Home Office Inspirations

I've been thinking about redecorating our home/office lately. Currently, our spare bedroom is mostly a staging area for our various sports. But, I would really like to turn it into a retreat for working or reading. Here are some inspirational photos:



What I like about the above room is the atraditional desk. The desk is longer than the normal desk, and looks built into the room. What's more, the room looks rather simple and inexpensive to emulate. Just a couple of accent wall colors, and you're good to go.



I like the posh and luxurious look of the home-office above. What makes it so posh looking are the beautiful built-in bookcases. Also, the built-in day bed and light sconce makes it a cozy place to read.



A home office need not have a traditional desk, as previously iterated. This office features what appears to be a traditional dining table. Notice too the airy book cases and feminine fur rug.



If you haven't noticed already, I'm a fan of the free-standing desk, much like the ones shown above. Also, my spare bedroom is rather small, and I think the simple airy book shelves shown above would not cramp the room too much.

Kitchen Inspirations

We are thinking about renovating our kitchen. The kitchens that I seem to gravitate towards are contemporary kitchens that are minimalist but still warm. The upper cabinets above echo the latest trend towards horizontal rather than vertical lines. Notice also the spareness of the cabinet fronts themselves. There is an absence of routing or any other details. I also like the vertical brick tilework on the backsplash, which is reminiscent of old tilework (which I love), yet looks modern at the same time.

I don't think of myself as the minimalist type. I usually gravitate towards bright colors. But the above kitchen I feel I could look at and never grow tired of its simple elegance. There is luxury in its spareness.

An example of a kitchen with traditional and modern styles blended together can be seen above. It is also an example how cheaper, painted cabinets can create as much of a visual impact as trendier finished wood cabinets.

This is the most modern of the kitchen images that I liked. The avocado green also goes well with our general color scheme. I am also fond of the high-gloss look of the bottom cabinetry. I would also choose upper wood cabinets with a more subtle pattern.

American Clay Walls

As you may know, it's been an utter pig sty in our house due to the recent renovations. A major milestone was accomplished just a couple of days ago. After many months of discussion, we finally hired someone, Jamie Cole (jamiecoleis@gmail.com), the owner of earthinteriors, to apply American Clay to our walls.
The price was prohibitive, but we absolutely love the swirling, sparkling, rock-like effect . "American Clay" is a natural non-VOC emitting clay that we learned about from Calie, our interior designer. It has more of a Southwest feel than regular Italian plaster.

I would recommend our artisan, Jamie Cole (jamiecoleis@gmail.com) again. He charged about half as much as other artisans (about $4.50/sq. ft.), which is still very expensive. This charge includes materials, but does not include color matching. Honestly, I can see why this process is so expensive. Jamie said he nearly got carpal tunnel syndrome when he first started out. The mixing of the American Clay, and the troweling looked like it required more muscle power than I have, and I'm no slacker in the strength department. Also, the rocklike burnishing looked like it required quite a lot of experience and skill. However, if I had to do it again, and if we weren't buried in other house projects, I think I might give the troweling a try.

Below is a picture of the colorant being added to the American Clay "Luma" mix.
The picture below does not do our wall justice as the wall is still drying, explaining the dark black spots on the wall. But note the sparkles and the rock like burnishing.

The Vote is In

The vote is in. Seems like most people prefer #3 but with modifications. Your comments:

M.F. says:

Torn between 2 and 3. Personally my aesthetic is for more space between items, less freestanding decoraction (such as plants). However if 3 does not come across as crowded in the amount of space that you have available, it could work as well.

Re the size of the rug, I have heard conflicting opinions about how big a rug should be. One of the constant rules of thumb is that any piece of furniture on a rug should have all its feet on the rug: no front feet of sofa on the rug while back feet are not on the rug action. I don't know if that works for you, doesn't work for you, etc., but I mention it in case it's useful.

