New home office ready for the Houzz touch.
Amoeba-meba
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
This room was recently converted to a home office. I've been working with temporary furnishings until I was sure of how the room needs to function.
The room is small at only 116x93. All measurements on the floor plan are in inches.
The only things I want to keep from the room are the window shades. My style is mainly MCM and I love color.
I'll need a fairly large desk, a desk chair, a file cabinet, a bookcase and maybe a guest chair. I think I'd like to add a low-pile rug (or FLOR tiles) to absorb some sound and probably a new fun light fixture for the ceiling.
I'm not interested in doing built-ins, since this is not our forever-house.
Any layout and design suggestions welcome. I'll add some photos of other rooms in the house that I've redone with Houzz help to give a better idea of the style. I haven't had a room that's completely mine in a long time and I want to have fun in here!
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Amoeba-meba
5 years agoI browsed the towel aisles at Target today. Here are my favorite towel/soap dispenser combos:
I’ll have to look at them again without the natural light coming through the window.
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Excellent Home Office and Household Paper Management Advice, Link
Comments (10)Interesting thoughts -- we could all improve on paperwork storage in our homes. Two things I think I'm doing well that differ from the above mentioned Script, and someone else might find some ideas in my methods: Taxes. Yes, like Script, I am scrupulous about maintaining records for my taxes. About a dozen years ago I went to the office supply and bought two big boxes of BRIGHT GREEN folders (green like money). I labeled them Taxes 2000 ... Taxes 2001 ... Taxes 2002 ... Taxes 2003 ... and so on. Given my family's typical lifespan, I made enough green folders to take me to age 110 -- probably more than I'll need, but I'm ready! They're all stored in my file cabinet, taking up very little space. Now when I receive anything tax-related -- a charitable receipt, an end-of-the-year bank statement, whatever -- I have a place to file it. In April, I have a place to file a copy of my taxes, and I can go back and see previous tax years. For the rest of my life, this system is in place. Death folder. Ours is a notebook. Two identical notebooks, actually, since we have two children. Our girls are young adults now, but they've never dealt with an estate -- even if they don't open it 'til they're old, it'll be useful to them. It contains a lot of stuff: - A personal letter to the two of them - A list of our wishes about funeral and items we'd like donated to various family members or charities - A list of things they must do immediately; it starts with going to our house and taking possession of the dog, but it also includes small details like canceling our voting registration and destroying any medicines in the house. At every turn this list includes addresses and phone numbers, including the lawyer we suggest for probate, the funeral home our family's always used, and family members who should be contacted. - A copy our will; they know what's in it -- everything split between the two of them - A list of our financial assets -- bank accounts, investments, insurance, deeds/maps of real estate ... when our youngest became a legal adult, we made the two girls co-beneficiaries of every account; note that this was done before either was married, so our two kids -- not future son-in-laws -- will own these items. - A list of the bills we pay each month -- electricity, phone, even the guy who cuts our grass. - Official copies of our birth certificates, our marriage certificates, and the girls' birth certificates -- they might not be needed, but the girls won't have to scramble to find them - A flashdrive with all of the above in digital format plus photographs that might be useful in putting together the funeral Our rule: We keep two years of tax returns in the notebooks ... the reason being that someday an accountant will file our final estate tax return, and he or she will want our last two years of returns -- so every April we pull out the notebook, discard one old return and insert the newest ... so our rule is that every April we look over the notebook and update anything that's changed. For example, last year we changed bank accounts, and someday we hope to add items concerning grandchildren to the book. Our girls know that the notebooks are stored in the safe, and they know where the key to the safe is hidden, and they know it's labeled with a misleading name so that a thief wouldn't look at it twice. Last thought on this notebook: Though this project took us the better part of a year --- we kept remembering one more thing, one more thing that really should be included -- we didn't find it difficult emotionally. I suspect that if we were older and/or one of us were in poor health, it might've been different....See MoreWhat do you not want guests touching in your home?
