[This makeover post features gifted items]
My cosy, grey home office is finally complete, another room to tick off as we slowly make our south London house our own. This plain, bare, white box at the back of the house – dark, dingy and north-facing – has been transformed into a calming, warm space, from which I can work from home as a freelance creative and blogger.
Instead of spending all my time working at the dining table, it’s now an organised and inviting space I look forward to returning to everyday (via the short commute up the stairs!). I’m also hoping it will help nurture a better work/life balance if I close the door on it every evening, as opposed to working and living in the same space all the time – even if it is quite tempting to keep popping in to admire the newly painted grey walls and satisfying storage solutions…
So let’s have a look at the inspiration for the space (you can see the before pics and a bit of a back story in my original post here). Essentially I wanted to create is a cosy, clutter-free home office with lots of clean, functional storage where we had none before. There were plans for a soft grey colour palette, lots of tactile natural materials and clever details to maximise the small space we’ve got.
It’s naturally a dark room, despite the large window looking onto the garden at the back. Previously the white walls felt cold and uninviting, so I wanted to bring a sense of cosiness by painting them Farrow & Ball‘s Lamp Room Grey, a traditional blue-grey, which has a soft, warm feel.
And here’s how it looks now. When we first moved in a year and a half a go or so, the walls were white, the wooden floors had an orange toned varnish and there were thick blue curtains covering the window, blocking out lots of the natural light. When we were renovating the kitchen below this room, we knocked out the chimney breast, which gave us an extra slice of uninterrupted wall space. We initially laid down dark grey carpet (the floorboards were damaged and after a stressful renovation, carpets seemed like a quick and easy option) and the room was used as a dumping ground for a while, as our attention was taken up with the other rooms in the house.
Now, after a little furniture reshuffle, moving the desk next to the window and the bed into the corner, the room is organised and optimised for daily life working from home, and occasional guests to stay. Having storage is a bit of a revelation after having none in here at all before. The longest wall has been freed up for a line of floating IKEA wooden storage cabinets, while picture ledges provide a decorative focal point as you walk into the room, a sort of ‘living mood board’ which I can switch up and curate to help stay inspired as I take on different interior projects.
Even though the colour is now darker and in a way moodier, the space feels roomier, softer and refreshed. It’s a calm sanctuary where I can sit at my desk, look out of the window, gather my thoughts and create.
When I first created the mood board above, my natural instinct was to veer towards simple greys, understated whites and monochrome accents. But when I got the storage cabinets in, with their lovely natural grain, I wanted to embrace those earthy tones and honest textures even more by adding cork features, jute baskets, recycled paper stationery, soft, pure linen and a burnt orange crinkle muslin throw. It’s a slightly different colour palette to what I’m used to but I think it needed something to offset the grey and liven it all up.
Let’s have a closer look at the different areas of the room in more detail (all items are listed and linked at the bottom of the post).
The desk
The corner of the room where I spend most of my time. We’ve had the white desk for a couple of years from our previous flat, it’s IKEA and you can mix and match different table tops, legs and drawer units. My classic Anglepoise lamp and Eames plastic armchair are two timeless, functional design icons I’ve had for a while now, both cherished birthday presents from my boyfriend Olivier. I love their soft curves and seamless lines.
Above the desk I’ve added a cork board to pin up inspiration, postcards and samples. It’s simply a standard cork board you can get cheaply at IKEA or Argos, but I removed the frame around it. Elsewhere, I picked up some jute storage pots from H&M Home and in terms of stationery, nothing beats Muji notebooks and Notem Studio’s planners.
I love this spot right by the window; after years working in commercial offices, that connection to natural light and the greenery outside does so much for uplifting your wellbeing.
The guest bed
We still have a few friends coming to stay every now and then so I didn’t want to get rid of the bed altogether. It’s now positioned in the darkest corner of the room, to the left of the window and opposite the desk. There wasn’t space for a bedside table so I’ve added a small picture ledge, painted the same colour as the wall, above the bed. I’m looking for a clip-on light for the shelf but I haven’t quite found the right one yet.
