Decorist: Michael’s Office & Guest Room

Happy Friday! I hope everyone is excited and gearing up for the holidays! As I mentioned on Instagram, we are in the process of moving so we plan to have a quiet Christmas here in LA before hitting the road to Lincoln, NE. Once things settle down, I promise to post all about this transition for our family. But in the meantime, I wanted to share some work I have been doing in the meantime!

I had a great client, Michael, last month that wanted a clean, bright, uncluttered home office space (for occasional work-from-home use) and comfortable guest room. He and his wife wanted a base of bright whites to make the space feel clean and fresh, while also acting as a great backdrop for some pops of color. They were open to many color palettes and ideas, so I chose to do two fairly different concept ideas to see what struck a chord with them. With only a queen mattress, the room was a blank slate waiting for us to bring it to life!

Concept 1: White with Natural Wood and Layered Soft Colors

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“Inspired by your inspiration images with colorful yet sophisticated color palettes, this design embodies a refined modern vibe with a hint of a bohemian spirit, complete with a beautiful color palette of soft blue, rust, mustard, blush, ivory, beige, and bright white, as well as natural wood tones and metallic brass accents. The walls are painted in a crisp, bright white (BM Decorator’s White), creating the perfect clean, fresh foundation to let the color palette really pop. In addition, bright white accents (like floor-to-ceiling white drapes and a fresh white duvet) throughout make the room feel light and airy like your inspiration photos. The star of the show is the stunning modern abstract rug, which grounds the space, giving it personality and defining the color palette. The office side of the room is outfitted with a lovely natural wood desk with a mid-century silhouette, sky blue velvet desk chair, gorgeous piece of artwork, and a petite brass arc lamp. The perfect spot for working from home, the bright, airy space is functional yet minimal to reduce visual clutter. On the opposite wall, the fantastic white Moroccan bed is the perfect spot for visiting guests (or, let’s be honest, an adorable two-year-old who want to come hang with dad while he works!). It is flanked by breathtaking geometric jeweled nightstands in a washed wood and brass finish, as well as two beautiful ceramic and wood table lamps. Giving the room personality, coziness, and visual interest are the array of amazing printed and mudcloth pillows in hues of soft blue, rust, blush, and mustard, as well as a blush tassel blanket draped across the bottom of the bed and a crisp white duvet to let the colorful textiles really take center stage. Above the bed is a stunning landscape that helps tie in all of the colors in the palette. Finishing off the space is a magnificent oversized wood floor mirror (which is perfect for reflecting the light from the large window and for guests to check their outfits), luxurious floor-to-ceiling white blackout drapes, elegant brass capris shell semi-flushmount light fixture, and a mid-century planter with a fiddle fig tree to bring the outdoors in. This design walks the fine line between modern & eclectic, colorful & refined, sophisticated & fun, and luxurious & humble with an elegance that makes it a perfect oasis for working and hosting visitors!”

Concept 2: White-On-White with Pops of Bold Color

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“Sparked by the gorgeous palettes of bright white-on-white with pops of bright color and contrast in your inspiration photos, this design embraces the elegance of layered neutral tones (bright white, ivory, and warm gray) with pops of high contrast navy, vibrant turquoise, and soft jade, as well as metallic accents in brass. Once again, the walls are painted in a bright white (BM Decorator’s White) to create a serene and crisp backdrop for the white-on-white effect and this dynamic color palette. The floating desk in the office space sets the tone for the whole room, with its sleek silhouette and upscale lacquer finish. Facing in towards the center of the space, the desk is complimented with a stunning duck egg blue velvet desk chair, sculptural dual head brass & white mid-century task lamp, and gorgeous piece of abstract artwork with a dynamic color palette. Once again grounding the space and setting the tone for the entire room, the incredible vintage-inspired turquoise Persian medallion rug runs the full length of the room, tying together the office space and the guest space. On the opposite wall, the lovely gray upholstered guest bed with brass legs is outfitted with the most amazing turquoise, navy, and jade (mudcloth, macrame, and textured) pillows, in addition to a new bright white duvet and an amazing white tiered fringe blanket at the bottom of the bed for layers and layers of white-on-white texture. On either side of the bed sit two lovely geometric patterned white & brass nightstands that feel regal and refined. Bringing a bit more of a free-spirited vibe to the space, a pair of dipped turquoise lamps grace the tops of the nightstands and a complimentary piece of large-scale abstract art hangs over the bed and captures the color palette of the room perfectly! Completing the space is a radiused bullet floor planter with a monstera plant for some greenery, floor-to-ceiling white blackout drapes to add to the luxurious white-on-white texture, a sculptural but humble white beaded semi-flushmount light fixture, and high-end brass infinity mirror for your guests’ convenience. Calming, fresh, modern, packed with cozy texture, and complete with a punch of contrast and color, this elegant design creates a perfect relaxing sanctuary for you and your guests to enjoy!”

