homes

Home Office Decorating #InkscrblrATWork

August 4, 2014 /
style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Months ago we moved to a new home. If you read this blog at all, then you know that we moved to a lovely new neighbourhood and we have a pool and super neighbours. We had some of that in our old neighbourhood, but our house was a bit too small for my family, and it was most definitely way too tiny to contain a work space for me. My social media consulting and blogging business grew fast and had taken over my old house. I needed a dedicated office space. I also needed to do some Home Office Decorating.
home_office_decorating
The before picture of my home office space
I hoped my new home office would be a nice, large space with a view, and I hoped it would be on the main floor of our new home.
 We had a check list of things we wanted in a house:
central air
pool
home office
at least 3 bedrooms
nice spacious yard
garage
sidewalks
hardwood
proximity to a good high school where my daughter will be going in about one year
nice kitchen
My home office was a high priority. So we set about looking and spent a few weeks hunting for houses. We spied many that were suitable, but this one with a pool was my favourite. One of the first things I noticed and loved about it was the home office. It was right near the front door. It had a view of the street (which I love when I am writing) It had Berber carpet and French doors.
I had my office, but for a few weeks it was without any decent furniture and it was the space where the boxes of books went to die. Finally I decided on a setup I liked with Lovers At Work Office Equipment.
It took a few weeks of negotiating and then finally the house was ours. We moved in on a cold wintery February day. It was Valentine’s Day weekend. I had my home office. For a time, all the boxes somehow landed in my office space and I had no decent desk or storage. My new office looked cluttered and not settled. I needed to take charge and build a beautiful welcoming space. After all I spend easily eight to ten hours a day there so it needed to be a space I loved.
My office was the room I felt strongest about. I’ve had a Pinterest home office inspiration board for years. I had dozens of ideas for the entire home and some for Home Office Decorating.
I could decorate my kid’s spaces and the living room without a huge amount of stress but the home office was a space I agonized over. I wanted it to look just right. Professional, clean, creative and a bit fun too. I began hunting for office equipment. We hunted in Cambridge and London and on line too. At Work Office Equipment has a showroom in Cambridge as well. There are numerous At Work locations throughout Ontario. Cambridge had some nice pieces, but I was stuck on the price and the service. Meanwhile my office space was still waiting and being used, but it sure wasn’t shaping up fast at all. My husband got frustrated and so did my friend Margarita Ibbott who accompanied me often on my quest to find office furniture. First I had a classical traditional kind of wooden desk with wooden bookshelves envisioned as the final product. But the desks I found in that style were often too small. I didn’t want a tiny desk. The room is large and it needed a desk that fully occupies the space.
Once I decided on Lovers At Work and 3 H there was a small scheduling issue that meant I had a temporary office set up for awhile. It was nice that Lovers At Work provided the temporary setup while I waited.
This is the final product. Lovers At Work delivered and setup fast. I think it reflects my style. It is neat, with clean and contemporary lines.
I began to envision a more contemporary space. We browsed many places and we eventually found Lovers At Work Office furniture. Margarita Ibbott drew me in thinking that there could be something reclaimed or gently used that would also spare the budget. I didn’t see anything that was quite right in the used section of the showroom. But there were some cute displays of modular units from companies I had never heard of. Many sounded intriguing. I filed that away in my head and thought about it for a time. I considered Ikea also. But here’s the thing. This is my office space and no slight to Ikea, but I didn’t want any potential clients ever coming in to the office and feeling like I had been bargain hunting for my furniture. I wanted the room to feel rich. Also, at every other retail outlet I looked in I found something that made me feel as if the quality was not nearly as good as that at Lovers At Work Office Furniture.
The final reveal
On a day when I had a raging migraine I called over to Lovers At Work on Adelaide Street in London and I asked for a consultant to come to my house and measure the space, so we did it right. She showed up the next Monday. She sketched a lovely space for me. A credenza, desk, chair and lots of storage space. She mapped it out so I knew where the door was and how big an angle that needed. She illustrated how big the desk could be inside the floor space of the room. I was reasonably certain the design she came up with would meet my needs. The furniture I liked was made by a company called 3H. It is an Ontario company. The desk would be expansive with plenty of surface space. I requested lots of storage space (and I got it) with a credenza and a cushioned top so people can sit if they need to. I paid the down payment and then I worked on all the small details. What kind of edge should the desk have? Knife edge is what I requested because it seemed unique to me. White or beige desk surface? White is clean in my opinion. What kind of drawer pulls? Silver. What shade of wood grain for the flinging cabinet drawers. I chose a walnut shade that I love (it’s duplicated in my closet upstairs now – a sexy grey brown that is very stylish right now.)
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Home Office Decorating:

What do you think? At one point I considered this sexy desk. But even on sale at Kingsmill’s clearance sale it was more than the entire office I purchased from Lovers At Work. If you ever need an organizer or some help with your space I highly recommend my good friend Margarita Ibbott. You can find here at her blog, DownshiftingPRO. For your social media needs, or blogger outreach projects you can always find me in my office. To get a quote on a consulting project you can email inkscrblr@rogers.com
Stay tuned for part two of the office story later this week. Do you have a home office? Are there any challenges you have faced in setting that space up? Are you an expert at Home Office Decorating?

Mom of two beautiful active girls, traveller, fitness junkie, social media consultant, and keeper of the sanity.

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