Oh yeah -- pressed ceiling!

" I can't get rid of the insanely large desk" . Well, from the looks of the desk, you need every inch of it and more.

I think your conflict for "calm and beachy" may be the need to see all work at the same time. Who am I to say, but I have had clients who express this need, and I can tell you not ONE ever had a calm or good looking space beyond one week.

You only have a grand to spend? Buy a huge computer monitor. Hook it up to the laptop. Put files on the huge monitor........and click as many open as you want at a time. Drag from one to the other at will. Move the book cubby, hang a large white board over the desk, get the printer off the desk and nearby.

Save money and get the place painted out of the dreary color to one you love. But think about your work style first. If I saw all my clients design schemes and details before me at the same time? I'd be anything but inspired. I'd have brain overload and get nothing done. I'd flee........

At least create a wall of huge paper clips, ( bull dog variety/affixed to the wall) spaced for 8 x 11 paper........and get the piles off the floor.

Blue or green might be more calming colors for you. A favorite on HOUZZ is Sherwin Williams Sea Salt which blends both and can look green, blue or gray with the light. I would paint over the wood trim piece and go right up to where the tin starts with the color. You might use it on the interior of the doors as well to eliminate choppiness in the scheme - another calming touch. The idea increases the appearance of the room's volume and visually raises the ceiling to make the room feel less claustrophobic. I would leave the ceiling white, but I would replace the light fixture with one that provides white (rather than yellow) light and hangs down into the space further (at door/window frame level.) For the files you need to house, I would build/buy two vertical bookcases to flank the window. Under the window place a slim table and put plants on it to help green up the view. Again, if all of three pieces are painted to match the walls it will be more calming (see first pic below.) Is there an electrical outlet on the South wall? That would be a good location for a long standing height table, lamp and tall stool where you could lay out the current project ideas. That is where I'd use the magnetic paint so you can move project ideas there or onto the table as you plan and work. That might leave enough space for a jute runner down the middle. Try a translucent shade on the window to allow light in for you and the plants but to block some of the view. I wouldn't use the mirror - it just doubles the clutter by reflection. Clutter is not calming, so eliminating it should be the order of every day.

Sea Salt looking gray

Cetingok Residence · More Info

Palm Street · More Info

Skeen Basement · More Info

Jan I'd rethink your ideas about the creative process especially in the service of clients with certain types of work. Though it might not seem logical, research shows clutter can actually help the creative mind! ;) https://www.pinterest.com/ronwhite/messy-desks-of-the-smart-and-famous/?lp=true. (Office, above, of the sculpter Alexander Calder.)

Thanks Decoenthusiaste! The idea of a standing height table is great and the picture you provided is so helpful.

I do think I need to get the mirror out of the room. Do you have ideas on good places for big mirrors like this? (Or should I just get rid of it? It was an auction find.)

I like the rug. I like mirrors in small spaces, you could paint the frame if you wanted to. You need to hang it higher too. You could put it over by the door that you have in your 3rd pic in original post if you wanted to, and move the magnetic boards to the current mirrored wall. I have mounted 15" deep IKEA base cabinets in my DH small office with uppers. You could do something like that somewhere, but with out the uppers and mount the magnetic boards above, as in a backsplash. Here is our office wall. It is about 8' long. The room is only about 8x9'. I have a countertop on the base cabinets, now. Things can be played out. I have the 2 outer stacks of drawers at 30" wide. this accommodates some hanging file boxes so he can keep his records in order.

The scale of the mirror is too big for the space too. Do you have space for it elsewhere? Sell it and use the money to get the stand up work table.

Wow ... 10x15 office!!!!! I am totally jealous.

-- To be able to *see* the files and papers for the work I'm doing -- no filing cabinets
-- Shelve about 50 books
-- A large space to both hang/pin bits of material and also make notes around the clippings: like a huge wall-sized idea board
-- Feeling I've "left" the rest of the house a bit
-- I actually like working in an area that feels very cozy and contained, but I can't get rid of this giant desk!

*************************************

Just looking at the space, I would leave the ceiling as it is and go for a Victorian or Craftsman vibe.

Get rid of all the small shelving and cubbie things - it's inefficient and it's clutter. Fewer, but larger pieces is calming.

Where would you guys put shelving and what kind?

I would flank the windows with bookcases like the famous IKEA Billy. You can not only store books on them, but use them for magazine files, office supplies, pretty pottery and such. Finished projects can go into a magazine file on the bookcase, then to a filing cabinet as archive.

