Happy Sunday! I took the past week off from projects for a couple reasons…. recovery from Lucketts, and also Sawyer had no school Thursday and Friday (kindergarten parent-teacher conferences). So I don’t have nothing new to share with you, except that Sawyer is a very social child, eager to please his teachers and peers, and he needs to work more on writing and reading comprehension, and is exceptional in math. 🙂 So proud of him! Anyhow, instead of keeping you high and dry, I have asked one of my favorite and friendliest bloggers to come over as a guest today! Kristy from Hyphen Interiors is here sharing her gorgeous office with us! Enjoy some tips and eye candy from Kristy!
Cassie, thank you for having me here today. Hello to all of her readers! I was so excited when Cassie said she needed a break and asked if I could guest post! The thing that stands out to me about Cassie is not just her amazing furniture redos, and they are awesome, but the way she interacts with her readers. She takes special care to reply to every comment and to sincerely interact. She is so personable. And, with a blog of her size, I can only imagine that being a challenging task! So, kudos to you – I want to be like you when I grow up!
There is a room in my home that is finished, but that I have not yet talked about on my young blog. Well, there are a few. But, today, I want to share my office with you.
Two of the most important parts of design are function and colors.
Function.
When designing a room, it is important to understand the needs of the person(s) using the room. How do you use the room? What do you need from it functionally? So, this is the first thing we thought about. Function.
This room in our home is technically an upstairs den. It’s a 15×13 room with double doors and no closet. My husband works from home as a software architect. Therefore, he knew he’d be spending
hours
days in this room. (That’s my better half, below.)
He was very specific about what he needed from this room in order to have a good work space. His requests were:
– A very long desk so that he could put multiple monitors on it and still have some extra room.
– A huge white board so he can draw out his software design plans and ideas.
– A recliner to take breaks in and think in.
Well, those are some mighty clear parameters, huh?
I got right to work sketching out designs for built ins. Built-ins that worked with the flow of the room and allowed the room to be used for other purposes in the future, should that be necessary. A custom closet company turned my sketches into those below with exact measurements.
We envisioned a wall of adjustable shelves on the right side of the room. For the left side of the room, we wanted a wall length desk that included five total filing cabinets, six drawers and a cabinet on a hutch over the desk. All in white. Part solid wood, part melamine due to cost and durability.
Color Scheme/ Design.
Once you understand function and create a layout that works for you and your family, you will want to consider colors and overall design.
Some important questions to ask yourself are: What colors do you like? What mood do you want to create? What style elements will make you want to be in the room?
Chris uses the office the most so we went with colors that weren’t too feminine. We also wanted a calm yet not too relaxing feel. We chose soft gray walls with a charcoal stripe around the top and that same charcoal behind the wall of white shelves as the backing color.
Plan your work. Create sketches and a design board if possible. Some of it may just be conceptual, but it gives you a clear direction.
Our Office – How It Turned Out.
We went with blue curtains for the window for a bit of color to an otherwise fairly monochromatic room. They are blackout curtains from Overstock, just in case we ever want it dark in there.
Without curtains and pillows, the room would be way too hard. It definitely needed to be softened up. The flowers, along with the curved lines of the wall decal, juxtapose the masculine with some feminine to keep the space in balance.
We chose this leather recliner with contemporary lines for the space. It has a masculine feel, yet we could easily add throw pillows to balance that out. On the chair is a pillow I made and a zig zag pillow I happened across at Target.
On the wall decal is a damask pattern which is a classic pattern. However, the large scale of it makes it more contemporary.
We got these metal letters from Razamataz. They were green and black. We painted them a similar color to the curtains, but with a metallic glaze. The W’s stand for “World Wide Web” since my husband works on software. I chose to sit them on a black and white polka dotted box for added whimsy. I also love Mr. Elephant, as he’s made from leather and just adds a traveled yet fun feel. The texture of the storage baskets keep the room from being overwhelmed with smooth finishes.
My favorite part of the space may be the white board. It’s a 4 ft by 8 ft piece of clear acrylic. We painted the back white. This gave it a white board appearance, but with shine, much like a glass white board which can run you up to $5000. However, we only spent $225 on our diy project.
We then hung it with 1 inch stand-off mounts so that it sits just off the wall. This takes up the entire space over the desk.
Here is the bulk of the closed storage. It is a hutch with adjustable shelves inside, a shelf under the cabinet, and a space for the printer. Under the desk top are file cabinets and drawers. Note that the flag belonged to my husband’s grandfather.
Shelves run the entire 15 feet length of the room on the right side. The center portion sticks out a few more inches than each side so as to bring a little focus to the middle. We topped them with crown molding. All shelves are adjustable. We had fun filling them with things we already owned along with a few new things. It’s not perfectly styled yet, but it’s getting there.
Not Done Yet.
Is any room ever truly finished? If you love designing, let’s be honest… probably not! I’d still like to add a rug to the middle of the room to detract from our ugly carpet, but I haven’t decided just what type or color yet. I’m open to suggestions! I’d also like to switch the doors out for french doors eventually.
Even though I’d say no room is truly ever finished, my husband would say he loves this room. I’d love for you to visit my blog!
I am currently doing a giveaway for a hand painted “Keep Calm and Carry On” sign. It’s a little vintage looking. Awesome art for any room! Be sure to come over and enter! You don’t even have to be a follower to enter.
Thank you for having me, Cassie!
