The home office- English style

                                               photo credit: Keith Scott Morton

What a great home office from Country Living! Often the problem with a home office is the clutter and the make do attitude to the space. This space has none of that- pretty, a bit formal, and functional.
 Here are some tips inspired by this room for your home office.
1. Storage- lovely small cabinet in the back can conceal your papers, wireless printer, routers and other messy minutiae.. or an office bar!
2. Color- An office does not have to be  devoid of color. Color can be inspiring, soothing or invigorating. Find a color palette that you love and go to town. I love the English looking  wallpaper in rose, charteuese and chocolate from Osborne and Little. Such a great starting point for the rose color upholstry and the chartreuse office chair.
3. Function- One of the reasons this office is so function is the ability of the furnishings to serve more than one purpose. Th small footstools can also double as small group seating and the side chair is a nce way to get away from your desk to read. The accessories in the space allow for a place for the mail or working papers. The desk houses just enough space for a laptop and room to store the footstools underneath.
4. Lighting- The two windows afford great natural light and the heavy drapes afford light control. The desk light is large enough for true task lighting. The chandelier  seem to be more for looks than function, but would give off nice ambient light in the evenings.
5. Pattern- I love mixing patterns, when they are mixed well and this room mixes them well. Dark on the walls, light on the floor, both patterns of equal size. The drapes are a tonal stripe, which works as a neutral in the room and the velvets, though not patterns, provide texture from grounding the space.

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Sarah Susanka's house

"Bigger isn't better, Taller isn't braver, Stronger isn't always wise," a few thoughts from the musical Barnum. Though these lyrics refer to Tom Thumb from Barnum's circus acts, they can also pertain to design. In Sarah Susanka's Not so Big House series of books, she elaborates on how a home can be smaller and well designer where the owner doesn't need the size and space that the trappings of ego often influence in home decisions. With lowered ceiling in hallways, focal points, and datums, smaller spaces live large. Living smaller has another advantage of costs. Everything, including design is a balancing act, especially in budget. Living in smaller spaces allow one to spend more per square foot, if desired, or allows one to choose a few precious items to feature in the space, be it art, or a fabulous sink and faucet.
I just saw Sarah on an episode of This Old House, one of my favorite series from childhood. I was amazed that these guys could take a house down to the studs and bring it back different and better than before. I wanted to be able to do that to. I think that's why I care more about the making of a project, the design, how it works than seeing the end products. I do love the process. Of course, it is very important that the process produces your intent, or better, but the journey to the end can be a very rich dessert.