Office at Home

​I have had the pleasure of working in a profession I love for more than 20 years now (Yikes! where does the time go?)

To say things have changed over the years, is a bit, of an understatement!  Way back in the day Formal Libraries were a fairly regular room I designed.  It was for the most part thought of as a "Manly" space that served to hold books, a desk and comfortable seating.  A man cave of sorts, before man cave was even a thing.  Looking back over the images of Libraries I have designed over the years I noticed that the same basic elements exist in all the libraries I have done.  Things have just gotten a little looser and texture and color have made a big difference in how I approach Library Design Now.

1.  Full Cherry Wood Paneled Walls in a Formal Library Home Office

The library above is a project I did oh so many years ago in Rye, NY.  The homeowners have since moved, several times over and the furniture is still going strong.  Today thought not in quite as formal a setting but still serving the same purpose.   This is how forever ago we would traditionally approach and design a Library.  

Even though this Office / Library was one I designed more than 10 years ago, there are elements that I still use regularly and have forever.  The natural fiber sisal area rug.  It is an easy way to modernize and simplify a complicated room.  

The Chesterfield Sofa Style has become quite popular theses days and you can find it in a number of different styles, fabrics and  price points.

2.  An Ocean Front Office  

Although this office has a manly feel with leather chairs and rich wood tones, in this case all the woodwork is stained and the walls are a dark textured raffia wall covering. The wall covering lightens up the space and is less formal than a full millwork wood office.  The ocean view is not too bad either.

This is another project I did a while back and I remember the details of it fondly.  It was an amazing project and I am so grateful for the opportunity to have worked with such lovely clients.  

​3.  Office Media Room Combination.  

This office serves as a multi function room,  Office - TV Media Room - and Art Gallery all in one room.  In this Library in addition to stained trim and wood work we created an integral wood panel wall to hold bookshelves as well as frame the tv within the woodwork.  Textured herringbone fabric wall covering on the walls is a beautiful contract to the dark stained minimal woodwork.  My clients, avid art collectors are able to display art above an antique art deco server.  This piece originally was purchased to go in an previous residence in a NY City  apartment. 

4.  Art Niches in the Office

​This view of the Library shows the custom designed niches that we created to display my clients art glass collection.  The glass pieces appears to "float" by sitting on clear lucite shelves incorporated into the wall design.  Each niche has a dark wood frame stained to match the wood work.

5.  Red Room Office & TV

Although you can not tell from the photo this Red Library is again a multi purpose room.  Office - Library - TV Media room and a Dining Room as well!  I don't know how it would be possible for a single room to function in SO many capacities!  But somehow I managed to get it all done in one room.  This home was a major renovation and this room came a LONG way!  Take a look at this post An Interior Renovation​​​​​​

I am never afraid of color and in this Red Library as it was coming together, I was the only one 100% confident that the red wood work would be amazing!  I love the pop of color and the consistency of using the color on Every piece of wood in the room.  The walls are covered in a light raffia wall covering and a traditional fabric in blue and red pops against the red bookcases and trim.

I was fortunate to have this home featured and on the cover of  Luxe Magazine.  To read the article check it out ​Vero Beach Home Makes the Most of its Vistas

I know what you are thinking.  "This is not an office?"  Well, you are right.  It used to be an office.   When I started working on the project the room evolved into what we call the Media Room.  If you want to take a peek and see the before photos, take a look here at another blog post I wrote called, Windsor Vero Beach Renovation Before & After We kept many of the original office details, just changed them up a bit.  Still ever present is a natural fiber area rug and wall covering.   Dark stained woodwork and a leather seating.  

An interview with the homeowners was featured in Vero Home, LIfe & Design Magazine and you can read what they had to say about the project (and me, wink) Timeless and Traditional in Windsor Vero Beach

​​​​​Whatever your style or your taste it is likely you will need a home office of some sort.  With todays phones and tablets replacing desktops we can easily make any room in the house the office.  How your office functions will likely range and totally depend on how much work you actually do at home.  

Here are a couple of home office furnishing Ideas that can help you get started creating the perfect home office for you.

Table Style Desks are great in small spaces.  The open style has minimal weight and keeps a room light and not heavy with furniture.  Another great thing about table style desks is that they can function for multiple purposes.

The desk above is used as a dining table when it is not in use as a desk.  This opened up the room to the great ocean views and it not to shabby a spot to  sit and work.  Plus you can use just about any Dining Chair as a desk chair.  No need for a formal, traditional desk chair.

Just some ideas.  There are a zillion ways to approach design and decor of your home office.  Hope this brings you a little inspiration.  Till next time....