Corinne’s Second Design Dilemma
Corinne’s office is bursting with posh potential. Here’s her letter:
As you know from our den mood board (still in progress), we definitely like modern but comfortable. The office will be the work hub of the house and we like things with classic modern lines and zero clutter. As for what stays and goes, EVERYTHING GOES! We’d love a new wall color but it should flow with the rest of the house (although we need some energy in the room to inspire us). This is the room that will be used the most so it needs to be super functional and flexible for me, my husband and my son Elliot. We need to have 3 chairs and at least 2 computer stations. Elliot should have a workspace so that we can do school projects in the future. We will all share 1 printer and need individual file storage and junk storage to keep the room looking neat. We love to travel and we have a large collection of stamps and currency from around the world so we’d like to display it (not sure how). We also need to change the lighting since the 3 circa 1980’s recessed lights are not enough to light up the room. We would consider semi-custom cabinetry/countertops and have set aside a good amount of money to make this room work for us. We’ve given it a lot of thought but can’t make it come together on our own, so your help is greatly appreciated! – Corinne
This space is primed for a major makeover. Here’s the plan:
And now for the mood board breakdown.
1. For the new wall color we’d love to see a nice fennel green (Benjamin Moore’s Spring Meadow 486). It’s clean and vibrant while still being warm thanks to the greeny-gold undertones. With some crisp white trim the room will already start to look fresher and more crisp, and then we’ll add lots more white in the furnishings along with some sandy tan hues to bring out the warm undertones in the wall color. Then a plethora of shiny silver accents and a few pops of green will add even more dazzle to our cozy modern scheme.
As for the furniture arrangement, we think Corinne’s idea to get a custom desk made to snugly fit her space and maximize her work area is definitely the way to go since she’s saved her pennies and has the budget for it. We love the idea of using table height filing cabinets as desk “legs” to create an L shaped work space with more than enough room for three work stations (two on the back wall and one on the right wall). And if Corinne uses sleek ready-made filing cabinets as legs, then she can just get a handyman to create a custom L-shaped tabletop out of wood (which would then get a coat of white paint and some water-based polyurethane for protection). With our L-shaped desk in the right corner of the room (and along the entire back wall) there will still be some space in the area to the left of the door as you face it, so we’d like to create a cozy little seating area to keep the room feeling inviting and warm (since Corinne will score so much storage space in the “legs” of her L-shaped desk, which saves us from using the space to house a giant double filing cabinet).
2. Here are those silver filing cabinets that we definitely think Corinne could use as “legs” to her desk. Three of them along the back wall (which leaves room for two chairs to be slid in between them) and two of them on the side wall (which leaves room for one more chair to slide in between ‘em) will create the base for a custom L-shaped wood tabletop that can easily be made by a local handyman (and then painted white and polyurethaned for durability). Sure the two cabinets in the corner won’t be as easily accessible as the others, but the balance and function that this layout will bring to the space is unparalleled- and it’s gonna look gorgeously sleek and modern to boot.
3. These office chairs are hot hot hot. They’ll add a hefty dose of modern form along with tons of function when three of them are added to our custom L-shaped desk.
4. Along with our other silver items, these steel accented Ikea shelves will look utalitarian-chic when they’re mounted on top of each other on either side of the back wall (plus they’ll create a even more storage and display space). We’d love to see three of them on top of each other about a foot apart on either side of the window, and if there’s not enough room to the left of the window, Ikea sells the brackets alone, so the handyman can whip up some simple shelves and use the brackets to make them look identical to the stock ones that are installed to the right of the window.
5. Since the existing lighting isn’t cutting it in this space, we’d love to bring in a few table lamps for the L-shaped desk as well as a floor lamp for the small seating area in the corner near the closet- and even a new overhead pendant. These desk lamps are classic and clean, and they add more of that silver gleam to the entire room. We’d love to see at least three of them on the desk- one at each person’s station for maximum function and uniform style.
6. Here’s the aforementioned pendant light that we’d love to see centered in the room. It’s extremely oversized, yet it’s still pretty shallow, so it can be installed to hang about three inches from the ceiling for a totally stunning look that won’t get in anyone’s way. Talk about a statement maker!
7. Thanks to this amazing organization system, the left wall of the room can be used as a huge command center for Corinne’s entire family. They can customize their system (which happens to be on sale!) to have a calendar, a blackboard, and anything else they may need to keep everyone organized and ready for anything. Plus the white and chrome scheme really works with our entire room. Gotta love when form and function come together like that!
8. This amazing floor lamp will really make the other side of the room. It’ll add some much needed height to mimic the shelves on the opposite wall and it’ll bring even more of that modern streamlined feeling to the space (while shedding even more light on the room). We’d love to see it in the back corner where the tall wooden chest currently resides in the second picture. Then we’ll bring in a cozy chair to the left of it and even add an end table to round out our small yet oh so cozy sitting area that really makes the office feel inviting and comfortable.
9. Because the L-shaped desk will only take up about half of the right wall, we’d love to see a giant pinboard where Corinne’s family can showcase their travel memorabilia in style. But a pinboard is a bit less modern than we’d like, and we’re sure Corinne doesn’t want to put holes in her travel treasures. Enter these super cool galvanized metal wall tiles stage right, which can be grouped to create a large display space (around 4′ x 4′) on the right wall beyond the corner of the desk near our sitting area. Magnets are a much better way to display international stamps, and the entire installation will feel oh so modern and sleek thanks to the industrial galvanized metal backdrop. This is also another way that Corinne can add more color to the room (along with a punchy fennel pillow on her chair in the corner and some colorful green boxes and accents on her Ikea shelves across the room).
