KICKING OFF MY NEW OFFICE! CONCEPTS, CHALLENGES & INSPIRATION

I am so thrilled to FINALLY be sharing my new office with you today along with some concepts & inspiration I’ve been gathering for the last year or so. Our house has been turned upside down since January between finishing the family room, the nursery and Angelo’s office, but we’re finally settling into our new spaces and I can begin making progress on my own space. 

I’ve decided to approach this room in two phases

Phase 1:

a quick paint job over the current dark gray (likely light blue), bring in a few existing pieces from my old office so I have somewhere to work, and start letting the room speak to me while I pick & source remaining elements for phase 2. Here’s a Phase 1 concept:

Phase 2 is the full vision:

wallpaper, upholstery, window treatments, and the kind of layered warmth that only comes with time, secondhand hunting and manic swatching.

And because this might just be our forever home, I’m milking my last office for all that it’s got 😉 

My first two offices leaned on the bolder side; green walls, plenty of florals, very much me. But with this space, I’m craving something quieter, softer, and more refined. I’m leaning toward a palette that feels maybe more… monotone? And I’m blaming my postpartum hormones for this, but I’m craving BLUE over green. SOS. 

One thing I know for certain, is that proper lighting and layers will be essential to making this cold space feel cozy and charming. 

PHOTOS

Like the rest of the rooms in our home, I’m starting with a drab box. Our whole downstairs has that awful Pergo flooring that I covered up in our family room with cozy wool carpet. Definitely looking to do a fitted carpet or area rug to cover it up. And despite the smaller-than-a-jail-sized window (that I’ll probably replace), it actually lets in a decent amount of afternoon (western) light. This is the first time I’m working with an awkward, off-center window and I have some ideas for treatments. 

I don’t even know what to call the bump outs on the walls. Wall shelves?? I’ve been thinking about how I’m going to treat/style/ignore them. I plan to wallpaper the walls + ceiling in the same pattern to help camouflage them a bit. 

CURRENT CONCEPTS

While I’m guaranteed to obsess over patterns and textiles for months before actually making a decision (nothing excites me more than the beginning stages of a project), below are the few schemes that have been on my mind. I’ve had over a year to think about this room and two details that I keep coming back to are striped wallpaper on the walls & ceiling, and the hero floral on a settee/loveseat and roman shade. 

Here’s my mood board:

The first hero pattern I’ve been considering is Jasper Deuville; one that feels soft and elegant without screaming for attention. 

I’ve been so inspired by the way Rhiannon of Hageman Homes and Jessica Kathryn Kain Barton use this pattern in their projects. My only concern is that this might feel too similar to Chinese Peony, and I’m trying to use a pattern that doesn’t feel too similar to what I’ve used in the past (but I also like what I like soooo)

The second hero pattern I’ve been considering is Jasper Hibiscus Morning. While I foam at the mouth over it, I’m not sure it’s going to give that quieter, more refined feel I’m longing for.

And then I have a more monotone palette using lots of BLUES and BEIGES! Green? Don’t know her.

I shared a version of this concept on my stories and to be honest, I’m really loving it?! 

My dilemma is that I truly can’t go wrong; I’m just drawn to these patterns for different reasons. I also keep coming back to Colefax and Fowler’s Constance, which I almost used in Olivia’s room. It has that same refined, paired-back floral vibe I’m after, similar to Deauville. 

I’m posting Hollyhock sort of as satire, but it’s also totally aligned to my whole blues/grays/green vision. I’m not doing it, I won’t. But you should know how great it would look if I did. 

I’m genuinely excited about all of these options and curious to hear your thoughts. In the meantime, you can catch me spiraling over these ideas in my IG stories.

INSPIRATION 

I’m inspired by these rooms for different reasons and they’re each a general idea of the direction I could go based on the hero fabric/color scheme I choose

Via Josh Young

Via Mark D. Sikes

Via Elly Poston Cooper

Balloon Roman in Deauville by Hageman Home Interiors

Via Huges and Lutz

source unknown 

Anne Wagoner Interiors

source unknown

Via Maxine Makes

Via Meg Made

Via Jennifer Barron Interiors

Via Catilin Kah (definitely leaning towards the tented striped ceiling look)

Via James Farmer

Stay tuned to my stories for allllll the spiraling (and maybe me eventually professing my undying love for green)