Abby’s Design Dilemma
Abby’s office is already full of inspiration and eye candy, and we’re beyond thrilled that she came to us to add more storage and style to boot. We’re huuuuge fans of her amazing wedding site Style Me Pretty and we can’t wait to see how her office will transform with a few simple upgrades. Here’s her letter:
I’m SO excited that you’re going to be helping us whip the Style Me Pretty office into shape. Since my husband and I work from home, it can quickly become a place of total chaos. The good news is that it has great bones: a biggish space, gorgeous desks from Crate & Barrel, awesome chairs (knock-offs of course) and a few cute-ish accessories. On paper (and on entry) it’s gorgeous. The problem is we have zero storage space, zero organization and close to zero style. There are papers/files falling out everywhere, ridiculous amounts of cords, bins and boxes on the floor, pathetic attempts at wall decor. It’s not good. At all. And as someone who thrives on beautiful things, this has become such a sad space for me. Even the dog is depressed about it. So, if you could help us design a space that allows us to thrive creatively, we would be forever grateful! We like clean & modern with touches of whimsy and a few antiques here and there for texture and a bit of history. As for what stays, the desks and chairs do, but everything else can go! The whole house is white so a big wall color might look out of place, but I’m open to suggestions. I like lots of accent colors (yellows, chartreuse, hot pink, whatever) and I also LOVE white. Think Domino mag: hip & chic. Thanks so much for the help! Can’t wait to see what you do. – Abby
This office runneth over with posh potential. Here’s the plan:
And now for the mood board breakdown.
1. Our color palette will contain an abundance of fresh white tones, clean-lined oak furnishings, and some vibrant pops of pink and yellow (two of Abby’s favorite colors) in the smaller accessories for a happy-go-lucky vibe.
2. We love the existing Crate & Barrel desks, and thought Abby could introduce some coordinating whimsy in the form of these wooden birds that could be perched on the windowsill above her desk for interest and charm (three small ones on one side of the window for asymmetrical interest would be sweet). And speaking of that window, we’d love to see it dressed in the same chic white curtains that the other ones in the space wear so well for a bit more balance and cohesion (pulling the desk about 6″ from the wall should allow those curtains to drape to the floor as the others do). Oh and speaking of those desks, these amazing leg cord managers can make leggy desks like Abby’s look crisp and cord free thanks to hidden systems in the back that run the cords down the legs for a seamless look. And at $9 per system, they’re a total steal.
3. For the area on the wall above the other desk, we think a giant work of art will add interest and presence. But instead of a traditional framed print or photo we happened upon this amazing oversized map of the world and instantly fell hard for it. The vibrant hues will enliven the entire room, and it’s certainly a nice distraction when it’s time for Abby to take a few minutes to daydream about traveling the world or quiz herself on her on state capitals. Mounting it up sans-frame either with rails, pins, or even on a roll-down mechanism will add vintage charm and more of that uncommon & interesting Anthropologie flair- and it ties in perfectly with our color scheme to boot.
4. This vibrant and happy pillow will breathe new life into Abby’s existing armchair while further establishing the pops of pink and yellow that we’ll be bringing into the space.
5. The vintage charm of these antique-ish pinboards from Pottery Barn (on sale!) made our day, and we’d love to see one hung longways on either side of the newly added curtains that will be placed high and wide on the window above Abby’s desk. Voila: the perfect place to pin up inspiration and even pics of her sweet bambino.
6. For the strip of wall between the long already-curtained windows on the other side of the room, three of these clean-lined floating shelves hung about 20″ apart will create a nice little display spot for framed accomplishments, favorite Etsy art, and other meaningful objects that will make her room feel welcoming and homey.
7. This is one of those how-did-I-ever-live-without-it pieces. Sliding it in front of that strip of wall between the windows below the new floating shelves will instantly create a side table that also provides tons of file and office supply storage while almost disappearing thanks to the soft white tone and the small footprint. Seriously life changing.
8. We couldn’t resist this hot pink vase for the top of the filing cabinet or even one of the desks since it adds so much chic style and punchy color for just 25 beans.
9. We’re huge fans of these monogrammed mugs from Anthropologie, and we love the idea of lining up four of them to spell out the word “work” and using them to store often-used office supplies like pens, scissors, and paper clips on one of the desks.
10. This is the second piece of furniture that will instantly take this room from fabulous to fabulous and functional. Placed to the right of Abby’s desk that sits under the window, this amazing filing cabinet can also double as printer storage and keep all of those wires under control thanks to an opening in the back of the cabinet meant for just that purpose (check out the photos of it open to get a sense of all that it can do). And the price is better than an ugly one from Office Max. Score.
