Disclosure: Farrow & Ball and IKEA have gifted product for this project
The thing about renovations is that they take time and what I’ve learnt is that you really need to be in the mood and feel motivated to get on with it in order to do a decent job. At the start of the year I finally felt fired up to get cracking on the home office upstairs, especially now, being freelance, I work from here everyday. While our concentration has mainly been spent downstairs, making the living room and kitchen lovely and liveable, this room has fallen to the back of the line and has become somewhat neglected in the grand scheme of things.
It’s been, purely and simply, a dumping ground (scroll down for some rather embarrassing before pics…). Somewhere we plonk all the things we don’t know what to do with, a place for books we can’t quite bare to part with, piles of washing we haven’t found time to put away, and odd bits and pieces that haven’t found a home yet. I’m sure everyone has a room or a cupboard like this at home, one where you just close the door and pretend all the stuff has disappeared? Out of sight, out of mind as they say.
But, I strongly believe that the secret to a tiny, uncluttered home is well-organised storage. I would love to be a pure minimalist, but I love things and things seem to magically collect around me, and that’s ok – if you have somewhere to put things. The key problem with this room was that there was no built-in storage, cabinets or wardrobes at all, everything was on display.
What I would like to create is a cosy, clutter-free home office with lots of clean, functional storage. I’ve created a mood board below with my key ideas for a soft grey colour palette, natural materials and clever details.
The walls will be painted Farrow & Ball‘s Lamp Room Grey, a traditional blue-grey, which has a soft, warm feel. The room is north-facing and for most of the day feels dark and dingy, so the white walls at the moment can feel cold and uninviting. Embracing the darkness of the room, and turning a problem into a solution, I’m hoping a rich, mid-grey will had a sense of cosiness, especially along with the current dark grey carpet.
A white desk and storage units will keep the scheme light, while surfaces to pin up inspiration as I’m designing interior projects will add texture, personality and subtle hints of colour. Floating IVAR cabinets from IKEA, secured to the walls, will provide hidden storage and picture ledges can be used to display favourite books and magazines.
So let’s have a look at my home office in my previous flat, a lovely light space right next to a big window that I greatly miss. I’ll be reusing the same IKEA desk with the white ALEX drawer units and my Anglepoise lamp will remain in pride of place. The cork pin boards are actually placemats would you believe. Sadly we left the shelves behind, but I’ll be looking to create the same fresh, airy feel with plants and monochrome touches.
And here is what we’ve got to work with now and some before pics – please don’t judge me for the mess but I thought I’d show some reality behind the Instagram…! None of us are perfect. The first shots show the room as it was when we moved in – yellowing, bare wooden floor boards, blank white walls and bright blue curtains. A relatively blank slate to start with, if a lot darker than the estate agent’s pictures initially suggested…
While we were renovating downstairs, we took out the chimney breast and that’s gained us an extra slice of space. The floor boards were damaged and not in a very good condition so now we’ve got dark grey carpets. I’ll be positioning my desk in the same place in front of the window – there’s just nothing nicer than being able to look out while you’re working onto the greenery of the garden.
You might remember I did an update to the room last year, the room will still have a double bed for friends coming to stay, but I want to concentrate much more on creating a lovely corner to work from.
And here’s where we’ve got to now, with a couple of coats of Farrow & Ball‘s Lamp Room Grey on the walls. It still needs another coat to get that lovely depth of rich colour and the woodwork needs doing too, but already it’s feeling fresher with a new lick of paint. I love the way the light falls on the grey, it changes from soft and bright in the morning to dark, cosy and cocooning in the evening. I can’t wait to show you the finished result, stay tuned!
All images Cate St Hill, unless otherwise specified