Lastly for now: do I understand that in each arrangement the furniture is basically arranged to facilitate focus on the entertainment center (TV and whatever)? You may want to play around with putting the TV against a shorter wall, like the one that turns up as the opposite wall to where the Swedish fireplace goes, to avoid arranging your living space around the TV. That's probably the best piece of advice that the interior designer whom I paid $300 actually had for me several months ago. To make it work in my apartment I would have attached a flat-panel TV to the wall or put a very skinny/slight table under it if I could not get on the wall. Minimizing the number of inches from the wall that your TV protrudes can make it more like a painting that hangs, which can be focused upon or not, than like a big statue in the corner, which draws a lot of attention. Living rooms should be organized to facilitate conversation, said my interior designer, not home theatre entertainment.

C.Y. says:

I like your concept #2. #2 makes the room roomier by a large
carpet. It feels you can accomondate a big group doing different activies
in the same room. One watches TV while the other reads. I like the
closeness between a reader and bookshelf.

C.M. Says:

Concept 2 -- It does seem like a rectangular, so might not feel very cozy.

Concept 3 -- I like this layout, however, I would prefer the bookshelf close to thereclining chair, for convenience. Also, looks like the bookshelf might come inthe way when you enter the living room.

Concept 1 -- I like this the best... The bookself is in the corner, next to the recliningchair. So you can easily grab a book and relax on the reclining chair. Also,the entrance to the living room seem spacious. The runner will make it lookinviting.

M.H. says:

I like number 3... Make sure the recliner has lot of room so it can sit up or recline.

J.M. says:

I like option 1, because I would like to lounge under the lamp and read the books from the nearby bookshelf. It does kind of have the fireplace blocked off though.

A.C. says:

I think 3 is the best. Fireplaces should have open space so that you can cuddle up with a blanket. Besides putting a large chair by there closes off the warm space.

G.G. says:

Maybe a bit cluttered? A thought to pull the sofa back so you have more access to the chairs, sofa, & TV....

B.B. says:

I'll vote for #3 but what do I know about interior decorating!

Living Room Arrangement Ideas

We are currently turning the house upside down prepping for painting. However, during a break, I found this nifty furniture arrangement tool on the EQ3 furniture website. It's called the Icovia Space Planner and it is very simple to use, and you can place EQ3 furniture, or generic furniture, in any way you like in a room of your specification. However, you do have to login to the EQ3 website to access it.

Currently the area near the wall opposite to our fireplace is empty, and is a big eyesore. Calie, our interior decorator told us that we should try to highlight it, not ignore it. The following are a few ideas on how we could fill this empty space.

There are some constants in all three concepts. The following furniture is in each concept, furniture that we already have:
-EQ3 James rocking chair (see below)
-EQ3 Stella sofa
-Coffee table
-Swedish fireplace (see previous blog)
In the above concept (Concept #1), I've placed a chaise at a diagonal, accompanied by the iconic EQ3 'Cast' floor lamp (see below). This lamp would illuminate this dark corner and would also illuminate reading that can be done on this chair. We need a bookshelving solution, so I chose to place bookshelves in the upper right corner.

In my second concept (Concept #2, below), I've again placed bookshelving in the upper right corner. The differences are that the area rug is very large, and that I've chosen to place a small swivel armchair near the fireplace (perhaps similar to EQ3's 'Commander' chair. I like this concept the least due to the extreme rectangularity of this concept.

In my third, and favorite concept (Concept #3, below), Ive placed a tall potted plant, a floor lamp, and the EQ3 'Crush' divan chair (see below) near the opposite wall. The bookshelving I've placed against the bottom wall.

This is my favorite concept because the previously ignored space opposite the fireplace looks artfully put together. If a bold piece of art was placed on the far right wall, it could look like a store front window. This concept looks the least symmetrical, and the least rectangular of the concepts. I like the use of the round carpet to set the reading area apart from the TV area. The below side table is what I would use in this corner.