11. We couldn’t get over these mouthwateringly chic and fun storage boxes from The Container Store, and we would love to see a colorful stack of them (brown, pink, and yellow) on either desk for even more space to tuck things away in style.
12. We love the idea of introducing small touches of stainless steel for a slight industrial vibe in Abby’s crisp and modern office, and this linear wastebasket not only coordinates with the casters and the drawer pulls on her new white storage cabinets, but it’ll serve as bona fide sculpture in the room. And the mix of materials and interesting lines that it adds to the space is oh so Domino and chic-lectic (chic & eclectic).
13. Since one good pillow usually deserves another, we’d love to see this sweet little bird-printed one tossed in front of the larger pink and yellow striped one on the white armchair for an easy layered vibe.
14. And last but not least, Abby will find that once she hangs curtains on the window above her desk, they will frame out a bit of the wall under the windowsill that will practically be begging for a bit of interest. Instead of hanging a small piece of art, we’d love to see three of these great printer’s letters standing on the desktop to spell out SMP (Style Me Pretty!) for a charming 3-D touch to fill the void between the curtains. Gotta love those personal touches for an office that makes you feel right at home.
So there you have it. A workspace full of easy and layered style. We can’t wait to see what you guys think! 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 three days after they’re sent to the client (so they have a chance to purchase everything before it sells out).
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Comments
I think this is one of my all time favorite mood boards. Love it. Good job! Make me want to show my cube a little lovin’
Such awesome pieces! I’ve been waiting for a office/workspace design. I’m so bummed with mine so this is truly inspirational! I love the colorful storage boxes!!
One question I have is if anyone knows of a great way to store larger (around 13″x19″) sheets of paper. Right now I keep them in there boxes and it just looks so ugly. I would love to have flat files but they’re just too expensive. I found the ikea alex (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30104322) that seems like it would be perfect, but I was wondering if anyone had seen any others that may be more visually appealing. Thanks!!!
Love this board! The colors are so fresh and clean, it will be so inspiring to work in this room! How fun that they get to work together! Totally jealous of that. :-)
This is spectacular! I will some day model my office after it!
Can you find out where Abby got those amazing knock-off chairs?
This is my absolute favorite mood board so far! I love love love love love the colors!!! This mood board is seriously me to a T. I just can’t seem to pull it off in my own house, for some reason…
CANNOT wait to see afters!
Ahhh! Not only do I love this inspiration board, but I am a HUGE fan of Style Me Pretty. Two of my favorite blogs + fab office decorating ideas = great stuff all around.
Two of my favorite blogs come together! ^_^
Love the ideas for the room. You have such an eye for awesome accessories!
Woo ee, nice finds, youngsters :) Love the birdies for the shelf! They’re such a great blend of chic and whimsy. Did you all coin “chic-lectic” or did you read that somewhere. That’s the perfect term for the more grown-up side of Domino mag. I’m using it ;)
I was on vacation during the whole name change escapade. Couldn’t believe it. Love the gusto you came back with, though. Can’t keep a good blog down :)
XO,
Jacci
Hey guys,
We knew everyone would drool over those white desk chairs, so here’s a link to some extremely similar knock offs from CB2 (update: you can also see a bunch of other options linked to below by our lovely readers). Hope it helps!
As for Jacci’s chic-lectic question, we haven’t heard it anywhere else but it just seemed to fit so we tossed it into our description. Although her question did make us google it in quotes to make sure we didn’t subconsciously steal it from someone like Jonathan Adler (doesn’t it sound like his cup of tea?). Looks like we’re the first ones to use it on the internet at least. Hmm, could this be another term that penetrates the culture like “bromance”? Somehow we think not but I guess only time will tell…
xo,
s
Love SMP and love YHL!!! Great office design. Melissa just wanted to say I have the Alex unit from IKEA and I love it. If I had space I would have a dozen of those. I store large 16×20 matted prints in it along with matboard and all my matting supplies. I would love another one to store all my album making supplies.
Hey guys! Isn’t this redesign FABULOUS!?!? We are working hard on getting it all ordered, so we’ll keep you posted on the before and after.
For those who are looking for the chairs, we found them at Chiasso…
Hey Melissa Laine Scotton,
It looks like Melissa Arlena (see a few comments up) uses the Alex unit from Ikea to store her 16 x 20 matted prints so it should work for you if it tickles your fancy. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
I have a similar white desk chair in my office. Got it at Z Gallerie.
http://www.zgallerie.com/pc-8123-61-lider-desk-chair-silver.aspx
I love the West Elm “love birds” too! They remind me of one of the items I have in my Etsy store right now: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25156928. The birds are modern with the smooth lines but are still super cute and romantic.
