things we already owned. Because the drop-leaf desk is small, I cleaned out the drawers and use it to store paper, pens, envelopes and other office supplies. I bought a white-framed bulletin board at a local Pottery Barn outlet for less than $25, and moved in a lamp from the bedroom for my desk.

We now had an attractive, functional home office. Since we didn't have to buy furniture, window treatments or office equipment for the room and saved money by doing the painting and other labor ourselves, I decided to splurge on a high-quality Tibetan wool carpet. Even that, though, we purchased online from the manufacturer in a closeout sale, at a price that was more than 75 percent off the manufacturers' suggested retail. The result is a room that, aside from the rug, cost less than $200 to renovate.

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