This post is sponsored by Mohawk
Remember when I promised to show you my office? The photo above is from a corner of my previous office in our old house. Tomorrow I’ll share a progress report with the “after” photos of my new office featuring brand new flooring. This basement makeover has been a long time coming and I’m excited to show you the results.
Rooms evolve, ideas change, and sometimes a move accelerates plans faster than I can keep up. We already have a broader vision for how we’ll use the new office and the lower level for our business. Below I’ll recap what our previous office looked like and explain why we needed more creative space so you can understand the plan behind the makeover.
If you’ve followed The Inspired Room for a while, you know I run my business from home. In short, my business is called The Inspired Room—I’m the creator of this blog. But the work goes beyond blogging: I’ve written five books about the home (with more on the way), I write for other sites, create and photograph projects for the blog and other collaborations, and I partner with brands. We also recently launched a home and wellness brand called Pure & Lovely and I help lead a growing team.
My daughters are involved in the business and support much of what we do, which I’m incredibly grateful for. My middle daughter has been my primary full-time collaborator for the past three years. “Employee” doesn’t quite capture her role—she’s a creative, self-starting leader, as is her sister. Even so, we could probably use ten more team members!
As our business grew and new ideas emerged, so did our need for more dedicated creative space. In our old house we had a small office with an adjoining garage for storage and projects. Replacing the original carpet with hardwood greatly improved that space and made it a joy to work in.
Now that we’re settled in our new house, we continued to refine plans for the business. It became clear we needed more room than ever before, and we began considering more of the lower level as the headquarters for our growing team. The first priority was creating a dedicated office.
Here’s a look back at the space we started with:
Previously this basement area was one large open room—perfect for cartwheels but not ideal for focused work. The carpet was worn and it lacked the calm, orderly environment I need to be productive. I’m easily distracted by noise, scents, and activity around the house, so creating a peaceful workspace is essential for my well-being and the business.
The back corner to the left of the stairs seemed like the ideal location for a quieter, more attractive office. With a couple of walls, a door, and new flooring, we could create a dedicated workspace that would support concentration and creativity.
I was concerned that partitioning part of the open room might make the lower level feel smaller or dark, so we used tape on the floor to mark the proposed walls and visualize the layout. Surprisingly, the division made the whole lower level feel more purposeful and spacious rather than cramped.
We loved the Mohawk flooring we used in our previous home, so we chose Mohawk again for the lower level. To match our style and the home’s aesthetic, we selected a laminate called Concertina in Smokey Chestnut. The new flooring immediately warmed up the space and changed how the entire lower level felt.
You might recall the reveal of the new flooring on the family room side of the basement. Seeing that transformation inspired new ideas for how to use the space—flooring really does change the perception of a room. Even without new furniture, fresh floors make everything feel updated and set the tone for the design that follows.
Below are progress photos that show the early stages of building the new office and transforming the lower level. These rough shots chronicle the start of a space that would soon feel intentional and inviting.
These progress photos are a little rough, but it was exciting to watch the room take shape. The flooring looked unfinished in earlier shots, but tomorrow I’ll share a full progress report with the finished office photos. I can’t wait to show you the final flooring and offer another hint about our next steps in expanding our creative space.