Home Office Design - creating a home office that's practical and beautiful

Hey guys!

What have you been up to lately?

Here's a little secret.

I am currently working on a series of architectural building plans under the project name: Dream House.

Let me tell you, it's addictive. I do this for fun, and the challenge of creating a building that is entirely FUNCTIONAL and utterly PRACTICAL whilst still being beautiful... ohhh, I love it so much. Really, designing these homes is like crack for me.

I generally start out with an initial floorplan, (which is what this architecture programme is intended for) and then like the design freak I am, I go through each individual room and organize. (Which is not what the programme is intended for!) Once I have figured out every single element that the room will need inside it, I start modifying walls and storage spaces to suit. It's an extremely detailed process and I have been known to stay up late while the husband sleeps because I'm on a roll.

Anyway, that was a long intro to tell you that here's what I want to share today: Dream Office.

Dream Office is intended as a home office for the working lady (or man, if he is cool with purple carpet).

I set out designing this as MY dream office for an interior design firm. You may have seen this on Instagram as I was starting the design and furnishing:

Which developed into this when finished:

Here's a little explanation of the space as it ended up, below. This is basically the view you would see as you walk in (the door is to the right of the client area, opening up towards the wardrobe).

It's not that easy to see all in one image, so here's the organization tour below.

How to organize a Home Office

(my opinion).

On one wall, we have built-in shelves with a credenza on the lower half, and a wardrobe. Here's that explained, with the wardrobe doors open so you can see inside:

Wardrobe

•  I've designed the wardrobe with floor-to-ceiling doors (even though it's a high stud) because it allows you to see everything at a glance. You know how usually the upper wardrobe is where you throw things never-to-be-seen again? I'm not a fan of that - you forget what's there and can never be bothered getting it.
• The wardrobe has one bar, for hanging fabric and fabric samples (like this system by ish&chi)
• Installed within the wardrobe is a 900mm high surface for a printer. I don't want to see ugly printers when I'm trying to be creative. 900mm is standard kitchen bench-top height and will save your back from bending. You will need to have a power outlet installed in the wardrobe wall.
• Other print supplies and paper etc live on the shelf below the printer.

Shelves

• The shelves are built-in to fill the entire space beside the wardrobe. 
• On the shelves are baskets - one basket for each current client project where you can store their fabric samples, product specs, etc.
• Another shelf houses files for invoices and client details
• Any excess stationary goes in the credenza part below the shelves, hidden out of sight.

Worktop

I personally can't contain my creative messes to one desk - and if I try then I only get frustrated because everything piles up around the computer. That's my living situation at the moment. Hence here we've got a big clear white worktop under the window - this is where the physical creations happen.

Client Corner

It's a slightly tight fit in a home office, but I like the idea of a comfy chair or two in a seating area. Here it's a chance to bring more colour into the room with accessories and pillows, and you can keep your inspiration mags on the little table.

Computer Zone

My goal is to create a computer zone that is distraction-free. The less clutter the better. Ideally this just has pens, pencils, a planner, and your computer. All the other stuff happens on the worktop to the right. An 'in-bound' mail and invoice station would be possible here, as long as documents were filed into the filing shelves as processed.

The ingredients!

How I wish I could afford this gorgeous rug. Makes the room, don't you think? This hue of purple is one of my all-time favourite colours, and looks wonderful with golden and minty tones.

1. Fields of Gold pillow from Lulu & Georgia

2. Quatrefoil mirror 

3. Paint colour: Half White Pointer by Resene

4. Desk Chair from Freedom Furniture

5. Pari Rug from Lulu & Georgia

6. Excelsior Desk from Freedom Furniture

7. James Dunlop fabric for accent pillow

8. Flower Lamp from Ezibuy (discontinued)

I hope this has helped inspire you with your own home office organization!

Do you get a kick out of 'a place for everything and everything in its place' as much as I do??

Bless