Software
Houzz Logo Print
constanciawr

help with office design

3 years ago

I hope I haven't totally flubbed hopes for putting a work area on this wall. It's 8'4" wide. My original idea was to recreate the green office in the photo, using a bookcase that was about two feet across. I would not have put the top piece on and instead of the open shelves, I was going to do floating shelves. Also, I was going to use a narrow white file cabinet. Other than that, same layout.


However, I fell in love with this German bookcase and bought it. When I got it home, I realized that since it's three feet wide (plus an odd shape), I probably can't continue with the original plan—only leaves five feet of workspace PLUS how would I tie the desk in, since the case is curved?


Whatever I do, it has to go on THIS wall. On a good note, that case can be separated into two pieces (left and right, vertically). Does anyone have any ideas? Excuse the mess!


P.S. In case anyone is wondering, the paint-in-waiting is a pale robin's egg blue.




Comments (11)

  • 3 years ago

    So……..since you can use them as separate pieces, you could build out a desk between the two pieces, correct? Could you separate them and spread them apart to visualize if that is a possibility?

  • 3 years ago

    Lovely piece. See why you bought it. But absolutely won’t create a duplicate of your inspiration room.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    I think you lucked out and found an upgrade for your office. Separate and reverse them (left one to the right and right one to the left) corners and plan for a desk to be between them. What kind of work do you do atn the desk? Is this a personal home office where you pay bills chat online or a business home office where you earn a living? Do you see clients there; do you Zoom there?

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Thanks to both of you. @jlouise54, I can separate them and hopefully, your suggestion of actually doing it will help since at this point I've been unable to visualize it!

    @decoenthusiaste I agree, it's an upgrade! But I had the green one so set in my mind that it's now hard for me to think of what to even do with the desk surface (it was going to be natural wood, possibly even with a live edge...but that doesn't seem like a good fit now). It's a personal home office where I will do an occasional video meeting. I was thinking that it has to go on that wall because the other two walls have low windows (about a foot from the floor)—one is a wider wall but an electric heat register is there. The other is the same width and it has a window. The last wall has a wide entryway.

    Additionally, I now don't even know what wood to use for the desk. Upgrade for sure—but now it's complicated, at least to this untrained eye.

  • 3 years ago

    @jlouise54 This helps. I just now hung one of my son's charcoal drawings up and this morning, I think God himself gave me the idea to add a plant, the vision was so clear! The room is a tad over 8 x 10; the entryway is large and on one of the longer walls. There's a window directly ahead of the entryway, smack dab in the middle of the wall. I didn't want to put a desk in the middle of the room because the previous owners had not one, but TWO heavy desks crammed into that smallish area and it looked nutz—very cramped. I'm trying hard not to recreate that look but I am thinking that I might still be able to put a desk away from the wall.


    You mentioned a similar finish—would you know what that is? I am not finding stuff with that same reddish hue. I've seen some modern stuff that mixes colors and materials (not match furniture exactly) and I'm trying to get my eye to accept that.


    Thanks for continuing to helpl me work this out!

  • 3 years ago

    Can you put the two units on each side of a window and the desk in between. This way you have light on your face for zoom meetings

  • 3 years ago

    Is it cherry wood? I found some cherry traditional desks online, but it might not be easy to find exactly what you want. Given that you liked the green inspiration photo, I suspect you don’t gravitate to traditional! You will need to decide if you just need a work surface or if you need storage (file drawer, etc). If you don’t need the storage, you could look for a simple writing desk. You might be able to make a black desk work.

    Were you planning to get a rug? What about painting the walls? I know this furniture piece wasn’t the direction you were leaning, but you will end up with a beautiful room.

  • 3 years ago

    @J Steel, that's a good idea. When I move stuff around this weekend, I will try that. Thank you!

  • 3 years ago

    @jlouise54 I'm not sure what kind of wood it is. The picture is a true representation, showing the degree of red undertones in the wood.


    Even though the piece doesn't reflect it, my favorite style is modern farmhouse—and we live in a 1920s cape cod. We don't absolutely have to have a file cabinet—in fact, the one pictured has only one drawer with documents in it and it's not even all the way full. I don't care for it and it will NOT be a part of the office.


    As far as a work surface, it needs to be an actual writing table/desk or a similar surface. We both use laptops.


    I purchased robin's egg blue paint for the walls. When I fell in love with the inspiration picture, I was planning to have the bookshelf and file cabinet be white, wood work surface as pictured, and blue walls. I was trying to get my courage up to paint the trim white (I realize that that's frowned upon but this is not high-quality, original trim at all).


    Does it all have to match or follow a specific style? No. I just don't want it to look crazy. The goal is "pretty", which is how the piece in question ended up here. LOL







  • 3 years ago

    Why not upgrade your ceiling fixture and prime the walls? That will make it easier to decide if the blue paint is going to work or if you need to reconsider. You'll probably need more lighting once you figure out how to arrange things.