A Simple Vintage Modern Basement Office

Creating a beautiful vintage modern office in a basement living room.

A month ago, I shared that major changes are coming to our little house. In order for those changes to happen, I had to move my office from the addition to the basement. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep everything that was in my previous office space, but I did keep a few of my favorite pieces to create the perfect vintage modern basement office.

The hardest part of preparing for the renovation has been losing my office and purging enough to be able to move my office to the basement, particularly, where the kid's art table and toys were. We had to purge, sell, donate and give away a lot of toys, decor and furniture we no longer had room for. It all worked out, but it was definitely a challenge to downsize our things.

Before I share all the details of my new office area, let's take a look at how my office looked when it used to be in the addition.

I loved that almost everything in the space was free (lockers) or secondhand (desk, file cabinet, wall decor, theatre chairs). The shelves were were also a favorite of mine and I loved having a fun spot to decorate and display some of my favorite vintage finds. Unfortunately, I did have to sell my tall vintage Globe-Wernicke file cabinet, break up my theatre chairs and lose the shelves, but I was able to create a functional and organized office, perfect for creating.

The first thing we did was get rid of the art table and IKEA Expedit bookcase that I turned into lockers. We moved in my office lockers and mid century modern desk that I scored at Goodwill for less than $15.00.

I use the lockers to store mostly project and craft supplies, except for one locker, which is used for board games.

The Dollar Tree bins that I turned into vintage inspired locker baskets are perfect for organizing packing tape, tape measures and other shipping supplies.

As for the rest of the lockers, I used clear plastic storage bins (that I updated with Gold Leaf Rub 'n Buff, metallic craft paint and bronze label holders) to keep all my small craft and project materials organized.

Adding metal label holders to storage bins

Organizing craft supplies in storage bins

I like using small clear bins because it's so easy to quickly see what's inside and grab and pull out what you need. I've been using this method for a few months now and it's been working out really well.

My favorite faux fiddle leaf tree also got moved to my new office space as well as a new red vintage inspired rug. If you know me at all, you know red is typically NOT a color I use in our home. It definitely took some getting used too, but I'm so glad I went out of my comfort zone.

I keep all my paperwork and materials for my shop in my desk drawers and use a metal trashcan for camera and lighting equipment storage.

It may not be as quiet and I may not be able to display all my favorite things, but I'm super grateful we were able to carve out space for a new office.