Revamping A Dreary Office

You guys, this latest design consultation is a doozy. LeAnn emailed me a couple of weeks ago, asking for help with one of the offices at her day job. It's a room where some part-timers do client research, so THANKFULLY nobody is in there 40 hours a week because it's the visual equivalent of a womp, womp if I ever saw one.

No windows. Dull colors. Florescent lighting. No windows.

LeAnn's biggest request was to brighten the area and make it feel more welcoming. She already got her boss's approval for an accent wall in Rookwood Red from Sherwin-Williams (which matches some other rooms in the suite), but she wasn't sure how else to tackle the lack of natural light and overall cave feeling.

Girl, I got you. Smiting dark spaces is my favorite thing. Behold my weapons:

>> The wall that's being painted red will obviously be the focal point of the room. I think it would be a fun idea to add a piece of bright abstract art on top it to break up the large chunk of color. The one I found is from artist Michelle Armas, but if her work is over budget LeAnn could always paint something herself. (She's creative! Check out her Etsy shop.)

>> Since the red paint will be bold, I wanted to be careful about adding too many other colors around the room with desk accessories. That's why I chose a mix of metallics instead. They're interesting without being too much, and they'll help bounce light around. I wasn't sure what exactly would be needed, so I picked a magazine/document holder, a letter sorter, a storage box, and a pen cup (originally a candle holder!), all of which are from Target.

>> The desk lamp is metallic, too, though I chose to go with silver for this one to tie in the pencil cup. The key to mixing metallics is to make sure each color appears more than once; that makes everything look intentional.

>> As for the bulletin boards in the hallway, there don't seem to be very many papers on them so I think one can come down and be replaced by some prints LeAnn already found. For the one that remains and the one actually in the office, they can be covered in that gray and white fabric from Spoonflower (which is also available as peel-and-stick wallpaper). Keeping with the mixed metallic theme, I found some simple brass thumb tacks from Amazon. For the prints, plain black frames would look the best.

>> Finally, that space needs some green. Without any natural light I don't think anything will grow, so fake plants it is! Target has realistic looking succulents right now and I found some for the desktops, or some that could be mounted on the wall as shadowboxes.

I can't wait to see how everything looks when it's done! Aaaaah! For the first time ever, I'm so excited at the thought of a red accent wall. They're normally not my jam, but in this space I think it's going to be really cool. LeAnn--I'll be waiting for the after photos.

If you're in the market for your own design consultation and room board, you can get more info about them right here. I'd love to help you out!