Oh my office. I'm excited to make this a workable office. and tv room. and workout room. It wears many hats, but the primary one needs to be workable office. This is where the design magic needs to happen. Before we tore out the carpet, my office had stalled out shy of usable office. No desk or workspace and the computer placement made me feel like I was in a cave.
While I'm still fleshing out the layout, I know what feel I want here. This office (via House Beautiful) spoke to me.
Clearly I don't have anywhere near the space or want to fork over budget to replicate this, but I'm inspired. Sometimes it's the hardest as a designer to work on your own spaces because of all the possibilities in front of you. When I find myself getting tripped up like this I always try to pick a jumping off point. For my office, it's this rug that I stumbled on at HomeGoods. It's so soft and more subtle in person. Traditional and feminine without being too girly.
From there I was inspired.
1. IKEA ranarp task lamp. I've had this lamp for over a year and I still love it- it just needs a better home.
2. My vintage craigslisted settee will need to stay in the space (for the tv room functionality portion), but it requires some new pillows! This fun stripe is Color Lesson, Cantaloupe from Tonic Living
3. I love the way yellow pops with the rug, so my office chair might get a good dose of Heni Slub Goldenrod from Fabric.com
4. #polkadotsforlife. Polka dots make me weak in the knees, so I'm very very seriously considering a roman shade in this Small Ikat Dot from Tonic Living
5. This room needs plants! I'm still not so great at keeping them alive, but I'm officially a plant addict. The one pictured is technically a small, artificial one from IKEA, but you get the idea.
6. This image is courtesy of Apartment Therapy, but I am actively on the hunt for a small scale desk to maximize my worksurface in my small scale space. Hopefully my besty Craigslist will help me out.
7. Totally the same rug as above but it changes color in different lights- more beigy at times, and others more blue. It's actually billed as silver which is probably accurate. I stumbled on mine for an amazing deal at HomeGoods, but I found it later at Target as well- Safavieh Calista Rug
8. If you have a really good memory, you might remember this guy as my $25 Brimfield pick from a year ago. He's been patiently waiting in the basement for new upholstery- I'm thinking #3 above. A nice yellow pattern would make him look super dapper, don't you think?
I have a few other tricks up my sleeve here too (like a creative way to hide the TV), but the bedroom floors are still unfinished, which means 1/3 of the bedroom is currently shoved into my office. Another 1/3 in Hubby's office, and the last 1/3 in the living room. The cats seem a bit bewildered as to why there's a mattress taking up the entire living room floor.