Decorate Your Office in Black and White On a Budget

Do you want to dress up your office (or desk) on a budget? You don’t have to have a dedicated room to create an office space. You just need a small area that can accommodate a desk, chair, and a bit of storage. If you can’t bring your own desk to an office you can still give the space a personal look using a few of the items listed below. Make your office more like your home without spending a lot.

I recently emptied a junk room in the place where I work to convert it into an office. Even if you are working with small spaces you can design a home workspace with a simple desk, a cohesive color scheme, desk accessories, and wall art. I made a mood board to try and figure out what I wanted to put into my “found” space. Read more about how you can make a mood board and how it can help you define your personal style and make better buying decisions.

To get an idea of what you like in a space, capture screenshots of products you like and put them on a board to see if they work together.

Office Desks

Desks that you assemble are very budget-friendly, and typically not complicated to put together. They don’t have to be actual desks if you are tight on funds. You can take two filing cabinets and put a shelf top.

My favorite places to go for desks on a budget are Ikea (they aren’t fancy, but they are very functional), Overstock, and Target. Facebook and Craigslist always have lots of desks in my area, so check there for even bigger bargains.

Office Rugs

A floor rug can define a space. If you don’t have an entire room for your office and it’s just a corner, use a rug to define it. The good news is that small rugs are inexpensive. Be sure to get something with a low pile because otherwise, it can be hard to move your chair around.

Low-pile rugs or flat-weave rugs make it possible to move your chair around. There are so many interior design photos of fluffy fur rugs in office spaces but if you want one of these try hanging it over your chair instead of on the floor. Rolling a chair over a fluffy rug can be frustrating.

Task Lighting For the Office

Offices (unless they are in your home) rarely have natural lighting but instead, have lots of fluorescent lighting. It is nice to have an alternative light source that provides good lighting with non-fluorescent lights. A great way to achieve this is with lamps.

Floor lamps can be nice because they don’t take up space on your desk, but sometimes they don’t provide as much light as a table lamp. Ikea has some great bargains on floor lamps. Amazon has unbelievable prices on basic table lamps.

Office Storage

Office spaces always need storage and many times the desks have none, especially inexpensive desks. Storage doesn’t have to be drawers, it can be baskets. Consider whether you need room for a lot of paper storage, in which case you will likely need some way to store files. If you need easy access to office supplies consider desk organizers or open shelving.

Office Chairs

If you want a very inexpensive office chair look at Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. Overstock and Ikea have many inexpensive ergonomic office chairs if you can’t find one used. I prefer to get a chair that swivels and has a height adjustment.

Madonna Mid Century Office Chair from Overstock
White Mid Century Office Chair from Overstock
LÅNGFJÄLL chair from Ikea

Plants For Your Office

Many offices outside the home have no light. It can be impossible to keep a real plant alive. If you are lucky enough to work in a place with natural light, get something that can withstand low light unless it is sitting in a window. Here’s a list of low-light house plants that are hard to kill.

If you don’t have natural light or a green thumb, there are some great faux plants. I like to use as many plants as I can fit because offices can be cold and impersonal. There are some really great faux trees.

My favorite place to go for faux trees is Etsy. Etsy is my personal favorite for all things and I almost always look there because you would be surprised by what you can find.

Etsy Faux Olive Tree from a 5 star seller (comes in three sizes)
Frontgate Ficus Tree

Art For the Office

Office wall decor can be a bit more tricky. You probably don’t want large family photos. In fact, many people use art in offices that is not personal in any way because there can be many office workers that you don’t necessarily want to share your personal life with.

I like to put something abstract just because it’s not feminine and the meaning is different for everyone. Artfully and Minted have a great selection of inexpensive prints.