A Cheery Home Office Keeps a Wedding Planner Inspired
Built-in storage, a curtain divider and intentional seating make this room work well for creating beautiful events
Before: When Heggie and her husband purchased their house, this room was set up as a formal sitting room. After they moved in, though, the room sat empty. Meanwhile, Heggie was lacking a dedicated place for work.
“I would work anywhere — living room couch, the bedroom, in the kitchen — wherever there was peace and quiet,” Heggie says.
Repurposing this room as a home office seemed like the perfect solution. First, having an office near the home’s main entrance is ideal to accommodate clients who visit. Another benefit of the room’s location is that you don’t need to pass through it to get to the rest of the home, so Heggie can close herself off when she needs to work and avoid thinking about work during her personal time.
The large windows allow a lot of natural light, which gives the room a bright and open feel. That’s exactly the kind of home office Heggie envisioned.
“I would work anywhere — living room couch, the bedroom, in the kitchen — wherever there was peace and quiet,” Heggie says.
Repurposing this room as a home office seemed like the perfect solution. First, having an office near the home’s main entrance is ideal to accommodate clients who visit. Another benefit of the room’s location is that you don’t need to pass through it to get to the rest of the home, so Heggie can close herself off when she needs to work and avoid thinking about work during her personal time.
The large windows allow a lot of natural light, which gives the room a bright and open feel. That’s exactly the kind of home office Heggie envisioned.
After: A bright, welcoming home office lets Heggie greet guests in a professional manner.
Style: Mapson describes the room style as transitional. Tufting in the seating is associated with traditional design, and the straight lines of the desk and cabinetry are more contemporary. The navy color of the rug feels classic, but its repeated diamond pattern gives it a contemporary vibe.
“It’s those little details that make this space transitional,” she says.
During their consultation, Heggie made it known that she loves navy and coral colors, plus all things sparkly. The final design adds in those elements to create a room that’s peaceful yet has a buzz of fun and excitement, Mapson says.
Pro tip: When choosing your palette, sprinkle a common color around the room. It not only adds interest, Mapson says, but also helps your eye move around the room and gives the space a polished, pulled-together look. In this home office, she used navy.
Style: Mapson describes the room style as transitional. Tufting in the seating is associated with traditional design, and the straight lines of the desk and cabinetry are more contemporary. The navy color of the rug feels classic, but its repeated diamond pattern gives it a contemporary vibe.
“It’s those little details that make this space transitional,” she says.
During their consultation, Heggie made it known that she loves navy and coral colors, plus all things sparkly. The final design adds in those elements to create a room that’s peaceful yet has a buzz of fun and excitement, Mapson says.
Pro tip: When choosing your palette, sprinkle a common color around the room. It not only adds interest, Mapson says, but also helps your eye move around the room and gives the space a polished, pulled-together look. In this home office, she used navy.
Furnishings: Before the project began, Heggie found a white built-in storage unit online and wanted to re-create it. After that, she chose a work desk.
With those two items already decided, Mapson considered what dimensions would work for the rest of the furnishings and drafted a floor plan.
“My design approach always begins with cues from my clients, particularly in the areas of function then form,” Mapson says.
Lamp: Wayfair; mirror: Target; chandelier: Teardrop flush-mount, PBteen; browse chandeliers
With those two items already decided, Mapson considered what dimensions would work for the rest of the furnishings and drafted a floor plan.
“My design approach always begins with cues from my clients, particularly in the areas of function then form,” Mapson says.
Lamp: Wayfair; mirror: Target; chandelier: Teardrop flush-mount, PBteen; browse chandeliers
Storage: After seeing the built-in Heggie liked, Mapson recommended they mix open and closed shelving behind her desk. Closed cabinets would hide necessary but less attractive office pieces, like her printer and paperwork, while open shelves could display books, magazines and decor. Heggie and her husband found shelving at Ikea that could be combined to create a wall of storage, and her husband constructed and installed it.
Inspiration board: The center of the storage unit was left open to make room for a cork board, on which Heggie hangs invitations and thank-you cards from clients.
“I wanted it to be a source of inspiration and reminder of why I do what I do on those days when it gets hard and I feel drained or uninspired,” Heggie says. “Reading these words and seeing all of these beautiful announcements of marriage … it instantly helps me when I’m having a gray day or struggling to remember why I’m doing this.”
Bulletin board: Jo-Ann Stores; browse bulletin boards
“I wanted it to be a source of inspiration and reminder of why I do what I do on those days when it gets hard and I feel drained or uninspired,” Heggie says. “Reading these words and seeing all of these beautiful announcements of marriage … it instantly helps me when I’m having a gray day or struggling to remember why I’m doing this.”
