Every year after taking all of my Christmas decorations down, my house feels empty and depressing, which is the perfect time to do a little “house refresh!” Usually I just change a few little things, like this year I added some new throw pillows to my couch and some new greenery here and there…

But I decided to do a little extra in my home office this year because that’s the only room in the house that I can make “girly” since I’m the only one that uses it.

When my daughter moved out after she finished college, I turned her bedroom into my home office, but honestly I’ve been just using it for storage lately, so I wanted to cozy it up so I would actually want to spend time in there. I’m a home health nurse, which means I do a TON of computer charting at home, which was why I originally wanted a home office. But I usually just end up doing my computer work in the kitchen while simultaneously doing all the things we wives and mothers have to get done like laundry, cooking, washing dishes, cleaning house, etc.

The main area I wanted to focus on was the wall facing my desk, it just felt so empty…

I never used the tv so it was just collecting dust, and the wall was just plain boring to look at while I sat at the desk facing it. I’ve always loved the eclectic interiors of homes in New Orleans, and that was the vibe I wanted to go for, but I was also on a tight budget from buying Christmas presents.

I looked around on Amazon and found some beautiful peel-and-stick wallpaper that was only $9 a roll, and the black background on it would match the black futon I have in there to use if anyone ever spends the night. I wanted a chair rail to separate the wallpaper above from the painted walls below, and I happened to find a peel-and-stick one of those as well on Amazon, which was perfect because I wouldn’t have to enlist any help cutting one to fit.

I also had a few gold accessories and picture frames stored away that I wasn’t using anywhere, and decided to use them to make a gallery wall over the wallpaper. I came up with this “vision board” to make my office wall go from boring to exciting:

I started by measuring off where I wanted the chair rail to go, then hung the peel-and-stick wallpaper down to that spot. However, it was not sticking to my wall like I hoped it would. Our walls have a slight texture to them, and it looked like that was the problem.

I wanted to give up already, but then I found some adhesive spray online that had really good reviews to help this type of wallpaper stick to textured walls…

This stuff worked great, and then I was on a roll! Before long, I had the wallpaper and chair rail up!

I realize that I did not line up the edges of the wallpaper to match, but first of all I’m not a professional, and second of all I really didn’t care to go to that much trouble when I was going to hang the gold accents on top of it, so please don’t judge me!

And after all the trouble of getting the wallpaper to actually stick, the last thing I was concerned about at that point was matching the edges up.

After getting the wallpaper and chair rail up, it was time to accessorize! I got the battery operated wall sconces and the little gold table lamp from Amazon, but everything else I either had lying around the house or was already in my office somewhere.

The opposite wall that my desk backs up to is where I store my books, computer printer, and a bunch of little trinkets and pictures, and I did not change that wall at all.

The view from the window up here is nothing more than the roof of our carport, but the view I have now from my desk actually makes me want to stay in my little home office a lot more!

I only spent about $100 total on this office “refresh,” including the table lamp, wall sconces, wallpaper and chair rail, and the adhesive spray, but the difference it made is priceless to me!

Thanks y’all!

-Nikki