The client and his wife very much preferred concept 1 almost as-is, but since it was going to function primarily as his office, he wanted to tweak it a bit to feel less feminine, primarily by swapping out most of the blush (he thought it looked great in the rug as an accent color but wanted to emphasize other colors).  Super fun, easy changes were made to emphasize the mustard and blues in the rug. Plus, they loved the bed from concept 2, so I made a couple substitutions to make the alternate bed work in the space! Here is the final we came up with!

FINAL DESIGN

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“Setup Instructions:

For specific product placement, please refer to your floor plan and renderings.

• As soon as you enter the room, you will see your wonderful new office space. A stunning mid-century inspired desk with several drawers for storage takes center stage. A lovely velvet blue upholstered desk chair with brass legs, elegant brass overarching lamp, and large-scale watercolor artwork complete the workspace (which is all centered on the bed on the opposite wall).
• Centered on the opposite wall, a marvelous gray upholstered bed creates a perfect space to host guests.
• Giving the bed personality, texture, and coziness are an assortment of printed and textured pillows (please see the rendering for recommended placement), as well as a gorgeous ivory Moroccan pom pom blanket. These all sit on top of a crisp white duvet (since the weight and feel of bedding is a very personal thing, I have not included it on your shopping list).
• Flanking the bed on either side are two eye-catching white nightstands with white and wood ceramic bedside lamps.
• Centered above the bed and pulling the whole color palette together is the stunning large-scale landscape photo.
• For the convenience of guests, a full length mango wood mirror has been added to the wall opposite the window in the open space between the desk and bed areas.
• Giving the room life and lushness, a white ceramic bullet planter with wood stand houses a fiddle fig tree (consult your local nursery to make sure you are choosing plants that are suited for the light in the space. I based my recommendation on getting a good amount of natural light in the space) in the corner by the desk.
• A modern white and brass overhead fixture is hung in the existing electrical box centered in the space, finishing off the clean, sleek look.
• Finally, floor to ceiling drapes are hung around the large window to highlight it and also to provide blackout coverage when needed for guests. The curtains are to be hung with the rod centered between the window trim and the crown molding. The panels are the full 108″ so they will puddle on the floor by a couple inches. Also, the rod should be installed 8-12 inches wider than the window frame on each side so the panels can hang beyond the outside edges of the window frame. Once installed, if the curtains puddle too much on the ground for your taste, you may want to hem or hem tape the bottoms to size once the rod is installed (or install them directly onto the rod without the ring clips which will move things up a couple inches).”

After the final design was done, the centerpiece of the rug went on backorder (ughhhhhh! I hate when that happens), so we actually came up with an alternate final design with a similar rug. Thankfully it was an easy swap (and we swapped the throw too because it suddenly felt out of place with the new rug).

In the end, the client was very happy about both rug options and I think even decided they liked the alternate rug better! So all’s well that ends well! They were such a fun family to work with and hope they are already settling in to their new space, ready to (ignore work I hope haha and) host visitors for the holiday.

As for what’s next for me work-wise, once we have completed the move, I will be increasing the number of projects I take on so I am designing full-time while we get our feet on the ground! So if anyone is interested in working with me on one of their rooms, you can purchase a package on my Decorist page using my friends & family promo code Designer233073 that allows you 30% off!

Have a great weekend everyone and happy holidays if I don’t make it back here to share another project before then! :)