Today I'm excited to reveal a space in my home that I've never really shown before. Up until now, it was my least favorite room in the house. Welcome to our home office! Also known as a room in the house where I throw everything I don't know what to do with. But no more! After living in our house for over 10 years, Adam and I finally decided it was time to show some love to this room and transform it from a cramped and unusable room to one where we can be creative, have meetings, and collaborate together in Casa Zuma. I decided to come. .
As many of you may know, we built our house 13 years ago. This is a never-ending project (that's how we like it), and there comes a time when you naturally want to refresh some areas of your home. We have evolved and our tastes have evolved with us. But the challenge is updating your home in a way that makes sense as an investment and doesn't completely blow your budget.
Layout challenges
This home office space has always been one of the most challenging areas for us. First, the layout is difficult. Each wall has either a door (to the bathroom or closet) or a window facing the front of the house, and it's a little awkward to put a desk in front of it. Any of these areas.
I installed a lot of features in the room and tried to create a lot of storage. That goal was achieved, but the permanent nature of the built-in shelving and cabinetry limited the extent to which the room could be rearranged.
How to use this space
Adam and I use this space to meet with each other and the people we work with, and to brainstorm projects we're working on together. This is also the space Adam uses for his daily Zoom calls. (As you may remember, I work alone in a small entryway alcove office just off the kitchen, and my phone calls are via Zoom calls.)
First, I redecorated the room.
The biggest change I made to this room was repositioning my desk. We always did it in a corner of a small room, which didn't encourage any kind of collaboration. He was the only person allowed to use the desk at a time, and the sunlight coming in through the windows was so strong that he had to keep the shades down at all times to minimize glare (which is why the room It felt like a cave).
So I decided to move my desk to the center of the room. That changed everything. This new configuration makes your desk feel more like a workbench. It's more collaborative, and the room itself feels more open and spacious. I love when the biggest change to a space is a zero dollar change.
Advantages and disadvantages of built-in shelves
Let's talk about embedding first. Rearranging this space presented some challenges, but they are professional at it. So instead of removing them and starting from scratch, I decided to take advantage of what was already in the space and see if I could recreate it in a simpler style. Here are the details of these shelves and cabinets:
Material: Unstained white oak with clear lacquer Size: 3 inches thick – If I were installing these now, I'd choose a 2 inch thick floating shelf. A steel bracket is attached to the back of the sheetrock, allowing it to withstand considerable weight. Pros: Has tons of storage space and looks more reasonable than having a lot of furniture in the room. Cons: They are fairly permanent, limiting the extent to which you can rearrange your space without a built-in demo (which is expensive).
shelf styling 101
As mentioned above, we kept the built-in shelves and gave them new life by simply changing the style and what we put them on. In general, I think the biggest hurdle with open shelving is resisting the temptation to clutter the shelves with too many things. So the first thing I always do is delete everything. That way you can take a second look and decide what you really want to add to your shelves.
In this space, we exhibited design books that give us creative inspiration, as well as samples and prototypes that are currently being developed for Casa Zuma products. I wanted this space to feel very airy and calming, so I did my best to keep the shelving to a minimum and streamline it.
Unique home office desk and perfect chair
This “desk” is actually a teak dining table from Crate and Barrel that we've had forever It's helpful to think outside the box of traditional “office furniture” when designing your home office space proves that. Peruse the dining tables and dining chairs available at your favorite retailers for ready-made options that perfectly fit your aesthetic.
I'm obsessed with this desk chair from Lulu and Georgia. It's super chic and the perfect combination of functionality and beautiful ergonomic design. Very comfortable.
blinds and curtains
It's no surprise that we get a lot of questions from you about our window treatments. Curtains and shades are one of the design decisions that can be very confusing. All of our window treatments are from Graber. I shared all about them a while back in this window treatment do's and don'ts article.
Here were the challenges with our home office space. We love lots of natural light, but we also wanted to have a clear view of our front yard when people were driving up. But when you're working on your computer or doing a lot of Zoom calls, you'll want to filter the light to minimize screen glare. So next he adopted a two-part solution.
First, I installed sheer curtains that let in lots of light. One design trick is to mount the curtain rod a few inches higher and wider than the window frame. This will make the windows appear larger and allow you to pull the curtains completely back to let in as much light as possible.
Next, the shade. If you often work on your computer like we do, it's important to minimize screen reflections, especially in the afternoon when the sunlight shines directly through the windows. So I needed a way to block out the light without making the room feel like a cave. These solar shades are made to block out harsh light that creates glare while letting light into the room.
Buy our office with special discount
Since many of the new items in our office space are from Lulu and Georgia, the brand has shared a special discount code just for you so you can purchase these items for yourself. Use code CAMILLESTYLES15 to get 15% off.
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If you have any questions in this area, please visit the video tour on Youtube and drop a comment. I'll answer everything there.