There are a lot of books and mag articles on such a topic, and I have come across lots of features in my years of taking too many magazine subscriptions, so you might browse a bookstore or search the net for great photos. The closet might be able to be outfitted as the actual "office," if you use the right doors and really outfit the inside. There are lots of decor features on that approach. That is more important, I think, if you and your nuclear family want to use the room more often as a cozy library/study and can then close the doors on printer, FAX, etc. but also is a great way to maximize floor space, since you can use a closet as an "indent" in a room for office equipement and desk, but can't sleep in the closet! Sofa bed vs. Murphy bed can be space-saving. There are furniture lines for installing Murphy bed and associated cabinetry. This approach is more for if you yourself don't need the sofa and want to preserve more floor space and a clean-lined look. Otherwise, a compact sofa bed would serve you and your family for library. Shelving is key and you should be prepared to design and install it so that it works for you--(or have done professionally). That goes for the whole room--by that I mean, draw your floorplan and wall views with windows, doors and really brainstorm on different ways to use the space. For example, you might be able to surround a sofa bed with built in shelves floor to ceiling for a great library look, whereas a lot of free-standing shelves would take up space. Or, you might be able to find free-standing shelf units you can pair and connect with a bridge. Lots of ideas like that. Of course you have a budget, but try to think outside the box and be prepared to buy a new item if it will really make the space work better--so if your current file cabinet doesn't work well, you might budget for one that fits better or is more streamlined, or maybe you need 2 matching and put over them a desk top. As in first paragraph, there are huge numbers of ideas on multi-tasking furniture for these purposes--file cab as bedside table or under a table top and skirt; rolling file or printer stand that rolls under desk top; storage containers that might let you "remove" a few items temporarily when guest using the room and needs place for luggage, and return later.

mgkinz, I got them at schoolhouseelectric.com. They are based in Oregon, but apparently their glass-makers are in West Virginia.

I am using several purples in our house. I am in the midst of painting most of our rooms so don't have completed pix yet, but we have a very deep dark purple for den and dining room walls (open plan, 2 walls total). It is Purple rain by BM and is a deep velvet purple. It looks amazing paired with bright white trim and I can't wait to see the white Roman shade installed there with it (and eventually see it when the floors get refinished darker and the furniture moves back in). I did a color like patty_cake's plum dandy for our bedroom ceiling (am not at home with the color names handy) and will stencil on the east and west walls of our bedroom in it over a pale gray and also use it inside our bedroom closet. The only one I am not so certain about it our bedroom ceiling. I was trying to break out of the box and do a colored ceiling (inspired by GWers), but I will have to see how I feel about it after the stencil is up and the room is put together. I may have gone too far with that one and may either go lighter, much darker, go white or add a silver metallic glaze to tone it down. It is pretty bold on our vaulted ceiling as it is. We have a light-medium lavender in our kitchen and a very pale lavender in our master bath (mirage white with a hint of the ceiling color added in to make sure the color tone worked). I used more of the bedroom ceiling color mixed with white ceiling paint for inside our coat closet as well. That makes 4 different shades (although our sons' room also has 2 dark bright purple walls with 2 less dark bright green ones, so we really have 5 purples, lol). Our living room, laundry room and hallway will have a perky green color (wales green at 75%). I didn't start out with a plan to paint so much purple, but they came out so nice I just kept going. I live with 2 boys and my dh and it is not terribly girly because none of our furniture or accessories will be purple. We are using a lot of white, gray, black and green with it. We have a very open plan so whatever color we chose would have to flow through several rooms. Reading over this post, it sounds funny, but IRL, it works nicely. I'll be posting as soon as we are further along and can get rid of all the drop cloths, cans of paint and construction debris all over and when we can move our stuff back up out of the bsmt and make it look less empty. I also have to get the stickers off the windows, install WTs and basically decorate from scratch.

Love the idea of green. What about continuing it around the entire room? It’d give a very cohesive, cozy, and sophisticated English library feel, especially with your nice wood trim and beautiful window.