Vintage Home Office Decor Tips and Ideas

A love of all things vintage has definitely taken over the decor on my home. My home office is one of the last places I incorporated a vintage look. I wanted the vintage décor to be functional as well as visually appealing. I found this was not hard to accomplish at all. It was important that my home office be appealing as well as functional, so I tried to incorporate vintage furniture and accessories that would work for me in my home office.

Vintage Message Centers

Every home office needs a message center. Somewhere you can tack up to do lists and bills. This was one of the first vintage inspired home office projects I tackled. Shutters make a great vintage message center. You can find new or old shutters easily at the flea market, at Lowes, or even Home Depot. Cut out a sturdy piece of cardboard or lightweight sheet of wood cut to the same size as the shutter. Gently tack it to the back of the shutter. This will keep your reminder notes, mail, and photos from sliding through the vintage inspired shutter message board. You can lean a row of three shutters on the wall behind your home office desk and start inserting everything from photos and inspirational ideas you cut out of magazine. For added stability or to get the vintage shutters off of your desk screw them into the wall. You could also use picture-hanging wire to hang them. A row of three vintage shutters gives great visual appeal to your home office.

A vintage chalkboard is a great way to incorporate this old fashioned look into a message center. You could hang it centered over your home office desk and then flank it with a vintage shutter on either side. It would create a great faux window look. To top the look off install a shelf directly below the vintage chalk board and shutters. Use flowerpots in a row on the shelf filled with pens and other office supplies to keep your home office organized and pretty.

For a more finished vintage inspired message center cover a corkboard with a vintage tablecloth or vintage fabric. Fabric glue the vintage fabric to the back of the corkboard for permanence. You can hang this as is in your office or finish it off by framing it out.

Vintage Desk Ideas

Vintage metal filing cabinets are a great base to a desk. I topped mine off with a piece of pinewood cut to size. I painted it in an antique white color and then allowed it to dry. Once it was dry I placed vintage post cards all over the desk. Next I topped it off with a piece of glass. This provides a smooth work surface while protecting my vintage postcards. I love to change out the postcards of photos and vintage advertisements whenever the mood strikes me. This is a great way to visually change the look of your home office easily.

On top of the desk in my home office I love to use vintage jars to hold pens and pencils. I also like to find vintage tin cans and insert a plastic cup into them. I use the plastic cup to plant flowers and violets in. This is a fabulous and affordable vintage addition to my home office

A comfortable vintage chair upholstered in some soft fabric is a comfortable way to spend a day working form home. I found a great vintage chair, but it was too low for me to comfortably work at my desk. I added some castors to the bottom of the smaller vintage chair and it made it the perfect height. The wheels also made it more mobile like a traditional desk chair you would find in a home office. I also added a pillow covered in a vintage handkerchief to the desk chair for some added back support.

Vintage Inspired Storage

Storage is always at a premium in any home office. You could use Vintage suitcases, vintage baskets, and vintage fruit crates to organize files, magazines, and printer paper. A lot of these items easily stack and could be neatly placed in a corner or even on a shelf.