Thanks so much Melissa and Sherry! It seemed like a perfect solution, I guess I just needed a little positive reinforcement! I’m excited to pick one up and it’s so good to know you can fit up to 16×20 papers in it!
Hey Guys, I was looking for pieces for my office and love your choices, awesome. I would like to mention though, I’m not sure for everyone else, but its sometimes hard to notice the links in between all the text since it doesn’t stand out, and on number item #7 the tag wasn’t closed, so there’s no link ;) hehe.
Love the room and the recommended redesign. Question for Abby–where’d you get those cute, fat white lamps? I’m in love.
Hey Loriana,
Thanks for your technical tips. I’m not sure what you mean about the link not working for item #7… it seems to be working for us and everyone else. Are you clicking the words “a side table”? It should take you here: http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=302&f=4217
As for the links looking too similar to the text color, I was just mentioning (ie: whining) to John that we need to somehow make ‘em a brighter color or bold them/underline them so they stand out more. Thanks for backing me up! Now my nagging just might get me somewhere…
Stay tuned for more noticeable links (exciting, eh?).
xo,
s
nevermind about #7 must have missed it because of the links blending with the content, oopsy:)
I am in love with it and want to marry it. Hurry, hurry, SMP, with the afters. Thanks!
I love all of the pops of color in all of the accesories. I can’t wait to see the finished room.
Love it! By far one of my favorites from you guys so far!Such a unique color palette and happy look overall – I’ll definitely be considering some of these ideas when I start designing my office :)
I stumbled on your blog through, Style Me Pretty, and I’m in love with your blog and styles. I thumbed through your links and have enjoyed the time spent on your blog. Especially your Wedding! I’m a frugal person so when I saw your budget I was blown away…makes me want to have ANOTHER wedding, just for the fun of it ;)
I will be back often…Thanks for the Good Reads!
There’s some fantastic pieces in that room to start, and your plan highlights them to perfection!
LOVE the pinks, the wooden birds and that bird pillow!
The vintage-look cork board is GREAT and anyone could make one more cheaply if they have the time.
One of those sculptural waste baskets, turned upside down with a piece of glass or a white melamine tray anchored on top, would make a great side table for that beautiful chair too.
Love this and love Abby! Can’t wait to see her after pictures! The colors are just great.
You guys are awesome, I love everything you do, just inspiring. One thing that I would love to see on these posts is when you write about the goodies on the mood board it would be great to have an extra picture of the item right next to the writing. It would save me having to scroll up and down the whole time as I love to see what I’m reading about. Sometimes these posts are long and the pictures end up so far away from their description. I don’t know if anyone else thinks this way but it would just make these posts more “readable” if you know what I mean?
Anyway I just love you guys and thanks for all the tutorials and inspiration. I am slowly working on my home and I love how you have so many budget friendly ideas.
Kris :o)
This is my favorite Mood Board you guys have done ever! I love the fresh combo of hot pink, yellow, and neutrals! I’m drooling over this 8,11, and 13 especially.
Before I read the mood board, I was guessing that you might reposition the desks so that they were not both facing walls. I am ACHING to find a new arrangement for my home office space because I can hardly STAND facing the wall for another minute! I have a computer space and I also need a separate space for my sewing maching. Someday… it’s going to come to me! Can’t wait to see the “after” pictures of this sunny space…
LOve the ideas! I have scene alot of maps-as-art lately..thinking this might be a good addition to my office as well.
I think the Z Gallerie Lider Desk chairs are a better match to the Herman Miller Eames chairs, seen in white…
http://www.zgallerie.com/p-7384-lider-desk-chair-white.aspx
(I own one of the original Eames chairs, without casters, in black, at home)
Wow, this was such a fun moodboard to check out! And it was perfect timing too, seeing that I’ve been working on my office! I really love the idea of spelling out “WORK” with the Anthropologie mugs. I might just have to try that! :)
Bonus points for the cute dog in the chair in the before pics :) Love the mood board!
Hey guys!
I was looking at this post because I’m in the process of turning my spare bedroom into an office/guest room. I clicked on the link to the cord hider thingy and the site said it was no longer available…Do you have any other ideas for hiding cords? And how about for hiding those ugly computer towers? I would just shove it back up under the desk and hde it with something but fiance needs access to the dvd burner and usb ports…
Thanks!
Hey Katie,
This cord wrangler of sorts has adhesive on the back so it can be used to run cords around the back of a desk and even down the leg and across the floor (the adhesive is optional, so on some you can make it sticky and the ones on the floor can be non-sticky so they don’t muck up the floor). Hope it helps! http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/product/detail.do?productGroup=3401
xo,
s
I love those wooden birds sooooo much! Every time I flip through the West Elm catalog (which is more frequently than I really want to admit, hehe) I’m sorely tempted to buy them. Too cute!