home office design plan

No, this picture wasn’t taken on move-in day last year.  It was taken just this morning.

This is the room to the right of our entry foyer.  It’s the very first room you see when you walk into the house.  The previous owners used this space as a formal living room.  Since we don’t have the need for another living space the hubs and I both agreed that we would make this room his home office since he works from some when he’s not traveling for business.  But after a year of living in this house we’ve both realized that this space just isn’t working for him to use as an office.

For one thing, this room has no doors so noise is a real issue.  Our home with two growing children has become a social spot for kids to hang out, which is great.  However since this space is right by the front door the constant opening and closing with kids coming and going is rather tough to deal with when the Mr. is on a conference call.  So to make a long story short, after much thought and discussion, the hubs and I have decided to move his work space up to the small loft/landing spot at the top of the stairs.  Which means, since the landing spot was supposed to be my office space, that I just gained some mega real estate in our home!

This empty room is now mine!  All mine!  I can hardly believe I get a whole room to use an office.  I’ve never had a room to design specifically for myself so this is an all new ball game for me, and it’s super fun and exciting!   With this room being right off the entry foyer (here’s a recent look in case you’ve forgotten what she looks like), I want the design of this space to flow, but I also want to inject my own personality and bring in a feminine touch.

While I’ve got neutral walls, SW Shoji White, throughout our open concept kitchen-dining-living area, I’m going with a fun color on the walls in here, pink!  My plan is to reduce the paint by maybe 50 to 60% so that the walls are more blush than pink.  Then to keep things from feeling too sweet the ceiling will go dark, SW Urbane Bronze, which will be a nice tie in to the bookcases in the living room; and for more lighting and a masculine balance I’m replacing the lantern with this fixture from School House Electric that I’ve loved forever. I’m going geometric with the rug, again to balance the sweetness of the color palette, that will be layered on top of the natural fiber rug already in the space.  Then I’m bringing in a little glam with this red and gold campaign desk and these gorgeous grey velvet chairs.

I’m pretty pumped about the design plan for this space, but I am having trouble deciding on the curtain panels.  I definitely want a palm print.  I like the fun, casual vibe they add to the space, but I’m stumped on which color way I like best.

Should I go with…….

option 1:  Large Scale Banana Leaf Print on White

floral art, palm tree art

Option 2:  Fern leaf on Black

Or Option 3: Fern Leaf in Red

With two windows in the space and tall ceilings I’ll need 4 panels at 108 inches.  That’s a whole lot of fabric, so I’m trying to decide which one of these three options I like the best.  Which one do you like?

With this room being the first one you see when you walk through the front door, I’m hoping to get this plan into action very soon.    As of right now I’m sitting on the floor using the little chair you see in the picture up above as a desk, so hopefully the desk I ordered arrives sooner rather than later.  😉