Color Scheme

I am excited to present the color scheme for our apartment. We met our interior decorator, Calie Anderson, through a coworker of mine. She is quitting her job as a graphics designer to embark on a new career as interior designer. Her blog is nohealookbook.blogspot.com.

To fill new readers on the details, my fiance and I have been debating which color to paint our apartment. We were at an impasse, and decided to consult someone with better taste than us to choose for us. We hired Calie to figure out what we should paint our walls. I think we got a lot more from Calie than what we originally scoped for the job, which is great. Not only did we get our color scheme, but we also got specific Benjamin Moore color formulations, AND we got furniture ideas, designer tidbits, and even furniture layouts.

Hallway Mood Board

Hallways
For our hallways (see above for mood board), we will be painting one wall Benjamin Moore "Tequila Lime Green" (2028-30), and the rest of the walls "Feather Gray" (2127-60). Some ideas for artwork to place in the hallways are shown above.

Living Area Mood Board

Living Area
For our living/dining area (see above for mood board), the style is mod to fit with our red Swedish fireplace. As you can see, the color theme is red, green and gray, with mod lucite furnishings, green and red accents and geometric style furnishing.

Accent Wall Idea

Calie even came up with some accent wall ideas (see above). She thought that we were ignoring one of our walls in our living area (she was right), and thought that a nice graphic would liven up the area some. She knew that we like to go on bike rides, so she thought of a cute tandem bike graphic.

Kitchen Mood Board

Above is the moodboard for the kitchen. Once again the lime green and gray colors predominate. I like the idea of the gray slate floors.

Guest Bed Room Mood Board

Our interior designer suggested the above for the guest bed room. Simple white and black colors with modern chairs. I wanted to have a blackboard wall somewhere in the house, and this seemed to be a good place for it.

Big Sur, and Interior Design

My diving friends must be wondering right now: "Why would you drive all the way down to Big Sur and NOT dive?" My reasons are the following: (1) To see the iconic McWay falls which I had never seen before (see below), (2) to hang out with friends, (3) and I don't have a drysuit. Either my wetsuit is starting to lose it's insulation, or I'm diving sites that are deeper and more exposed than before, but I am clearly getting tired of being cold.

It's time to get a drysuit, but right now, I am forcing myself into funnelling money into the house (see rest of blog).

Interior Decorating

On Sunday, we met our interior decorator for the first time. How did it come to be that we have an interior decorator? It happened within the last week or two -- a lot faster than you would expect:

I complained to one of my coworkers over lunch that my fiance and I can't agree on what colors to paint our interior walls. We want something non-traditional and vibrant, something that will match our red, Swedish fireplace, and modern, minimalist furnishing. My coworker mentioned that his girlfriend had just started an interior decorating business, that she was a color expert, and that she would give us discounted rates for an opportunity to use our home as part of her portfolio. Well, it has been 2-3 weeks of color gridlock (my fiance can't agree with my choices, and I don't trust myself), so we decided it was time to make a decision, and if it involved bringing a third party, then so be it.

Above, example of decor that we like

Calie impressed me from the get go. She felt no compunction with disagreeing with our ideas ("That's too traditional"). And she immediately had ideas we never had. For example, she thought that we should head away from mixing too many colors in the living room/dining room area because it would make our place seem smaller. Also, she thought we needed an extra floor lamp, and a seating area to utilize the empty corner in our living room.

She also impressed me as someone who has discerning taste, with a clear opinion on who makes the best color paints (Benjamin Moore). Now, I love color, but I don't think I can tell whether Benjamin Moore paints are superior over the ones on display at Home Depot. But plenty of interior design magazines extolled the Benjamin Moore color line, so maybe there is some truth to this...

Here is Calie Anderson's interior decorating web site: http://www.noheainteriors.com/

And here is a link to her blog, where she mentioned meeting us. Some interesting colors, and cool ideas for our house are in germination: http://nohealookbook.blogspot.com/

By the end of our initial meeting, we had gone over magazine clippings that we bookmarked, and agreed to set another date to go over her color proposals.