10. Here’s the cozy yet not-too-monstrous chair (in linen) that we dug up for Corinne to tuck next to her new floor lamp in the corner of the room near the closet. It’s big enough to feel comfortable and welcoming- and it’ll fit right in thanks to the lack of overstuffed arms. We also love how the fabric mimics the warm tones in the blinds and the pendant light so the room won’t feel stark, even with all that white going on.
11. Adding this little side table to the left of the chair will really round out the seating area without taking up much floor space (we also love the bronze metal legs & the white lacquered top with all the other silvery metallic tones that we’ll be layering into the space).
12. Here are our simple and clean roman blinds (in flax). The sandy tone will soften all the sleek white for a room that’s still cozy and inviting even though it’s modern to the max. And we’d love to see them hung three inches from the ceiling above each window to add height without blocking too much light.
So there you have it. A functional and fabulous office that gets the job done. We can’t wait to see what you guys think- especially you Corinne! And if anyone else out there is in need of a custom makeover of their very own, click here for some decorating advice on the double.
Note: Our mood boards are now posted at least 48 hours after they’re sent to the client (so they have a chance to purchase everything before it sells out).
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Comments
fyi – i have that pendant light and I LOVE IT!!! you cannot beat the price, i’ve seen similar lights for 5xs as much. it is giant though. it has this really great glow to it, hard to describe, but everyone who comes to our house comments on it.
it was a little difficult to install just because the shade does not come off – we were trying to hang it close to the ceiling so we didn’t have a whole lot of room to work with around the big shade. ours is about 18″ from the ceiling too, i’m not sure how you would install it only 3″ away from the ceiling like you mentioned above…
here’s some pictures after the install: http://five2eight.blogspot.com/2008/12/early-christmas-presents-for-house.html
and here are a few of the entire room, the pendant really does make a statement: http://five2eight.blogspot.com/2009/01/6th-month-anniversary.html
love the entire mood board, the color esp. just wanted to give you an idea of how the pendant looks in a real room :-)
Hey Katie,
Thanks for the scoop on that pendant. We’re so glad to hear that it’s just as amazing in person! Since Corinne will have an electrician there to wire the ceiling for an overhead fixture (it only has recessed lights now) I’m sure he can figure out how to hang it close to the ceiling and do a little “surgery” if he has to! It’s gonna look great and we’re so excited!
xo,
Sherry
Hi guys,
We LOVE the plans and cant wait to implement them. We have to coordinate the desktop, so I am putting Keith on the case. I am sure we will have photos for you in a bit.
Enjoy the Memorial Day weekend :)
Warm regards,
Corinne (& Keith)
sherry – yes, somehow i totally missed the part that they would have to have an electrician in anyway… i’m sure that it would be much easier for a professional, and they probably have a few tricks that i didn’t know about :-) can’t wait to see how it all turns out!
Love it! You guys always do such a great job — I noticed there’s a cease & desist order on new design dilemmas — we’ll be interested this summer so hopefully the backlog will clear out!
Beth
Hey Beth,
Yeah we’ve been super busy with Design Dilemmas since they each take a while to do (and we also have 2 posts a day to write, shop orders to ship, emails to answer, and giveaway prizes to coordinate) so we have decided to limit our load to three Design Dilemmas per week. So far it’s been working out really well! We put the “accepting orders” button up each Monday and usually by that afternoon we have all three of them snatched up. It certainly keeps things interesting! And have no fear, we’ll definitely figure out a way to squeeze you in this summer. Looking forward to it!
xoxo,
Sherry
You are incredibly talented. Both of you. And as usual, I beg the client to hurry up with the afters. Can’t wait to see!
I love this idea! Our second bedroom that I use as an office looks very similar to Corinne’s room and needs some help. Since we rent I can’t make any major changes to the room but I do think I’ll borrow a few of your suggestions for Corinne and see if it makes my office area a little more comfortable. I know adding just the lights and the blinds would make a big difference.
Last weekend I actually started putting together a desk similar to the one found on the moodboard. We are using two silver file cabinets from Target and placing wood on top. Any ideas on how to secure the desktop to the file cabinets? Thanks!
Hey Bridget,
We actually “secured” the counter above our washer and dryer with one of those grippy rubber pads that are meant to go under area rugs to keep them in place. We purchased the thickest one we could find at Home Depot and cut it to fit the top of the washer and dryer (you could cut yours into two rectangles to fit the top of your filing cabinets). The genius thing is that it’s not like glue so it’s removable when you need to move/relocate things, but the grip pad really keeps everything from shimmying and sliding on a daily basis. Hope it helps!
xo,
Sherry
Thanks Sherry…you are the best! I was thinking of doing something similar and am glad to hear that you had success with it.
P.S. Absolutely love your blog!
#6 – the pendant. Love it! I’ve been looking at something just like this for the top of our front staircase. Currently, we have what my hubby calls “the boob light” – builder standard stuff in bronze.
You’ve created another great mood!