From en suite to home office!

Kate Watson used clever design hacks, smart storage and a love of colour to create a space that’s perfect for working from home

Kate’s smart storage and clever design helped her to create a space that’s perfect for working from home

I’m Kate Jane Watson, a photographer. I live with my two daughters, Poppy, 13, and Lola, who’s 15. We live in a threebedroom Victorian terrace in Stroud and we moved here in 2016.

My room... MY PROBLEM OFFICE

During the first lockdown the girls were using the dining area – my usual office space – for their home schooling and Zoom lessons, but I was still trying to work on projects and needed a quiet space to edit my images to meet my deadlines. We were all getting in each other’s way and none of us had any quality space to concentrate on our individual tasks.

HOW I MADE IT WORK

I decided to convert an under-used en suite into a dedicated office space. I ripped out the shower and loo and had the room replastered, then I decorated. I commissioned a bespoke desk and filled the room with plenty of storage.

MY FAVOURITE PART

I love the walls. The paint effect was so quick, easy and cheap to create, and the wallpaper strip adds a fun touch. I also love my desk. It was my biggest spend but it’s bespoke, so I got to choose the exact size and colour, and I had a hole put in the back to tidy up the wires.

‘I enjoyed decorating in here and deciding how it would look. It’s a reflection of my love of pattern and colour’

MY EXPERIENCE

This room used to be an en suite, but we also have a bathroom and downstairs loo so when lockdown started and we were all working from home, it made sense to turn this into a dedicated office.

I sold the bathroom suite online to fund the project and had the room replastered. Then I bought two rolls of peel-and-stick wallpaper, which was a revelation. It was so easy to put up, with no mess at all, and literally took an hour. I was going to do the whole wall, but I liked the blocking effect so decided less is more. Then I painted the walls. I always head straight to the bargain bin at B&Q and found this tub of pink paint. To be honest, I don’t even know the name of the shade, but it was only £10 and it’s a lovely colour. I painted three quarters of the wall first and then decided to have a play, using masking tape for an interesting effect. I’d already earmarked the rug, from Wayfair, to go in here and was lucky enough to find an off-cut of carpet for £30. I asked a local kitchen maker to design a desk out of birch ply and Formica and then had a day at IKEA to stock up on everything else I needed. Now I have a place to work in that also inspires my creativity.

‘I didn’t realise how important a dedicated workspace was until I finally got one. I’m far less distracted and so much more productive’

Kate chose white as her base colour to encourage a sense of space in the small room. White paint was also a cheap option as Kate opted for a simple, budget brand to achieve a quick refresh TOTAL £910

Kate has used every trick in the book to create an inspiring room to work in. A gallery wall, good-looking storage baskets, pretty accessories and stylish, but affordable, furniture all add up to a brilliant work room that didn’t blow the budget

These IKEA pegboards are easy to customise so you can choose what accessories you want to suit your needs. Kate asked her desk designer to make a couple of plywood shelves to sit on the metal brackets