If you’ve been wondering how I’ve been getting on with my home office makeover project here’s a quick update on my progress, including a review of the ultimate cushion…
Ever since we moved into our fixer-upper home nearly two years ago, I’ve promised myself a proper home office in the spare room. Sure, it’s a tiny box-room (the kind that only has space for a single bed, and that’s about it!) but it was exactly the right size for me to tuck myself away and work on my writing undisturbed.
The renovation began in earnest when we had to strip off wallpaper and paint over the NEON GREEN woodwork – you may remember seeing the before photos of my office transformation on my blog. Since then however, the makeover has kind of ground to a halt. Sure, I’ve DIY’d some lovely storage and accessories for my home office but now I want to finally get the room finished.
So, I’ve turned my attention to the desk and my office chair. I’ve been making do with an old desk that was being given away at the side of the road in a nearby village and my office chair was a ‘bargain corner’ find at Ikea. Both were very thrifty options, but neither are particularly clean and don’t exactly create that minimalist home office atmosphere I’ve been craving.
I’ve decided to install a wall-to-wall desk so that I’ve finally got a work surface where I can do sewing and upcycling projects alongside my writing desk. This will make the most use of the space and will hopefully give me the chance to add some more storage too. I’ve bough the cheapest desk legs from Ikea (£2.50!) and am on the look out for a wooden worktop that’s long enough for the space.
In the meantime, I’m tackling my office chair. When I bought it from the bargain corner in Ikea it already needed a clean, but thankfully the covers could be removed and washed. However, I never quite got round to doing it and the chair has become even more mucky over the past year. So yesterday I took off the covers for the first time, scrubbed them with stain remover and popped them into the wash. I let them dry on the airer (to avoid any tumble-dryer shrinkage) and have just put them back onto the seat. Look at how mucky they were before:
The chair looks like new again, and thankfully the covers didn’t shrink in the wash, phew! When I bought the chair, it was actually the one I’d chosen in the showroom and I was going to pick up a brand new one from the warehouse. But lo-and-behold, there was the exact same chair waiting for me at a reduced price in the bargain corner – I’m a lucky girl!
I’d chosen it because it was the most comfortable in the whole shop (actually, I tried many desk chairs in many shops before going for this one!) BUT now, I feel like it’s getting a little flat through over-use, so I’ve also added a solution that’s completely rejuvenated my office chair.
I got the Egg Sitter from JML! So-called because apparently you can place a raw egg on top of the cushion and it’s so flexible that the egg with sink into the seat when you sit down, and it won’t crack. Now, seeing as I’ve only just cleaned my office chair, I didn’t try the egg-test, but I did watch a lot of videos on YouTube of people doing just that – and the egg doesn’t break!
This support cushion is a squishy flexible silicone-like material, with a honeycomb texture. This absorbs pressure to ‘hug’ your bottom when you sit down and OMG it really is the most comfortable thing I’ve ever sat on. It feels a little weird to start with because the honeycomb moves with you as you shift around in your seat, but it doesn’t take long to get used to it. And it improves your posture, which is something I definitely need!
The shape of the cushion is ideal for most seats and it supports your spine to ease lower back pain during the working day. The added bonus is that air circulates through the honeycomb so I’m guessing it’ll be comfortable to use during the hotter months too. It’s not just for office use – you can use it in the car, on a garden bench or on a dining chair. Anywhere that you want to feel more comfortable while you’re sitting really.
It comes with a machine washable cover so it was simply a case of ‘encouraging’ the Egg Sitter into position and zipping the cover closed. I really like the monochrome style of my ‘new’ office chair. And now there’s no way that I’ll ever go back to sitting on my office chair without the Egg Sitter, it feels totally flat without it.
So that’s where I’m at with my home office makeover and I’m determined to get my desk sorted out in the next couple of weeks so please keep an eye on my blog for more photos and updates! Let me know if you have any tips for creating a wall-to-wall office desk (including where I can find a length of wood long enough!) in the comments below – thanks! 🙂
Some items in this blog post have been gifted to me and the pink links indicate a gifted product, affiliate link or information source. All thoughts and opinions in this post are based on my own experience and I am not responsible for your experience 🙂
