Need help with office colors

8 years ago

Our formal dining room has been the kids playroom the last four years and I'm reclaiming it as my office now that I work from home full time and I'm tired of being cramped in an 8x10 room. This is one room we haven't touched décor wise since we moved in because I just can't decide what to paint it.

Furniture is staying, at least for a few more years, flooring will likely be changed out to match the living room (a pergo xp handscraped coffee hickory) but not anytime soon. Curtains can stay or go. They are just what I have lying around that sorta matched.

I do at least weekly video calls with clients so it needs to be something that will show up well on video and not wash me out. Company color is teal and I'm NOT afraid to use color on my walls, and I really don't want to do a white color.

This room is open to the front living room which is painted Elegant Charcoal (Glidden color in a Behr paint), furniture is a dark teal with accents of taupe, navy and a lighter teal. In some spots you can also see the SW Coral Reef in our foyer. On the other wall you can see through our kitchen to the living room. Living room is SW cooled blue. kitchen is currently a gray color but will be changed out in the next year (We'll be painting the cabinets gray but not sure on wall color yet).

I thought about trying out a dark blue (or maybe sw Oceanside) to pull the color from the living room furniture but not sure if it would be too dark or how that would work in a video call...and now that the furniture is in the space I'm not sure if that would go well. (the desk and filing cabinet have a faux marble top that is kind of gray-green, Sauder Appleton collection). I want something that is colorful and "me' but yet professional enough for when I need to video chat with clients. (My clients are financial advisors.)

Oh and light will be changed out too (suggestions welcome) and fish tank is getting drained and going back to its home in the family room soon.

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Comments (3)

decoenthusiaste
8 years ago
Kelly, consider colors that are most flattering to you, yet work with the living room colors. You want to look your best for video conferences, so what clothing gets you the most compliments on how pretty you look in that color? That's the direction I'd go in this room. Test out curtains samples on camera to see how they read - be sure you can return them. Black out styles would probably look better on camera too. Now you can see the light in the window through the sheers. Be sure to shop for non-dining room style light fixture too. You want to look business like when/if clients visit, and you want flattering light for your skin tone. Perhaps a semi-flush light would work for you. If you can remove the wainscot and repair the wall before painting, it will look more business like and less residential.
Kelly G
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks, decoenthusiaste! I'm definitely taking that into consideration, but since this is a room I can see from nearly every room on the first floor I also want to make sure it flows well visually through the house and that the colors create the right working environment.

I agree with a blackout curtain. I have blinds behind the sheers that I'll be using during the calls in the meantime, otherwise it reflects. I may also move the furniture around once it's painted so that the wall is behind me instead of a window - or create a conference corner...

Light fixture is definitely going. What do you think of something like these?

I'd like to remove the chair rail as well. It may end up being a timing
thing though as whatever we do in here will need to be completed over a
weekend. The last time we pulled chair rail off in this house it was a
PITA, and I'm assuming they also stained this one in place which means
fixing the gaps on the window and door casings/trim. Small thing - but when you have two little ones underfoot weekend projects can take longer then planned! ;)
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decoenthusiaste
8 years ago
You can just ignore the rail and prime and paint it to match the walls. I like the ceiling fixtures you show. I find that table lamps, if you have spots for them, really make an office more homey, which will fit in with your goal for the space.