Cute rug for under your chair and desk and a large decorative wall piece or painting that makes you smile. Curtains would warm up the spot as well but the spacing looks tight.

You might want a chalk board, white board, or bulletin board.

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Think I could add this Umbra chair in this space in addition to your suggestions? I’m thinking black or white

For goodness sakes, clear off the clutter to begin with. Then, find a less formal and more comfortable chair, and stay with one that has arms on it and maybe wheels.

This is really more of a small writing desk rather than a real life central kind of desk. To make it do too much duty is probably more than it can support due to it's style and size.

Add some type of lighting that is mounted on the wall so as not occupy the small desk space. Keep the desk clear and free of anything but the computer and maybe the phone charger. My husband finds great use in a desk calendar. There are some small ones that are attractive.

Should you feel the need for more space to keep things at hand, you might consider some wall shelves rather than a non functioning decorative element on that back wall. It would warm up the space, add some function, and add a space to display and enjoy something special. It would, in essence, add immensely to the useful dimensions of the small desk.

You might even be able to add something akin to under cabinet lighting to the lowest shelf.

Don't decorate it. Instead, make it warm and inviting and useful with nice lighting and your own intriguing possessions. A bulletin board or something of that nature would be good and useful along the side wall and would be another good place for a calendar.

Decorating it is not going to make it warm and inviting or useful. You would be better served to add some useful dimensions to it by utilizing the surrounding walls to incorporate into that corner.

Some blinds on the window would create some warmth and dimension, also.

Just putting a flower vase and a non descript framed picture on the wall is not going to make it a place for YOU. It would just become another decorated corner of the house and not at all a part of your life. Fill that corner with your life, all the way up the wall.

Did you post this twice? My list came up with two posts and with two sets of responses.

I would find a nice book shelf to set on top of it and dress it with all my favorite things.

What Miranda33 says.

^Ditto

You need more space if you truly plan on managing the household finances from your desk. The desk and chair are entirely unsuitable, ditch both. You need drawer and storage space for records and papers you need to save. I have a 2 drawer separate file cabinet, but most desks will have a drawer for hanging files. Nothing huge, but a large enough space to do the work you want to do, or say you want to do. I’ve done this for years and it’s not the “glam” you seem to be imagining.

We are a pretty paperless household so don’t need much space

Evidently from the photo of your desk, you do.

That CORNER with desk FACING WALL looks depressing, like where a teacher would a misbehaving student.

Not a $150. option...

If you really are paperless...

Install cabinet above desk...

Put a bookcase behind the desk...

I have a large old oaken school teachers desk that I have been using as my life central desk for decades. I love it. Every inch of it is mine, all mine! I highly recommend a space like this. It is a nice addition to your life.

If you don't want to buy something bigger, you really need to claim the space around it.

It looks like you need some place to display kids things, too. Is all of that kids art placed directly on the wall? You could really use something along that wall for all of that and it looks like a charging cord on the floor, too.

It looks like your kitchen is a life central kind of a space that is sorely in need of some appropriate out fitting for such. A desk and shelves serves many more purposes than just paying the bills.

That little desk is more decorative than it is functional, but you can do something about that.

Does your husband conduct business out of "his" office, or is it just that it is more of a man cave type of room?

Despite any one person laying claim to a dedicated space in the shared house, it remains true that having a life central place right there in the kitchen where life is taking place is a very valuable space to carve out. Once you make that space usable and functional you will see how much a part it can play in your life.

I find my large desk to be invaluable. Here it sits, right in the middle of where life happens. I do keep it clean and uncluttered, as that is my way, regardless. Various bit and pieces, artifacts, things in transit do reside on this desk for periods of time because they are a part of my life or the lives of my grandchildren. A little American Girl doll lived on my desk for some time while I was sewing her a new wardrobe. She modeled each one of her new outfits for me. Photos of my grand children are tucked between some photo albums that are there at the moment and there is an old fashioned, vintage,really heavy metal tape dispenser sitting there that I have come to appreciate for it's superior and solid construction and immense function.

Things come and go. Before the holidays there were fabric balloon balls on the desk that I had made for the kids. it can be just a lovely place for things to reside as you appreciate them. Still, I keep it clean and functional but one is likely to find any manner of appreciated things residing here for a while. It is life central and I highly recommend it.

How old are your kids? Train them (and husband) asap how they are allowed to interact with YOUR SPACE. Whoever sorts the mail PUTS ALL BILLS IN ____ SPOT. If you borrow a pencil, scissor or whatever YOU PUT IT BACK IN ITS SPOT ON YOUR DESK. When you are not at your desk, YOUR CHAIR is pushed under YOUR DESK and is NOT available for other people to sit in.

If I had 3 young kids, I think I'd get a small side table to sit next to my desk, and one tray (or one shelf per kid?) on it would be where kids could put their pictures, papers, etc, for me to see and/or deal with.

The family respects YOUR space, and you respect THEIR space. Most of a house is shared space, so it isn't asking too much to have a few square feet of one's own.

