A Tale of Three Home Offices (And What I Learned From Each One)
I’m calling today’s posts “Then & Now” where I’m going to talk about a timely topic: HOME OFFICES. Namely, how my home offices were featured in three separate stories in Better Homes & Gardens magazine over the past several years. The point of these three posts is to illustrate that, while a home office story that ran 10 or 15 years ago might look a little dated, there are still key design elements and ideas that remain relevant.
I’m starting with home offices because it’s a subject that, as many of you know, has been top-of-mind since the Work From Home situation became a reality in 2020. Now that WFH is the new norm for many of us, it’s become apparent that a home office is not a luxury, but a necessity (kind of like a kitchen or a bathroom).
As an entrepreneur, I’ve always had a home office. Over the course of 20+ years, I’ve located my home office in a variety of spaces – from an extra bedroom to a converted attic-loft (more on that later).
I’m going to walk you through my three home office stories in three separate posts and dissect the “Then” elements and the “Now” elements, with a final takeaway observation for each story.
We’ll start with my first home office story below, featured in Better Homes & Gardens magazine in 2005. My office in this suburban home was a decent-sized spare bedroom with an abundance of natural light (which is, frankly, more important to me than square footage – you’ll see how I applied that concept in Office #2). Click on the images below to read the full story:
Here are my “THEN” and “NOW” observations from my first home office story:
THEN:
- Whoa! Is that a Rolodex on your desk? What in the heck is that? Well, this was before all of our info was stored in our phones. (Thanks, Apple – that was game changing technology).
- A fax machine – how very 2005 of you. Does anyone fax anymore? However, remember we shot this story in 2004 and it ran in 2005 – we still had land lines.
- Speaking of land lines, check out my photo in the “Burlap Bulletin Board $144” shot Yep, I’m on a call on my cordless phone on a land line (a/k/a “house phone”).
- A whole slew of filing cabinets for when we ran through a lot more paper than we do today. This was before we had virtual storage options, so a lot of filing storage space was needed. Not today.
- The same goes for the big closet with plenty of space for storing for photos, CDs and project materials. Plus storage for all those print magazines (I still keep a few of those around, but far less than I had back then). Of course, along came digital magazines. But that’s a story for another day.
- Let’s talk about color for a sec. I added a bright lime green pop of color to balance the black and white neutral scheme. Looking back, the color looks a little “neon” for today’s softer palette preferences.
AND NOW:
Here are the elements in this office that still work today:
- Getting creative with “what’s a desk” – and “what can BE a desk”. I created a desk-in-an-afternoon by taking a plain, solid wood door I painted high-gloss white and attaching painted wood newel legs (hidden brackets secured the newel posts to the desk top). If you’re like me and need some “spread-out space” on your desk, I highly recommend going this route. Or, for an easier solution, a repurposed dining table also works. And it will probably be cheaper than an actual “desk” – especially if you want to sand and paint it.
- If you have the space, an oversized “Idea Board” can serve as an “inspiration board” (which can also be kind of cool as a backdrop for Zoom calls). I took an anything-goes-but-curated approach – I hung tearsheets from magazines, quotes, paint swatches, and even postcards. Also, this is a great idea for a big blank wall space.
- Every room benefits from a touch of greenery – especially if it’s a cool myrtle topiary in a beautiful pot. But a houseplant also works. Just something living and green to liven up the joint.
- Bookshelves and books. I like bookshelves that you can put things ON as additional storage and display space. This bookshelf configuration has been a constant design element in all of my home offices.
- Books are also great for home office zoom calls – just make sure they’re not paperbacks and the titles are suitable for work (nothing too political or controversial). So go out and buy some cool books. Amazon and ThriftBooks have some great titles. Keep in mind your overall color scheme.
- Baskets to corral projects and files.
- Every room needs a touch of black.
- A cool antique sign (or artwork) adds personality and is an unexpected item in a home office. I loved that “Antiques and Old Stuff” sign I found for 10 bucks at a vintage store 20 years ago.
Because there are so many good takeaways from this post, I’ve created a shopping gallery below for you to “get the look” of this home office. I did make one change as far as color goes. I added a fresher green/blue hue (versus bright neon green) to accent the black and white color scheme, via pillows and curated vases.
CLICK ON IMAGES BELOW FOR PRODUCT LINKS
THE TAKE-AWAY FROM “HOME OFFICE HEROICS”:
The general take-away as I revisited this story is that modern technology has made home office requirements less stringent – you don’t need as much space and paper storage as before. You just need a small closet (or no closet, if you have shelves to store things). Plus, black and white never goes out of style.
NEXT UP: Home Office Story #2, “Office Help”