Comments (120)I have always had many, many guests: professional friends who may stay across a weekend, university students who come for a meal, or, in times past, lived at my house. I have pretty things, and I have taught dozens of young women how to take care of porcelain, crystal and silver (no, don't scrub it with a scrubbing pad...). Almost all people are respectful of other people's things and if I see something I don't like going on, I feel very comfortable telling them to cease and desist. If someone's children decide to bounce on the sofa, I just scoop them up and put them somewhere else. The biggest problem for those of us with old furniture that doesn't have bulletproof finishes is water marks. I have to patrol a little bit at a party to make sure people are using coasters and not leaving wet marks on the tables. Same goes for house guests: " make sure you don't put your wet towels on the back of wooden chairs--use this rack instead." I found the comment about books being somewhat private to be the oddest of the odd....I'm of the other persuasion. People with big book cabinets filled with a cookbook or two and a lot of "filler" are weird to me--with the obvious implication that the owners are among of the college-educated persons who, upon graduation, never read another book. What's the percentage? I forgot, but something very high, like 75%....See MoreJust got new office furniture looking to add finishing touches
Comments (6)Definitely need some color in your office. The colorful rugs that Theresa suggested are great but I might go for something with even more color and pop. Your accessories are muted. So, I would replace some of them with bright and colorful ones - photo frames, pottery, etc. I would also include colorful artwork. The window coverings look heavy. I might consider replacing them with lighter blinds or perhaps even drapes. Good luck!...See MoreNew house office location
Comments (33)Oh, yippee! The you-should-get-an-architect discussion again. I suggest you try to really pin down all the reasons why you prefer your bedroom to your current office. It may be a “feeling” rather than a “logical” reason. I was going to bring up this very point. Do you gravitate to the bedroom because it's the bedroom ... or because it is a more comfortable spot, or because the lighting is better, or because you have convenient electrical outlets, or some other reason? Always dig deep and analyze why-why-why you like a certain thing. I've never understood all the plans that have the office at the front door. I work full time from home and the interruptions with deliveries and family members thinking it is okay to pop in and say hello seems incessant. I like my office tucked away in an undisturbed corner somewhere. I think offices end up in the front for two reasons: - We tend to want our most-used public spaces towards the back of the house. Those spaces are more private, and those spaces often have back-yard access, which is attractive to most of us. So with our kitchens, etc. to the back, the office gets pushed to the front. - Front doors aren't used that often. Deliveries and guests don't arrive often, so the front door is probably more quiet than the back of the house. A lot of architects seem to envision a home office as just a place where you have a desk and pay a few bills or surf on the computer. A pocket office IS ideal for many people, especially as computers reduce the need for file cabinets, bookshelves, and more. I mean, fewer and fewer people even have printers these days. I've been teaching from home from a 5' desk, and it's plenty for me. But it's important that you list all the tasks that YOU need your office to do /all the items you need to store in it....See More
PROFlo Mangan
5 years agoMy fav. It looks really nice. Didn’t realize the shade was custom. Looks too long? Maybe you could find a silver trim for the bottom edge to tie it into the wall and accents better. But overall such a sweet powder room.
Amoeba-meba thanked Flo ManganAmoeba-meba
5 years agoThought you all would get a kick out of seeing a shot of my neighbors‘ PR. They have been slowly updating their house. This pink tile is something that they inherited as well as the same challenging floor tile as my house.
I’m waiting for my friend to finish up another project before she starts on my ceiling. I also contacted the shade maker. They are remaking the shade to hopefully have it hang more smoothly.
Amoeba-meba
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoI saw this ceiling treatment on another thread and had to share here. Wouldn't it be creepy to be in this tiny PR and look up to see this on the ceiling?
Amoeba-meba
5 years agoIt's actually part of an anti-smoking campaign. Someone on the other thread just brought it up for fun.
This was also brought up:
Amoeba-meba
5 years agoAmoeba-meba
5 years agoAmoeba-meba
5 years agoThe new replacement shade arrived today! This one hangs much more neatly.
Now I’m only waiting for my friend to start on the ceiling art.
Amoeba-meba
5 years agobabophz: The flap at the top is fairly common with woven shades, I think. My living room shades also have them.
Molly
5 years agoI loved our visit to Keukenhof, it was the highlight of our honeymoon, to me at least :)
Amoeba-meba thanked MollyAmoeba-meba
5 years agoAmoeba-meba
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoMy Keukenhof experience:
Turns out opening day wasn’t the best time to visit!Amoeba-meba
5 years agoAmoeba-meba
4 years agoAmoeba-meba
4 years agoAmoeba-meba
2 years ago
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Flo Mangan