Home Office - Let's get started!

Last, but not least, the final portion of my challenge is my home office/den.  If you only knew all the renditions I've gone through in setting a direction for this room's makeover!  My husband is exhausted with all the changes I've made him review for me. I started thinking about this a long time ago, but did some concrete space planning during my first class toward getting my Professional Home Decorating certificate.

This is not the final layout

I won't be making a shade based on my last attempt!

During my Home Decorating 1 class, this was my inspiration...a Pottery Barn catalog page showing white furniture and plenty of cork boards for viewing design options.  I was drawn to the colors because they are part of the color scheme I currently use at home - rusts, greens, and tans.  The white is a refreshing change from the other wood tones I've been working with in this challenge.

My current home office is quite embarrassing.  I've been behind on filing and general up keep.  We have been using this room as a dumping ground ever since we got a laptop.  We have 3 bookcases that my family shares.  We each have our own bookcase and the idea is that each of us is responsible for the upkeep the way we want it done.   Note that this is the view that any neighbor looking through our window on an afternoon walk would see.  Goal #1 - Make this mess disappear!

I've been online searching, searching, searching, (and did I say searching?) for fabrics to carry out the vision inspired by my inspiration room.    Here are the main websites I searched that I think are very good, reasonably priced, fabric sources:

 http://www.onlinefabricstore.net

http://warehousefabricsinc.com 

http://www.buyfabrics.com

During my search, I wanted to find a fabric with at least 3 colors so I had something to work with to pick out paint colors and other fabrics.  I looked at so many fabrics that I had to start an MS Word doc to save the images and links so that I could organize them into combinations I might be able to use.

Sticking with the warm colors for the most part I put this together:

I like this combination quite a bit, but it seems far too vibrant compared to my Pottery Barn inspiration picture.  I found a picture which really looks very professional and I thought this was the way to go, but Harmony and Don said it looked like a lawyer's office, not a home designer's office:

I'm still in love with this look, but I'm trying to take advise from those that I know love me and have my best interests at heart.    Never the less, Goal #2 - Make this office look professional.  So I continued my pursuit.  I ordered a few samples of fabric and found one I liked.

Evelynne Baltic

Now on to choosing a paint color - so many decisions and so little time.   Okay, I just can't make up my mind.

Drizzle, Mariner, Quietude, Watery

Trying to pull out a color from a Pier 1 flyer

I narrowed it down to Drizzle and Mariner...Sophisticated or Vibrant?  Too dark, Too bright?  Arrrrgh!

Do you get the idea, that I've moved completely away from the warm colors and am now contemplating cool colors?  I also considered giving up this fabric completely and going with doing a wall stencil.  I think this stencil is very cool and thought of mimicking a painting by using multiple colors as a base, with white for the bark.  You can find the stencil at Cutting Edge Stencils.

Painting inspiration

Stencil with blue background

I sat in the empty office, staring at the paint samples, and a painter's tape mock up of the outline for the shelving I plan to build/buy.  If I had a heftier budget, I may have been able to move forward with one of the original ideas I had in mind.  There is also a time factor and based on the fact that this is the season for visiting our lake cottage, I have only about 5 weekends I'm willing to schedule strictly for working on this room.

I was planning on using the fabric I picked for draperies flanking plain white drapery to cover up the bookcases, but the amount of fabric I needed put me over budget.  I finally made up my mind and pushed myself forward by ordering the material to make a padded valance over the 3 bookcases and over the window instead of drapery.  I also ordered the plain white fabric for the drapery I still intend to use to cover the bookcases and the window.

This new concept is far from the one I started with, but it is now in motion, so wish me luck.  The paint color is my biggest worry.  Goal #3 - Make this office inviting so that it is used as an office rather than a dumping ground.

Not sure which light I'll end up with.  First choice is the one on the right - Cost: over $700!