An Elegant Home Office — The Reveal

The past two years have seen a lot of changes in our lives. One of them was a dual event — in January 2020, Greg retired from his position and set up his consultant business. For that he needed an office. Coincidentally, our daughter had just moved to another city to accept a paid internship and begin studying for a Master's degree. Thus a room that had been hers was available!

  

The next six months involved choosing a design theme, selecting paint colors and drapery fabric, and ordering furniture that was both business functional and appropriate for the style of the rest of our home. We were lucky that supply chain issues hadn't yet hit the furniture and decor markets.

We already owned the chandelier and desk chair. The plantation shutters had been installed the year before. The hide rug was found at the Lakewood 400 Antiques Market, which is held monthly. 

 

After searching tons of photos of offices online, Greg chose Benjamin Moore's Gentleman's Gray for the wall paint. Although called gray, it's actually more of a dark blue, especially when sunlight strikes it.

  

Besides a desk, a credenza for office files, and a storage cabinet for supplies and other office paraphernalia, he decided on a freestanding bookcase to display a few of his collections, such as these cameras.

He reupholstered these chairs he had found in the attic of his mother's house, which we believe date from the 1940's. They still had their original turquoise damask, that had worn through along the seat edge. We both loved the lines of the chairs and the channel tufting that we kept when they were reupholstered in the green velvet. I love the way they pop against the blue walls! The pillows were fashioned from old mink coats by an artisan on Etsy.

We both loved the antique game table found in a local consignment shop. When the four triangles are unfolded and rotated a quarter turn, they create a square game surface partially covered in green baize, with shallow cups in the wood to hold dice, chips, or other playing pieces.

 

  

Against the wall on the credenza leans one of two recently acquired paintings. Because of their scale, I like the way both pieces look positioned this way, rather than hanging on the wall. Somehow they seem to have more movement. After this photo was taken, the Ming-style lamp migrated to the cabinet between the windows.

One of my favorite design choices is the pair of drapes we had fabricated. I love the vining pattern!

  

On the desk sits one set of his antique ink wells. And yes he does use them for his fountain pens!

A closeup of the drapery fabric. One of the shades of blue in the flowers is a good match for the wall paint, and one of the hues used for the leaves is a perfect twin of the velvet chairs.

  

I'm so glad that we were able to complete this transformation for his office fairly quickly, never dreaming that he would be spending as much time in it as he has!