A Room of My Own

I have been neglecting a crucial aspect of working from home: a proper office space. For years I’ve been alternating between using my laptop on the dining table, the sofa and my bed. Not the most efficient situation – my papers were everywhere, I felt messy and disorganized, and I wasn’t working to my full potential.

I took stock of our living space – and decided to repurpose our old playroom into my office. When it came to decorating my space, I partnered with Marshalls Canada to pick out the cutest accessories to furnish my study.

Marshalls had a challenge for me – using their products, could I style my office in three different ways? This sounded like the most fun challenge EVER – so of course I said yes! Click through to see what I put together.

BLACK, WHITE & GREY

For the first decor style, I chose a palette inspired by the “You can’t photoshop personality”  marble print I found at Marshalls. I added black & white trellis print cushions for a graphic look, and contrasted it with a furry grey pillow in front. The cushion selection at Marshalls is a dream come true – I can’t believe how many I ended up buying for this project!

Would you believe that my acrylic “Louis Ghost Chair” was a lucky $35 find at Marshalls? That is why I love exploring different locations – you end up with the most amazing bargains! The white fake flowers suspended in “water” was another lucky find – they were only $25 and look so realistic to me. For the decor pieces, I chose a candle with a pretty label, a metal sphere sculpture and a silver rhino – it’s quirky yet elegant.

TURQUOISE AND GOLD

The second decorating style I tried was an opulent turquoise and gold combo. Next to pink, turquoise is one of my favourite colours – and Marshalls has so many pretty accessories in this shade. The gold sequin cushion below is actually one of those fun “mermaid” ones – where the sequins change colour when you brush your hands over them – I can’t keep my kids away from it! There were two white and gold prints that I used in all three decor pics – the “rise and shine” print was made for a beauty blogger, don’t you think?

There were so many turquoise and gold options in the decor section at Marshalls. How cute is the golden pineapple I found for $16.99? I also love the tasseled jewelry box and the matching XOXO print. For each different decorating style, I chose a matching coffee mug to use as a pen holder.

ALL PINK EVERYTHING

The last decor style is probably the one you would most expect from me – where I buy ALL OF THE PINK THINGS! I love the “Better an oops than a what if” print (which I found for $24.99), it’s a great reminder for me to take more risks in life (and blogging)! You can also see how the mermaid cushion looks when its sequins are brushed to the rose gold side – it’s such a versatile piece for $34.99.

My golden pineapple comes out again – but this time it’s paired with a pink velvet tassel jewelry box (love how they had them in so many different sizes and colorways)! I also found this pretty pink lamp for $34.99 – and the cutest pom pom pillow for my chair.

Having my own space has made such a difference in my life – no more writing posts in bed late at night and feeling groggy in the morning! Now I sit at my desk with my cup of coffee after dropping the kids at school, and am able to get SO much more done!

It was fun pushing myself to try different decor styles for this post – I’ll admit that it was a LOT of work. This post was a month in the making – and I went in to nearly every Marshalls I came across (including one in London, Ontario when I visited my sister!) But I enjoyed every moment of it – and funnily enough, I’ve found that styling decor is very similar to putting together outfits:

• Invest in staples that you love (i.e. sofas, desks, chairs) and add variety with your accessories
• You don’t have to spend a lot to change up your space – just switch out your accessories for a completely different look
• Pick a key piece (such as a painting or a cushion) and refer to it as a guide when putting the room together 
• Focus on 2-3 colours to keep everything cohesive

I’d love to know – which of these decor styles is your favourite?

DISCLAIMER: This is a sponsored post in partnership with Marshalls Canada. All the cushions, prints, decor pieces and mugs used in this post were purchased from Marshalls.