Speaking of styling, I recently had the opportunity to re-stage/style a client's {aka my SIL} office and I thought I'd share some of the before and after shots.
Here are some of the before shots. To be fair, she had started to rearrange the furniture before getting stumped and calling me in for backup.
{In other words, it didn't always look this torn apart.}
The original layout wasn't quite right for the room. Looking in through the door you saw the side of the desk and the shelving unit beyond. I'm all for the layered look, but this just wasn't working.
after
First things first, we placed the desk on the wall opposite the door. This way, the first thing you see is the desk and the purpose of the room is clearly defined.
Next, we focused on the other long wall in the room. We decided to flank the console with the shelving units. I like the mixed wood tones, which help to keep the room from feeling too matchy-matchy. Plus, when all 3 pieces are together the impact is much greater than apart.
Once the new layout was set, it was really just a matter of staging the room with her existing accessories. My SIL is the best kind of client because she already has a lot of stuff and great taste, which makes my job easy-peasy.
Because this room is used mainly by her husband, I stuck to the darker tones and items that came across as more masculine.
Fortunately, they have a lot of books, which I love to use in styling.
I think the books you surround yourself with really do say a lot about you as a person.
Because a lot of their books were paperbacks, which aren't necessarily the most aesthetically pleasing, I flipped them over so only the pages were showing.
Of course, I couldn't just leave it at that - I had to throw in my two cents in terms of some extra pieces they could add to really bring the space together.
I'd love to see a faux hide rug layered over their wall-to-wall carpet. Not only would it cozy up the place, but it would go a long way to tie the various brown and black tones together.
Speaking of, a little sheep skin layered over the black leather office chair could be a nice touch.
The other chair in the office is a black leather recliner - it definitely needs a nice textural throw to break up all the manly, black leather.
Thanks, Linda, for a fun morning. The pedicure and lunch after weren't too bad either :)
For my local readers: if you'd be interested in a consultation or staging, please email me directly on,
designingdomesticity@gmail.com
until next time,