Well, it's a theory ;-)

Is this where you actually sit to do office-type work and pay the bills now? Or do you actually do that work elsewhere? How is this space not working for you, if it's where you work or where you envisioned working? I doubt it's just the decor. What keeps you from wanting to work here, really?

What is on the other side of the radiator? Asking because if you are handy, you could build or purchase and install a shelf to go under the window and then decorate this w a plant, small lamp, family photos, etc. It would also give you space to spread out while working. If the wall on the other side of the rad is empty, you could add a bookcase or some storage here. It would be easy to find one on Craigslist or at a resale shop in your price range.
Then you can decorate the space above the desk with whatever you need to function, a white board, bulletin board, or art.

Also, I think you should keep traditional lines of your chair to tie in w the rest of your decor, but update the fabric to something more contemporary.

Thank you for all the great comments. My husbands office is where he does real work so i cant use that space and it’s on a third floor so not where we are ever hanging out as a family. This desk i currently use but the corner seems dull no color nothing on the walls so i think km also looking for things to put in wall. Don’t need a calendar i have a notebook type one. May put my kids’ school photos from each year up. Kids are 7 and under youngest is 2. So no one is really touching my desk...much LOL

While I know you mean your husband uses his office for his job, don’t sell yourself short. You managing the household and bills and other family matters is what allows him to hide out undisturbed on the third floor to do his tasks. Your work is every bit as real as his. Put art that makes you smile above the desk, whether it be a print or photos of your kids. I am a huge fam of Command picture strips so photos and art can be moved around when you feel like changing things up. Or put up floating shelves and you can display frames and objects. A decorative cup for pens/pencils/scissors on the desk. A decorative file. Or, on the wall on the left, a wall pocket or two to corral mail and papers. Put a low/small table on the right to catch boxes. Put a plant in front of the window or on the small table.

P, if I understand correctly, you want your nook to be as organized as your kitchen appears to be (I see nothing on your counters or table,) yet it should feel like your space to manage your household's organization and feel like a a space that welcomes you?

I'd suggest you Google "home office kitchen" for some images of spaces that appeal to you, keeping in mind ways you can discreetly keep the paperwork and boxes that are probably visually distracting you. Also Google "children's home art gallery wall, as you may want to coordinate the wall behind your desk with your work nook.

Are you crafty and do you have time with three small children to DIY any projects? Again, Google hacks for a high-end look that will need with your space, yet reflect your personality and inspire you to completeness necessary to run your home.

Lots of good suggestions here, but you need to think about what this space needs to do in terms of function, how it should appeal to you aesthetically, and how you can make it work budget-wise. BTW, what you're doing is what teachers do every summer . Don't be afraid to look at some of their ideas, pictures, and blogs.

Carol

ETA: Post some pictures, even if they don't fit your budget. I'm sure you'll get some good ideas on how to get something similar less expensively.

These are my art walls. Carol I love your suggestions and I’m very Into craft projects. I love the command strips. I also am thinking above my desk I will take the kids’ school pics and put this over desk along with possibly some other art work etc.

Love the kids art work! It is way, way, way better than some silly framed nonsense from BEd/Bath. Maybe put up a dry erase board for your kids on the wall, a magnetic one.

Seriously, the kids corner and the wall with their art is a lot more interesting than that little writing desk in the corner that you shared. I would rather pull up a chair with your little one frying plastic eggs on the pretend stove than to sit at your desk. It is much more enticing, much more.

Don't sell yourself short. Your corner should be as interesting as theirs.

I still say to put up shelves behind that desk and create some texture to the life around the desk. I do appreciate the uncluttered look of your kitchen. Do you live like that or did you do that because you were inviting strangers into your kitchen? Real life, though, is not clutter.

You've no need for privacy or sun or cold north wind from the windows? I see other houses out the window and would feel the need for privacy. No?

Love dallasannie’s idea of the dry erase board for your kids. Our kids had one and loved putting up the menu when they played restaurant!

Love some of the suggestions you've gotten, and look forward to seeing what you come up with. I totally agree that the kids' art displays are awesome! Once you figure out what you need fuction-wise, I'm sure you'll come up with a great solution. Definitely try Craigslist if you're on a budget.

dallasannie, I love the image I have of your oak teacher's desk in the kitchen. I have a small one that my parents rescued from someone's trash when I was a kid that's had many uses over the years, and recently snagged a HUGE one off of Craigslist that I'm turning into a crafting desk. I love how sturdy and practical they are.

Our house is set up on a hill so we look down at the houses across the street as our windows sit up high above the street. We have window coverings upstairs and may put some up eventually downstairs but it is not an urgent need.

Do you like this large flower decal for the wall in that area in addition to decorating with school pics of my children?

I like the decal. I would be concerned if the yellow will show up well or get lost with the background color of the wall.

Or do you like this art for that area?

I am not going to present my self as good at interior design (better with organizing) so with that disclaimer, I think the colors would work if you like the piece. Do you love it? It should be something that speaks to you and to your tastes. Don’t be in a hurry selecting artwork - make sure you love it!