I’ve given the bed an informal, relaxed look, with Piglet’s beautiful pure linen bedding and a burnt orange muslin throw from H&M Home. Pale blush pink cushions from West Elm and a vintage cushion that I picked up on our travels in Essaouira earlier in the year add a hint of colour and play with texture. I think the combination with the soft grey walls is charming and inviting, so much so I have to try to resist the temptation not to lie down and have a nap!
The picture ledges
These are my favourite bit of the new room, three IKEA picture ledges to style up and faff around with to my heart’s content. They’re quite wide so you can get quite a few things on them; framed pictures, magazines, books, objects and samples. They also have a little ridge in them to help hold items in place and stop them falling off.
These are going to be so useful when I’m planning a styling project and need to gather ideas and inspiration. They also act as an ever-changing piece of art; instead of committing to one or two prints stuck on the wall, the display can be constantly changed around as my tastes and interests evolve.
The IVAR cabinets from IKEA
Our storage issue has been solved with IKEA’s IVAR cabinets, which have been in the company’s collection for 50 years this year. Often you might think of flat-pack furniture as being a somewhat temporary solution, something you might have for a couple of years and then swap for something new and different later on. The IVAR cabinet storage system has endured because it’s a simple, minimal piece of furniture made of hardwearing, untreated solid wood. It’s adaptable for every room’s needs and can be customised to suit your home – you can paint it, oil it, add shelves, sections and cabinets, bottle racks and drawers.
I was initially going to paint the cabinets the same colour as the walls, but in the end I fell for the natural grain of the wood, that I hope will just age and get better with time. I might add a white lime wash or stain, but for now the wood isn’t very yellow at all, so I don’t think it needs it for the moment.
The cabinets have been secured to the wall, seeing the flooring running under them gives an illusion of space in a small room, while the area underneath can be used to store piles of magazines and baskets. We needed shelving space for books, documents, sample pots and all the other bumpf a home office accumulates, so it’s nice to have somewhere to hide it all away and not have everything on display. The best objects are reserved for the top, including some framed pictures leaning against the wall.
And there we have it, my cosy, grey home office – it’s taken a lot of work and I feel like I’ve put my heart and soul into this one, from sanding, painting and getting stuck into the DIY, to conceiving the concept and finalising the little touches that bring it all together. It’s so satisfying now to be able to work from here and enjoy the space. A room of my own.
Styling and photography Cate St Hill
Product list (* indicates items that have been gifted), let me know if I’ve missed anything in the comments below.
Wall colour – Lamp Room Grey, Farrow & Ball*
Desk top, IKEA, similar here
GODVIN white desk legs, £7.50, IKEA
ALEX white desk cabinet, £50, IKEA
Eames plastic armchair DAR, £440 Vitra
MOSSLANDA picture ledges, £8.95, IKEA
IVAR wall cabinets, £45, IKEA*
Black and white print on cabinets, by Atelier Cph at Stilleben
Basket under wall cabinets, IKEA, discontinued, similar here
Cork board, similar here
Jute storage box on desk, £8.99, H&M Home
Glass storage box with lid on desk, £6.99, H&M Home
Le Sac Papier bag, Merci shop Paris, £8.50, available in the UK from peastyle
Notebooks and planners, Notem Studio
Grey candle, Miller Harris*
Hand creams, Austin Austin*
Type 75 desk lamp, £140 (colour discontinued but available as a desk insert), Anglepoise
Linen bedding, Piglet*
Burnt orange muslin throw, £59.99, H&M Home
Vintage Moroccan cushion, bought in Essaouira
Soft pink cushions, West Elm*
Round pink vase, Cooee*
HAY paper coffee cup, similar here, £25 on Trouva
HAY Volet black wall hooks, £17, COS
HAY time glass, £25, COS
Kura ceiling shade, £40, Habitat
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