planning the new house: my office

Beware, y'all... once this starts, there's no telling where it'll end! I'm planning out the space in the new house!

(I totally confess, by the way, that I'm jumping the gun slightly here. While our loan is approved, the bank is still looking at all the documents, and homeowners know how nerve-wracking that can be. And the home inspection is today, so fingers crossed that the inspector doesn't see any red flags!)

But back to decorating, since that's much more fun to think about. I'm a firm believer that the first step to designing functional space is to develop the space plan first, i.e. how the plan will function. Basically a floor plan, but without the specific furniture dimensions, since specific furniture choices should come later. We planned the living room in our current place around one chair that we found and loved, and while the whole thing ended up coming together, it was a bass-ackwards way to design the space, especially considering how small it is.

First up: the loft area, soon to be known as my office.

Here's what it looks like in with the current owners' stuff:

First off, let me say that the photographer did not do the property any favors. The exterior shots in my last post are halfway decent, but the interior photos make it look smaller and darker than it is. BUT... if that means that fewer people asked to see the house and as a result it was available for us, then hooray for bad photography!

But back to the loft...

I have about 50 thousand inspiration pics on my Pinterest workspace album, but when I looked back through everything saved there and in my many tear sheets, these were my absolute favorites, from UK magazines Living Etc. and Ideal Home, respectively:

I love that first one so much that I'm going to copy it almost exactly, except with a stainless steel-wrapped table top instead of laminate. Those trestle legs let the table raise up, which is perfect for a sewing table, so I can cut out patterns and fabrics without bending so far down. All of those components are from Ikea, so they're super affordable.

In the bottom image, I love the wraparound desk that doesn't force you to be too far away from the corner. That will work perfectly under the window, but I can do it more cheaply, and avoid that wasted far corner space by buying two table tops, one supported in part by a drawer unit, and joining them together with joining plates, to make one big L-shaped desk.

The drawers are the same ones I have as a part of my desk in LA:

I also absolutely adore all of the wall-mounted storage above both desks, and even the architect lamps. The light and bright color schemes are totally working for me too. 

So with all of that inspiration in mind, and thinking about the potential of the space, here is the plan I have worked up.

Did you know, by the way, that you can download and print free graph paper online? Genius.

My total estimate, including tax, is $610 for everything. While that's not exactly the world's most bargain basement office, I think that price is pretty awesome for a storage-PACKED, functional, multi-purpose space that I can make mine, all mine. :-) I love Mark and all, but sharing an office all day, every day, is getting a little old.

Can't wait to bring it to life and show you all about it! Stay tuned for more room plans... you know that my life is now consumed with graph paper and tear sheets!

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xoxo,