The Elusive Home Office Update

This has taken me so long because it's honestly really hard for me to explain my process for designing a room and how I pull together visions in my home. I don't have a precise formula. A lot of it comes down to trusting my instincts, my eye, and, ultimately, whether I like something enough to make it work.

And that's exactly how this space came to be, now 17 months in. Some ideas came forward, some faded into the background, but I love how it turned out and can't wait to talk you through the process a bit more.

I knew this large space above our garage, directly off the primary bedroom, was one I wanted to rethink when we moved in, but it took years to figure out the best approach. Here's where we started...

I landed on dividing the space into three parts: my office in the front (what we're looking at now), the closet in the middle and a workout room in the back. Initially, I was looking for arched French doors to divide the three spaces, but when sourcing these became nearly impossible, I had the idea to build arched openings, giving me a similar look, but keeping the space feeling even more open, but still closed, if that makes sense...

As the project was finally taking shape, I started thinking more about the look and feel of the space. I knew I wanted a color different from anywhere else in our home, and because this is my personal office space, I chose one of my favorite colors, green. I work here most days, so I wanted it to feel welcoming, calm and inspiring.

I started with the paint, choosing from six options and landing on a lighter color, Shagreen, for the walls and bookshelves so they would blend in, and a slightly darker shade, Baby Bok Choy, for the trim, both by Sherwin-Williams. The green is also a bit of a chameleon, looking so different throughout the day depending on the light, which I absolutely love.

From there, I got to work choosing the larger furnishings, several of which I already owned. The bookshelves were a great find and, as much as I do not support painting real wood, I knew these needed it to bring my vision to life. See what I mean?

Once painted, the details could come together. I picked up a fantastic vintage Persian Heriz rug, hung some linen striped curtains and paired them with antique French brass curtain rods. The rug truly helped bring the color story together (floor art, as my good friend Christine at Salvaged Beauty Rugs would say). Also, green with red is a tried-and-true combo and just might be one of my favorite pairings.

The doors that used to live at the top of the stairs when we moved in, were another piece I wanted to bring back into the house. They felt like they crowded the space, so we took them out during the renovations, but I always knew I'd find a place for them again. Luckily, we were able to cut them to size and make them work perfectly for the entry to my office. Can you even with the original hardware? Obviously I added a really great vintage tassel.

With the larger pieces in place, I started filling the shelves with special pieces I'd sourced, hanging art on the walls and creating moments throughout the space. I found a great new wicker chair to add more texture into the room, and I love the scale and how it looks with my original birdseye maple desk.

One thing that I didn't get installed was the Greek key trim around the ceiling, and now that I think about it, it would have been too much for the space. So I'm letting it breathe and considering it complete, for now. I'm still looking for a pair of long and narrow wicker baskets to go on top of the bookshelves for storage and symmetry, and I might even find a small love seat to go under the herbarium art. It would be nice to have a couch moment, but we'll see how it evolves as we go...

Hope you enjoyed a closer look, friends!