This year as part of my spring cleaning I’ve decided my home office needs an overhaul. With a husband who runs his own business and two sons with gaming PC’s, my office has been over taken with paperwork and computer parts. I’ve recently purchased a couple matching desks for my boys so I’ll use that as the starting point for my design. Next up I’ll be adding in some colour, patterns and accent pieces to create a beautiful and cohesive design.
Choose a colour palette
Choosing the colours for your home office really depends on personal preference, but I love a bright clean and fresh palette with a pop of colour in office accessories and accent pieces. I love that my office has a big window that lets in tons of natural light but I’d like to add some warmth with some curtains. Picking a warm neutral colour for the walls is a great base for the room and from here you can choose an accent colour that reflects your personal taste to give the room a wow factor.
Choose a pattern for your home office
Pattern and texture can really break up a bland space and can be incorporated in some great art work, curtains, wallpaper or fabric covered chairs. It’s also quite popular to have a feature wall. I love to wallpaper one wall or paint one in chalk paint which you can make into a calendar to keep your family on track. Another great option is to create a cork board by putting up a large piece of cork and framing it with baseboard trim to pin up kid’s art work or important upcoming events. Gone are the days when it was unacceptable to mix patterns so go ahead and get creative and have some fun with it.
Decide on accent pieces
Once you have your walls painted and necessary office furniture in place the fun begins by adding in some great accent pieces. If you have the space, I love an accent chair like this Contemporary Microfibre Accent Chair. I like a comfy place to sit cross-legged with my laptop in my lap when I work and it brings texture and pattern into the room as well.
Another accent piece which my sons and I have recently grown to love is a standing lamp like this Enyo Floor Lamp. I have quite tall ceilings in my office so when my bulb from the overhead light blew out we had to switch over to lamp light until my hubby was home to switch it out. Now we prefer the warm glow of the lamp and don’t even really use the ceiling light.
You can also find some nice art pieces for the wall to fit your décor whether you go classic and timeless or modern and edgy, and last of all if you have hardwood floors I would add in a nice area rug to soften up the room.
Use a mood board
I’m not a professional home designer and sometimes I get an idea for a room but have a hard time imagining what it will look like all put together. One way you can be sure to love your design is to create a mood board. A small sized cork board works perfectly for this and start your board with a swatch of the paint you choose for the room. From here you can add a sample of any wallpaper or swatch of an accent wall colour you might use, pictures of your furniture pieces, art work and maybe a drawing of the layout of the room. This will give you a visual of what your home office will look like when it’s all put together.
The word office is usually associated with work, but if you create a warm and welcoming space then you’ll find you don’t mind spending time in there.
You can find some amazing office furniture pieces as well as accent pieces and decor at bestbuy.ca.
Main image @ www.hgtv.com.