How would you create an idea space that could both accommodate writing
and hanging? (I thought of a layer of magnetized paint beneath a layer
of whiteboard paint on the south and/or west walls.)

See this:

http://www.ana-white.com/2013/05/magnetic-white-board-organizer-wall 

"sheet metal glued onto a 1/4 inch plywood base and coated it
with whiteboard paint. This allows it to be magnetic and easily
written on." Just make sure you get steel, not aluminium, and use the largest plain wall you have. I've worked in offices that have a full wall of whiteboards and it's wonderful.

BTW, there is a clear "whiteboard" paint, so you could have the panels painted pale wall color and still write on them.

If those are functioning picture rails, I'd use them for art.

How would you use
the desk (I like the feeling of having a contained, small desk space,
but I can't get rid of this insanely large 40"x80" desk)?

I would use it as a flat surface for sorting papers and organizing the stacks I want to use while I'm working. I would have roll-out file cabinets for stashing supplies and filing completed projects under it, and maybe the printer. Or storage baskets ... make it more like a side table and less like a desk.

Some interesting sorting baskets and a good lamp on it ...

I would have a reading lamp, comfy chair and ottoman near the window and bookcase for reading, correcting proofs, napping and thinking. Maybe set it apart on that rug?

I would have a small desk of whatever size you like best for working with a good working chair. Work areas are so idiosyncratic ...

And how would
you bring more soothing/rustic/organic/beachy notes into the room?

Use lots of wood, hang more art, change out those drapes for something that goes with the comfy chair. Repaint below the picture rail with a color you find soothing.

ADDING: Because the huge desk is now a work table, hang the mirror over it if you want. 40 inches wide is too wide to have useful things on the wall behind it.

I would get a separate stand for your printer, with drawers to store extra paper and ink cartridges. In my home office I hung several decorative clipboards near the desk for hanging in-process work - I can reach them from the chair, make notes, etc., then hang them back up. Having them visible but not cluttering my desk is nice. I also got a wall hung pencil/pen holder, just to try to keep stuff off my desk. Finally, I have a very nice desk chair, but I also put a large blow up exercise ball in there. Sometimes we just sit too long and switching from the chair to the ball keeps me just a bit more engaged. Having said that, I don't have a stand up desk but if you spend hours at your desk, you might consider the kind that raises and lowers so you can both sit and stand. (And/or get a smart watch that reminds you to stand up. My Apple watch will remind me every hour; I stand and walk around or do some stretches. I know that's not decorating advice, but good to keep in mind for those who sit a lot.)

Thanks, Chicagoan! How did you hang the clipboards--just a nail?

lazy_gardens -- so helpful!! Thank you.

How did you hang the clipboards--just a nail? I used picture hangers like these. I put little beads between the nail head and the hanger just because I had them on hand.

Did you want to try positioning the desk in front of the window, this would eliminate to opportunity to have clutter above and avoid the appearance of the piles of papers. Possible if you could fit two slim shelves like the ones that hold baskets on either side(but more like a dvd holder sized one). A whole wall white board would be neat if you were able to have a decent frame around it and another wall with floor to ceiling floating shelves in a staggered design in a wood tone coordinating with the desk would be nice, I will try to find some pictures of my ideas. I like your rug, how about a roman shade, hanging plants. Then on the wall by the entry door another accent chair with a side table and floor lamp to help with the feel of giving the room it's own feel seperate from the house and give you a space to leave the desk and sit and meditate and enjoy a drink from time to time, positioned there you should be able to look at the whiteboard, read a book, and look out the window.

Anglophilia--indeed he did! But nobody beats Will Self ...This is well beyond Houzz's pay grade, and probably even God's.

My ideas are something to this effect:

a little footrest/ ottoman would be nice too.

this was the only photo I could find remotely close to the framed whiteboard wall idea I presented:

and if your not familiar with the staggered shelving heres some ideas of the look:

and I'm sure you have seen these little things the battery operated indoor counter waterfalls which add a calming effect with their relaxing rippling sound if your going in the beach direction, a small fish bowl and a new rug would help, considering your confident it's safe enough in there to avoid water spills.

Thanks, Chicagoans, Mon, and lazy_gardens! Here is a (loose) floor plan I came up with. Does this seem to make sense to you? How do people feel about working with their back to a window?

The top is actually the West wall; the door to the room is on the right. There is a small bathroom in the southeast corner that I never use; I thought of just ripping the toilet out and making it a kind of storage/filing closet.

