One Room Challenge Reveal – Spring 2017: My Functional + Pretty Office

Hello friends,

Today is the day when approximately  250 spaces reveal their true potential, thanks to Linda. Myself and other decorators/bloggers have been renovating, decorating, DIYing and styling these past six weeks to transform spaces, predominantly in our own homes for the One Room Challenge. We have all been documenting the process on our blogs with the aim being to inspire others to create spaces within their own homes that truly make them happy. #decorhappy

I decided to renovate my home office for this round of the ORC. There are links to the previous five spaces I transformed at the end of the post. I’m an Interior Decorator – a single proprietor (although I have hired assistants when needed) who works from home. And if you work from home, you know how stress free that can be – no overhead, no commute, no make-up…, except of course when you are out consulting, shopping etc.  I really wouldn’t have it any other way and I feel fortunate that I am able to do what I love from the comfort of my own home. (Actually, it wasn’t that comfortable even last week. 🙂 ) I believe that to work efficiently and creatively, your space has to not only be functional but also inspiring.

You can see the before photos and inspiration (week 1), the design plan (week 2) and progress (week 3, 4 and 5) here:

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5

My daughter and I moved into our new (smaller) home last Fall after my husband passed away. I hadn’t mentioned my loss in the previous five posts (although have shared it prior to that) but I thought I would mention it now as Rick was my biggest fan and a huge supporter of my work and also my involvement in the ORC.  Creating beautiful spaces in our home has been healing and has kept me focused while also juggling a few clients this past year and solo parenting our teenage daughter.

Anyway, on a happier note, let’s look at the transformation, shall we? I will link to all sources at the end.

As you can see the room is small at 10′ x 7′ but having a dedicated home office at the front of the house was one of the reasons I fell in love with it. Plus there are two windows so it gets a lot of light. In the Before photo below you can see how I have been working the past few months – not a pretty sight. My former dining table was a makeshift desk and although I love bentwood chairs, they aren’t conducive to sitting for hours on end. Note that when we moved in, we replaced all the doors and trim, replaced the laminate with hardwood and had the stucco ceilings scraped.

A few people had asked if I was going to incorporate wallpaper in my office as I am such a fan. I really wanted a serene space with minimal colour and pattern.  I always defer to my go-to colour palette which is black, white and grey with a hint of colour.

The 10′ built in is really the workhorse of the space. It has 6 file drawers (you can never have enough, right?), 4 drawers, 4 cabinets and open shelving to house (a small part of) my massive magazine collection (yes, I know I should part with some of them. 🙂 )In case you are wondering, the printer and modem are hidden behind the tall door on the right. I just upgraded to an iMac, so there is no CPU or speakers to contend with and less cords – yay! Plus, I really had no idea that the picture quality on my desktop wasn’t as sharp as it could be. I’m glad this office update finally pushed me to upgrade my computer.

I knew I wanted to paint the base and the upper cabinetry different colours (although I did waiver a bit through the process) and I’m happy with that decision. There are a few things that still need to be tweaked/changed/dismantled on the built in but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out overall. Because of the window, I placed shallow cabinets on either side for symmetry and decided that storage was more important than desk space so brought the perimeter uppers onto the desktop.

Both the ceiling fixture and the chair are from West Elm and I absolutely love them.  And every room needs a little floral pattern, in my opinion, so I had the cushion sewn in my favourite fabric of all time – Schumacher’s Pyne Hollyhock.

I fell in love with this limited edition art print from Minted the moment I saw it and this is the perfect scale for this wall at 30″x40″.

I had a lot of indecision around what to do with this wall but did know that I wanted to move the brass shelves (which you can see in the Before photo above.) When I spied this inexpensive, new black metal table at Ikea, I knew it would be perfect. It even accommodates the trays I already had which I use to house client files/samples etc. I thought the white bust from Elte Market which I already had would look great perched on the table.

I love this view (below.) I have had that print for decades. I think I actually got it for free from an art gallery in Paris while backpacking through Europe after university. I have had it up in every single home since then.

Oh Ellie – you always have to be where we are so you don’t miss out on any of the fun. (She is four months old today and the love of our lives. And yes, I have scheduled her for grooming. 🙂 ) The rug is a pet-friendly indoor/outdoor rug from Annie Selke and I love it for it’s subtle pattern.

I have always loved inspiration boards full of magazine clippings, photos and anything else inspirational so I knew I had to incorporate one in the office. I just pulled some images from older magazines and can see this changing often. And I so wish I could have beautiful peonies like these every day in the office.

Thank you so much for cheering me on here and on Instagram. I appreciate all the support. (Ignore awkward head tilt and hand placement and focus on my adorable furball. Would you believe this was the best photo after Steph took quite a few?)

All After photos by Stephani Buchman Photography

Sources (A huge thank you to these brands/companies for partnering with me on this ORC. I have been a fan of their products and services for years in some cases so I was happy to work with them (again) and feature their lovely products. ):

Framed art: “The Typewriter” from Minted

Hardware: Bergen knob (2), Kingsbridge pull (2), Channing cup pull (12) from Top Knobs

Rug:  Annie Selke’s Dash & Albert rug

Trim: Crown on cabinetry, baseboard, door, door and window casing from Metrie

Crystal doorknob: Emtek from Upper Canada Specialty Hardware

Paint: Walls, trim, upper cabinetry, lower cabinetry – Benjamin Moore

Floral: Peonies and cherry blossoms from Fiori Oakville

Cushion Sewing:  Switch Studio

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the 20 featured design bloggers yet, you must! I’m looking forward to reading the guest participant’s reveals today. Thanks again to Linda for organizing the ORC, House Beautiful for being a partner and all of you for following along and for your support!  If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments and I will answer them.

 

For more inspiration, have a look at these spaces I transformed for previous ORC’s:

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

Feel free to connect here:

Instagram | Pinterest | Facebook | Twitter

Be well,

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