Bulletin board: Jo-Ann Stores; browse bulletin boards
Layout: For Heggie, it was important that her desk face the clients, not the wall. It makes client meetings easier and provides a clean and professional backdrop for video conferences.
Office chair: The desk chair Mapson chose for Heggie is comfortable and easy to move, which is important since the planner sometimes moves it closer to the settee for chats.
Office chair: The desk chair Mapson chose for Heggie is comfortable and easy to move, which is important since the planner sometimes moves it closer to the settee for chats.
Love seat: The guest seating went through a few rounds of revisions before the final settee was picked and purchased.
“As designers, we often think that the plan we present to our clients will be a home run,” Mapson says. Initially, Mapson chose coral chairs that she felt were perfect for the room. Heggie, however, found the coral color too bright and jarring.
“I reminded her of her love of coral,” says Mapson. In response, “she said she wanted a pop of color, not an explosion.” After they laughed together, Mapson set off to find another seating option.
This soft gray settee ended up being a much better fit, aesthetically and functionally. It also appealed to Heggie because it better conveyed the mood and intention of her business.
“Since it is normally just the [engaged couple sitting there], I wanted to be very purposeful about the intimacy of planning together, which is why the couch is tiny,” Heggie says. “It is literally meant for only two people.”
Bar cart: This little entertaining spot near the room’s entry contributes to the comfortable, open atmosphere. When clients visit Heggie’s office, she wants them to feel less like clients and more like friends.
Settee: Sarah tufted settee, Safavieh; accent table: Woodland Imports; throw pillow inserts: Fjädrar, Ikea; area rug: indigo, diamond jute, Home Decorators Collection
Browse love seats
“As designers, we often think that the plan we present to our clients will be a home run,” Mapson says. Initially, Mapson chose coral chairs that she felt were perfect for the room. Heggie, however, found the coral color too bright and jarring.
“I reminded her of her love of coral,” says Mapson. In response, “she said she wanted a pop of color, not an explosion.” After they laughed together, Mapson set off to find another seating option.
This soft gray settee ended up being a much better fit, aesthetically and functionally. It also appealed to Heggie because it better conveyed the mood and intention of her business.
“Since it is normally just the [engaged couple sitting there], I wanted to be very purposeful about the intimacy of planning together, which is why the couch is tiny,” Heggie says. “It is literally meant for only two people.”
Bar cart: This little entertaining spot near the room’s entry contributes to the comfortable, open atmosphere. When clients visit Heggie’s office, she wants them to feel less like clients and more like friends.
Settee: Sarah tufted settee, Safavieh; accent table: Woodland Imports; throw pillow inserts: Fjädrar, Ikea; area rug: indigo, diamond jute, Home Decorators Collection
Browse love seats
Home divider: Although having a dedicated room helps Heggie work from home, she still needed a barrier to separate the office from the rest of the house. To avoid extensive remodeling, they found a less permanent solution. Drapes now hang above the door frame, which allows Heggie privacy when working and softens the look of that doorway.
Heggie says that having her main work space in her home has a few drawbacks. She feels like her tendency to be a homebody is heightened, and she finds it difficult to stick to normal business hours when work is just a few feet away. But the pros outweigh these cons.
Heggie says that having her main work space in her home has a few drawbacks. She feels like her tendency to be a homebody is heightened, and she finds it difficult to stick to normal business hours when work is just a few feet away. But the pros outweigh these cons.
“Once my home office was completed, it was such a blessing in terms of work-life balance and productivity,” Heggie says. “My business had a home, and when I left the ‘office,’ I was confidently able to leave my work behind and return to my family life.”
Drapes: Aina, Ikea; drape trim: navy blue and white, Greek Key ribbon, M&J Trimming; tiebacks: LBFEEL, Etsy; rods: lucite, Nationwide Plastics
Your turn: What features make your home office a more productive space? Tell us in the Comments!
More
Key Measurements to Help You Design the Perfect Home Office
Find white home office furniture
Drapes: Aina, Ikea; drape trim: navy blue and white, Greek Key ribbon, M&J Trimming; tiebacks: LBFEEL, Etsy; rods: lucite, Nationwide Plastics
Your turn: What features make your home office a more productive space? Tell us in the Comments!
More
Key Measurements to Help You Design the Perfect Home Office
Find white home office furniture
Home Office at a Glance
Who lives and works here: Lacoya Heggie, owner of Hello Love Events & Design
Location: Fredericksburg, Virginia
Size: 130 square feet (12 square meters)
Designer: Kathleen Mapson, principal designer and visual artist at Kathleen Mapson & Co.
Backstory: Lacoya Heggie runs her wedding planning business out of her home, and she needed a welcoming space to work and meet with clients. Because her office is in her home, it needed to be professional and comfortable at the same time. She had ideas about what the space would look like and hired designer Kathleen Mapson to bring her vision to life.