This is hard question to answer -- simply because the answers depend on how you like a room to feel when you are working! I really like the depth and tone of the paint color -- and think it will work well for an office BUT our own home office/guest room is painted in deep olive! Soooooo ... do you like to work in bright sunny "open" rooms -- or do you like cozy spaces for work? IF you do like a cozy space -- remember to add LOTS of lamps around the whole space. We have two very tall buffet lamps on the main desk -- and a swing-arm lamp over the sofa bed AND a smaller lamp over an antique cupboard! Lighting options can be a key element to making an office space work well. For the back wall -- I would recommend bookcases or bookshelves! For example -- check out the "Billy" bookcases at Ikea. Those bookshelves come in two heights -- you could do two tall bookcases at each end of the wall -- and then a shorter one in the middle. Add an artwork over the smaller bookcase. Add bookcase lighting to the taller ones. Or you could add a long thin console table or cabinet -- with three large bulletin boards over the table -- cover with co-ordinating fabric to the rest of the room. Or check out "art.com" -- and simply broswe through categories that might appeal to you and see if a particular artists name might keep cropping up! I've included a hot link over to art.com -- and a selection from my favorite artist -- Chardin -- from the 18th century. Rich extraordinary colors. Another more modern artist is Nicole Etienne. Check out her artworks at art.com. Other possible art selections -- could be maps (new, old, vintage) of places that you might have lived or visited or hope to visit. Or perhaps a grid of (new, old or vintage) botanical prints? Or perhaps a grid of black-and-white photos of local sites or architecture of your area? Hope this helps! Jan at Rosemary Cottage Here is a link that might be useful: art.com -- Jean-Baptiste Chardin

What do you have for interior flooring ?

I have removed all shrubs in the front. The front door is set back and hard to see but same stain as the shutters. And the stone is the same on both sides of the garage. I have no idea of paint colors and was wondering if i should do a trim contrast? The gutters along the house match the shutters as well.

I don't have a lot of experience with stain ... but enough to avoid a few mistakes. I've used "English red" and "Black." My research showed that the blue/green stains were not suitable for outdoor use, so they're out. The red comes out a strong rust color. It did not work for me and I found it unappealing. Looking at your brick, I don't think it would work for you either. I have not tried "gray" or "brown" so don't know what those look like. Black ended up working perfectly for me. When first applied, it looks like a fresh hair dye job -- very dark and strong auburn color, almost opaque like paint. and I did not care for it. But it faded out over the course of a year to a warm taupe color and I'm very fond of it now. I think very light colors would fade too much and be ineffective. My concrete is ground, exposing the aggregate surface, making it look much more like cut stone than concrete. I highly recommend you grind yours with a carborundum grinder (not diamond) prior to staining, as it give a much upgraded look. (It would probably take 1/2 day min.) The picture color is off as it is more taupe than shows here. This was BLACK, so you can see how much it fades. (And the plants were not that yellow.) Be sure to protect the brick walls with plastic sheeting before staining as the application can be messy and it's permanent.