A day at the office | Work OOTD

I've been dying to wear this outfit since I bought it during the summer holidays, but the weather has been too nice to wear trousers up until now (very rare for this country!). So, today with a cloudy forecast looming, it seemed like the right time for its first outing.

I think I've mentioned before that being a teacher, I often find it hard to find decent work wear. The shops have some great clothes, but sometimes for one reason or another they just aren't appropriate for school. 

The blouse for me was love at first site. Such a lovely material; really soft and luxurious feeling, sleeveless, just off white with a smart black tie. It was a complete bargain from H&M at only £14.99.

I decided to style the blouse with some black wide leg trousers which are going to be huge during AW16. This pair are from Miss Selfridge, they cost £30, but I think I had a 20% off email code from them. (I thoroughly recommend that you sign up to the Miss Selfridge mailing list as they regularly send out discount codes.)

Picture from ASOS

Finally for the shoes. I'm on my feet a lot during the day and I also walk to work, so comfortable shoes are a must. I do have some nice loafers, but sometimes you just want some height. These are the ASOS Shaken heels which are currently on sale for £24 (RRP £32). The heel height is perfect but they are hurting my big toes, so I may have to send them back if I can't stretch them out.

What is your favourite place to shop for work wear?

Home office

My home office is finally finished. It has been a work in progress over the past few months. What started off as a bright yellow babies room (previous owners) is now a light and airy work space.

The walls were in pretty bad condition, so we started off by using the Polyfilla smoothover to plaster them, then sanded it all down. We also took up the old carpet and skirting boards. After painting the walls, ceiling, door frame and radiator, we laid some 5mm underlay and then some beautiful laminate flooring (Hickory smokey classic from Topps Tiles). It was suprisingly easy to lay the laminate flooring, I would advise anyone to DIY it if you don't want to pay someone to do it for you. It was made extra easy with a laminate cutter - no sawing needed.

We bought some 'no paint needed' white skirting from B&Q and got our carpenter to fit it for us. We could have done it, but don't own any power-tools so thought it best to get a professional in.

So, we went from this...

To this...

Next job was a trip to Ikea. I had always wanted a corner desk, but couldn't find a nice white one. So I compromised with the Malm desk with a pull out panel. It is effectively a corner desk if you want it to be, but the extra bit can be stored away when not in use. This is a great space saver as this is the smallest room in the house. We also got the clear tobias chair as thought it looked really smart and the lack floating shelves.

Finishing touches includeed a small billy bookcase, new light shade, dark wood venetian blind and some pictures on the opposite wall.

Now I have the perfect space to do my work and craft in. I love this room so much. I'm pretty sure it has increased my work productivity as I'm happy to spend time in here doing my work whereas I used to be at the kitchen table with lots of distractions around.

What do you think?