One Room Challenge Week 2 – Spring 2017

Hello,

{For those of you visiting for the first time, welcome! Thanks for stopping by. I am an Interior Decorator living just outside of Toronto, Canada and started writing my blog Decor Happy in 2009. I recently moved into a much smaller home which I am transforming one space at a time.}

Today, I’m sharing the design concept for the transformation of my home office for the One Room Challenge. My first post where I shared the before photos and inspiration can be found here:

Week 1

Since my home is fairly small, the design and colour palette needs to flow throughout the first floor. The style and aesthetic of the home office needs to be fairly similar to my kitchen which I transformed for the last ORC and is serving as inspiration. (Have I told you how much I love my kitchen?)

Black and white with a hint of colour is my go-to colour palette. I almost chose a teal colour for the kitchen island but then landed on this muted blue/green which I love for it’s subtlety in my open concept space.  But for the office, I’m thinking a bolder teal colour for the base cabinetry may be in order.

So this is what I am thinking for the space. Some items have been ordered but others haven’t as of yet. You would think I had weeks to get this done! I’m trusting it will all come together – it always does.

Getting the bones right:

When I first moved in, I replaced the laminate with a dark, wire brushed oak hardwood throughout the entire house, excluding bathrooms and laundry room. I also had the stippled ceiling scraped in every room. I always suggest to clients to do this if possible – it makes such a difference.

And one of the other decisions I made was to replace all the measly trim (baseboards and window casing) and doors to make the home seem less “builder like.” I just love the 7″ baseboards, the thick window casing and these simple doors, all from Metrie.

Making these changes initially were the best decisions I made.

Investing in a built in:

The office is a narrow space at 10′ x 7′ so I am having a custom built in made (by my amazing cabinetmaker who built my kitchen) for one of the 10′ walls to maximize storage.  Investing in a built in is worth every penny in my opinion and with many people working from home these days, it will only add to the value of my home. The other three walls have windows and a door. There is no room for a desk as well as the cabinetry so the wood desktop will be part of the built in.

If you could blend the two inspiration photos shown in the design concept above (top image via Style at Home/Jennifer Hughes and bottom image via Rejuvenation), that’s the outcome I am hoping for. It will have mostly closed storage and then some open storage in the center for books and magazines. It will also have 4 file drawers which are a must for client files etc. I love two toned cabinetry which is seen often in kitchens but not as much in office cabinetry.

The furniture and accessories:

I am currently using an uncomfortable wood dining chair as my office chair. I recently had a bout of periformis syndrome (google it) where I could barely walk. I attribute that in part to the chair and being sedentary for most of the winter. So, I knew I wanted something that was upholstered with arms, on castors and with the ability to be moved up and down. I had looked at other chairs which were ergonomically designed but they were pretty ugly! So, this one from West Elm looks to be comfortable (I ordered it sight unseen) but also stylish with the brass base. The light fixture is also from West Elm.

The hardware from Top Knobs is what I used in my kitchen and I really, really love it and it would be a nice counterpoint to the brass finishes but nothing has been ordered as of yet so I may change my mind.  Brass hardware may stand out more on the teal base cabinetry.

I debated between an antique/vintage persian rug and a striped rug similar to the one shown from Dash & Albert. I think the latter won out. I have one small wall to hang some art so I’m thinking black and white photography.

That’s it for now. I won’t have any progress photos to show until the built in is installed in a few weeks (fingers crossed) as that is the major change. (And who really has time to read a long blog post these days anyway?)  Stay tuned!

Go check out what the 20 featured designers and my fellow linkers are up to. Thank you Linda for organizing the ORC and thank you all for following along!

PS Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram where I share more in my posts and stories.PS Here are the previous five spaces I have transformed for the ORC:

Prettying Up a Builder Kitchen (former home)  – Fall 2014

Teen Daughter’s Bathroom (former home) – Spring 2015

My Parisian Bedroom (former home) – Fall 2015

Teen Daughter’s Bedroom (former home) – Spring 2016

My Charming Kitchen – Fall 2016

Happy Easter everyone,

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