What I can't figure out is where to put a chair/ottoman--which would be cozy--given the size of the big desk. I might just have to bite the bullet and get rid of that desk.

One note--I am in the southern hemisphere (South Africa), so an east-facing window acts as a west-facing one would in America. :)

Just as a note--here are a couple offices that feel nice to me. Dylan Thomas, Louis de Bernieres, Jonathan Lethem, Michael Cunningham :) :)

She blinded me with science ...

If it were me I might use the mirror for my whiteboard if I didn't actually write on it. If you do write on it of course that won't work. I'm guessing the mirror is magnetic for attaching Clips to. Plus you have it already.

Another kind of expensive way I've seen work is buying a poster display holder the kind that you flip through and using each page to put your story lines on. It is more contained but might be a too-small of a visual for you. It would be really nice if each page could be removed and then put back. Don't know if that's possible. Good luck.

A few small things I would suggest: Get a top down shade for the window,no drapery.Allows for privacy/little distraction and natural light in a working space. Make sure to use the space from floor to ceiling so you can have blank wall space,too. No staggered shelving because,like me,we bring our own stagger. Paint the white door the same colour as the walls. Lastly,if the current rug echoes the rugs in the rest of the house,change it. I mostly work from home and agree that creating that bit of mental separateness is needed. My house is full of colourful rugs,my office area isn't.

For the window whichever kind of treatments you went with (I recommended a Roman shade) that darker colored one in your first inspiration pic is a great color. Its like a warm brown which I think would work well with the wood trim and wood desk and give the space a more intimate feel. I would say no to anything beige/ivory/white or with bold patterns. I see some lovely dark colors you could pull from the rug, is that like a mahogany?

I'd spend $30 on paint, $70 on a new window treatment, and all of the rest of your budget on new, sensible shelving (some with doors that can be closed) and a comfortable loveseat (one with wide, flat/squared arms that you can prop papers on or a cup of coffee on etc.). All of the shelving you have in there now needs to go. It looks bad, chopped up, and chaotic. It could only look good if owned by someone who wants to spend time and energy curating the perfect things to put in/on them, and wants to dust those things, and wants to position them just so and make sure it stays that way. That isn't you. Or me, for that matter! Heck it's not most of us. (Or repurpose them into holding art and plants instead of stuff you pull on and off daily.)

How important is the white door-- where does it go? Would it be ok to cover it up? The whole door could be a whiteboard/corkboard.

My God did William Buckley put every single yard sale lamp he ever came across in his office--one foot away from each other? LOL

This is what I was imagining. Your room could have such a cozy warm (and productive!) atmosphere. It isn't in the drawing, but I love those rolling laptop desk thingies for over the love seat.

There's a difference between clutter and chaos.

Hi Eve. The neighbour's palisades are not a common view on this forum... You're clearly from SA! (I am too)

I would keep the current desk. I much prefer working at a large desk, regardless of the clutter or lack thereof. And you have the space for it. And it's wood (don't really want to switch that for the modern flimsy stuff do you!)

Consider a smaller secondary desk, a sorta work-in-sight desk, for what you're not currently working on, or the printer, spare stationery, etc.
You could put that beneath the window, with bookshelves to each side, and the main large desk near the west wall, facing east. Alternatively, the main desk against the south wall. (shown in the pics below)

You should have space for a second chair, relaxing type, away from the desk.

Keep a rug, whether this one or another. It makes a place cosy like nothing else.

Lose the mirror - they should be functional or reflect something of interest.
Replace it with art, something that gives you the calm feeling you're looking for.

Look into wall lighting, for ambient cosy light.

Were I you, I'd focus on getting the shelves first. You could have someone build them to fit the space perfectly, though free-standing.
This will get you started on organising the space, which will work wonders. And the other additions can come as ideas, time, and budget allow.

Suggestion - at the time of day you typically work, clear everything out of the space, aside from the desk and chair. (That means everything on the desk too). Move the desk and chair around to various positions, and sit for a bit in each.
You'll find yourself visualising the rest of the space when you do. Find what suits you. Sometimes facing into/out of a room, lighting, random unexplainable preferrence, perception of space, etc, all makes a difference and you'll notice it best in reality.

The pics are more or less accurate in dimensions. You can replace the pinboard and art with bookshelves along the north wall, can't have too many.

Well spotted, Najeebah!! :) I love your first design, thank you! In that, though--where might a second desk go?

Hi Eve. Sorry for the delayed response, I haven't been on Houzz much recently. In either of the options, you could have a second desk beneath the window. Have you changed much since?