A Drastically Improved Home Office Design - Before and After
To say this time is strange and surreal would be the understatement of the century. In the midst of all the change in the world more and more of us are spending ALL of our time at home, and are now working from home… all while trying to navigate what’s happening around us. Because of this, I thought there may be no better time to reveal the Sharp + Grey Interiors World Headquarters tour. Mind you, it’s a 100 square foot room in my home but hey… it’s still the S+G World HQ right? And I know a lot of us have been thrown into a work from home situation and maybe you don’t think you have a lot of space to set up an office, but I’m hoping this gives you some inspiration on how to make a small space work as a functional and pretty office.
Truth be told, I have worked from home for many years. Before I started Sharp + Grey, I worked from home in a Corporate Marketing Job and had become accustom to work via phone call, video call and IM and have to admit I really love it. Especially because I can occasionally (ahem… 90% of the time) wear sweat pants to work. Working from home has been my way of creating that work life balance. It allows me to take my kids to school, be there if they need me to drop something off that they forgot (which happens all tooooo often), volunteer for school events and be home when they get home and make dinner at a reasonable hour.
Now that the ENTIRE family is home for this seemingly never-ending quarantine, I’m finding that it’s a little more difficult to manage all the new spinning plates in the air, especially now that I’m also a fill in teacher, janitor and lunch lady. But still my office is my small little haven, my space that is all mine and a place to really get creative, and do what I love to do.
Home Office Inspiration
When I started designing the office I wanted it to feel neutral and tonal with a restrained palette - I didn’t want a lot of color, but wanted a lot of depth and texture. And I wanted the space to feel collected and lived in, although it was brand new to me. I made it a priority to use a mix of high and low, old and new, and tried to really hone in on where I wanted to splurge and where I needed to save. I included lots of vintage and handmade finds to give the space character. Because the space is small - like, really small - my biggest goal for the office design was to re-think and prioritize organization. Smart storage was first on my list.
I wanted the space to feel collected and tonal with a mixture of materials and felt comfortable and lived in and thoughtful. A place I could do my best work in.
Before
I am embarrassed to show you the before of this space (especially after all that beauty above), because when we moved into the house we slopped some random mauve paint (seriously, mauve?!?!… not sure what I was thinking!) on the wall, bought some dark Ikea furnishings and paid zero attention to this room, all the while putting all of our, time and money into the other spaces in the home that were more visible. I didn’t care what this room looked like, and what it turned into was a dark and cluttered space that really made for an unhappy place to work.
Before
I am embarrassed to show you the before of this space (especially after all that beauty above), because when we moved into the house we slopped some random mauve paint (seriously, mauve?!?!… not sure what I was thinking!) on the wall, bought some dark Ikea furnishings and paid zero attention to this room, all the while putting all of our, time and money into the other spaces in the home that were more visible. I didn’t care what this room looked like, and what it turned into was a dark and cluttered space that really made for an unhappy place to work.
fast forward to running my own design firm full time, and my office became a VERY high priority. I needed a space where I could feel creative, organized and happy to do all the things.
After
The final product came out so much better than I even imagined! This room gets light almost all day from one of the two windows and I wanted to capitalize on that. So, the first thing I did was get rid of that purple paint color and painted the walls White Dove by Benjamin Moore, which is a lovely warm white and has instantly brightened everything. And instead of keeping the trim a bright white, I painted it Benjamin Moore Classic gray for a slightly darker contrasting color. It’s tough to see in the photos but in real life the trim has a little bit darker of a tone for a subtle contrast and works beautifully with the White Dove on the walls. You can’t see the window treatments, but I hung linen roman shades in a mineral color to add to the tone on tone look.
The rust colored velvet chair is the statement piece of the room and was the first thing I picked out. I had my heart set on this chair, and I love the texture that it brings and the rich color in an otherwise neutral room. The office is anchored by a rustic looking white oak campaign desk and a vintage rug that bring in muted tans and blush with a tiny hint of green. The articulating sconce is beautiful and functional and casts the prettiest glow all while not taking up any desk space. The abstract landscape artwork brings in the tonal colors from the rust chair the rug and ties the space together.
The floorplan stayed relatively the same, I went through quite a few options on paper, but with such a small room changing the layout wouldn’t have helped with flow (and I didn’t want to work with my desk against a wall). One addition, was this tall glass doored cabinet. It has turned out to be a favorite, and a beautiful way to showcase an array of collected vessels, books, objects and family photos and it bring so much character and interest. I wanted to fill the cabinet with thoughtful accents and add pops of black and a little color, like the little vintage painting, to the otherwise neutral space. The addition of some greenery brings the entire cabinet to life and I love all the additional texture that the baskets and bring. And the best part it wasn’t a big splurge at all, and creates so much visual interest and much needed height to the room. It is a subtle putty color that looks so pretty against the white backdrop. And in that closet to the right I hid a tall filing cabinet and more samples and supplies out of sight.
On the other side of the desk is this white long cabinet filled with storage drawers and cabinets, the countertop gives me space to work with material samples and above hangs a pinboard to clip textiles and design boards. The cabinet was really a game changer for storage. I have space for so many samples and supplies all out of sight all while having extra workspace above. The brass hardware really brings a high end look to the cabinet and I love the a textured ceramic lamp which adds another layer of muted color. I updated the shade to a cool pleated lampshade, that I think feels modern but reminiscent of the old pleated shades from the 80’s
I love that this little space is all for me and honestly I have been so productive here already. For more details on the space, including sources and more tips on setting up a new offices space in your home check out the Get the Look Post
What do you think? Let me know in the comments.
Sharp + Grey Interiors is open for business during this time of social distancing, and I am offering upgraded virtual consultations and as always, e-design options for your next project.