Office Makeover Reveal with Vintage Touches and Full Shopping Guide

Whether you’re working remotely or just want a more inspiring space, a thoughtful office makeover can boost both mood and productivity. I think every new space needs a little old. There’s something about all the things that have gone before that adds a little authenticity to any space. So even though I decorated this office with a little before and after. Even though I made it over from top to bottom. Even though there are new curtains and new artwork and new organizing ideas and a new rug and new accessories. Even though there is a whole lot of new? One of my favorite things in this entire office is old. It was tucked away in a tiny corner of my husband’s grandfather’s workshop with boxes of old guitar strings and cases of fishing line and jars and bottles and tools and hardware. It sat there for years and years and years—forgotten and overlooked. Until. Until my husband found it and brought it home because he knows the way to my heart. He knew that he knew that he knew…..

….that I would love this.

No office makeover is complete without a few vintage office supplies. It’s a vintage clipboard calendar from the 1950s. Someone from 1949 was brilliant and created a rotating calendar at the top of a clipboard that would take you all the way from 1950 to 1955. Here’s how it works. See the little white clip underneath the calendar? It slides across the bottom of the dates and the dates slide across from side to side. There are different dates in different orders for different months. And the bottom of the clipboard has a code.

So if you start in January of 1950, you push the little white clip so that January starts on a Sunday. And February starts on a Wednesday. And March starts on a Wednesday. And April starts on a Monday. And so on for the entire year of 1950. Then in January of 1951, you push the clip so that January starts on a Monday. And February starts on a Thursday. And March starts on a Thursday. And April starts on a Sunday. And so on for the entire year of 1951. The calendar clipboard was an advertising piece for Ideal Dispenser Co in Illinois. I think they were a dispenser of sodas and milk. I tried to find out if the company was still in business, but I couldn’t find any current listings. And look at that phone number. It’s only FOUR DIGITS. But here’s the most amazing thing about this calendar. It just so happens that 1950 and 2023 have the EXACT SAME days of the week. In other words, January starts on a Sunday. And February starts on a Wednesday. And March starts on a Wednesday. And April starts on a Monday. And so on for the entire year of 2023. Just like 1950. But the best thing about this clipboard calendar? The brass and the patina and the age and typography fit perfectly in this space.

Along with a few other things. For everyone asking about the sources for this space. Here are a few of the new things from the office makeover:

• • this blue and white rug

• • this spindle chair

• • this spindle side table

• • these blue and white curtains

• • these gold curtain rings

• • these gold curtain rods

• • these flowers
  • this fiddle leaf fig

• • this white cabinet with glass front doors

• this larger white cabinet with glass front doors

On both sides of the room, I added these bookcase sets from IKEA. You can see the white cabinet with glass front doors here. And you can see this larger white cabinet with glass front doors here. There was an original built-in on this side of the room, but it was off-center. So I designed these bookcases to just go in front of it. The bookcases take up so much visual space, but the actual room feels bigger because they are so narrow (about 11” deep). There is SO MUCH storage behind the doors at the bottom. Here are just a few things I’m storing in there:

• File folders
• Hole punch
• Computer paper
• Magazines
• Paperwork
• Records
• Office supplies

There’s also additional storage in this cabinet in the mini bay window. You can see the cabinet here. Inside the cabinet are vases, other styling props, photography equipment, and ring lights and stands. The blue and white curtains are black-out curtains and they come in different lengths and they are SO MUCH more high-end looking than the price. You can see the curtains here along with these gold curtain rings and these gold curtain rods. The rug helps ground the room with a basic pattern in blue and white. It’s an 8’ x 10’ rug with shades of blue. It fits perfectly in the space with the bookcases, chairs and desks.  You can see the rug here.

The desk is my father’s (Thank you for saving it). It goes perfectly with these spindle chairs. You can see the chairs here. So here’s the finished space. The perfect combination for a new office with a vintage calendar to inspire an entire year of decorating projects and design posts. A little bit of old mixed with a little bit of new. Just like me.

disclosure: affiliate links are used in this post.

If you love this look, try mixing new pieces with flea market finds to add character. Check the full source list above to recreate the space!