The Minted Mama

July 8th, 2019

SHARED HOME OFFICE REVEAL

blogger home office reveal Chairs | Rug | Stacked Letter Trays

blogger home office reveal Gold Baskets | Stapler | Tape Dispenser | Candle

Pendant Light | Gold Baskets | Magazine Holder

Woo hoo! Another room under our belt and one space closer to a fully designed house – well, not quite. Actually, this is just the third space in our home to be finished (see what’s completed so far: Laundry Room, Little Girls Bedroom, Little Girls Ensuite) with many, many more to go – but it is a start and I couldn’t be more pleased with how it’s all beginning to unfold.

Now it’s time to go grab a coffee guys, because this is going to be a VERY long post :)

Before I dive into all the exciting details about our home office reveal, I wanted to share a little about the design approach that I’ve been implementing. While each of our previous houses definitely were “home” for us, they didn’t quite feel “complete” when it came to decor. Yes, we bought furniture and hung art on the walls – but it never appeared fully finished – and that’s something I’m on a mission to change in this house.

blogger home office reveal Pineapple Candle | File Box | Gold Baskets

blogger home office reveal Trinket Box | Stacked Letter Trays | Pens

blogger home office reveal Camera | Bulletin Board (DIY painted) | Artist’s Dummy

blogger home office reveal White Board | Gold Decals

blogger home office reveal Dress | Headband | Chairs | Gold Baskets

Instead of going ahead full steam and just buying up pieces here and there for every room, I decided to take a room-by-room approach and complete each space from start to finish. This means we tackle the concept, initial design, furniture, decor, AND styling, and only stop when the space is picture perfect and ready for its closeup. The downside to this method is that it’s taking much longer than expected to get through each room and it still pretty much looks like we just moved in even 5 months later (think completely empty rooms).

BUT, despite the slow progress I think it’s definitely the concept to implement in order to achieve the home you’ve always dreamed of – and that’s exactly what we are doing. Now more about this beautiful new space…

Inspiration is the key to creativity, and so while I could have chosen another room to tackle first (maybe like our entire main floor that still looks completely empty and what people actually see when they visit our home), I decided to tackle the home office because this is where all the planning and design for the rest of our home will be executed.

The office is located on a split level between the second floor staircase, and while it might not have any windows the 15’ ceiling makes up for feeling anything but small and closed in. We opted against a door to the space for a few reasons: one, the door could be hazardous opening onto the stairs, and two, we were afraid it might make the room feel confined and claustrophobic. Instead, the natural light coming in from the skylight above the staircase filters right into the office and keeps it feeling open and airy.

Before we moved into the house, our cabinetry designers installed a fully built-in office complete with upper and lower cabinetry, shelving, and lots of storage in the prettiest shade of grey. This ensured we made the best use of the small space and maximized every corner. We then had a white quartz countertop installed for the perfect surface to work on, and finished off the look with modern, brushed gold hardware.

Like I mentioned above, the ceiling in this space is approximately 15’ tall and with no windows we really needed to map out a good lighting plan to ensure the room was bright and conducive for productive work. We installed four LED pot lights for function and even distribution of light, then complemented them with the most amazing pendant for style and that extra boost of brightness. This white, extra-large one light oversized drum pendant by Dainolite was the perfect addition to the room and I just love how it really fills up the open space above the cabinetry. And can we talk about the wow factor of the white on gold shade for a minute? It’s definitely the first thing that catches your eye when you enter the space, and I love how it complements the brushed gold hardware of the cabinetry really tying the whole space together. Just to give you perspective on the size of this light – it’s 32” H with a 32” bottom diameter – seriously the biggest and most beautiful pendant you’ve ever seen!

blogger home office reveal Book | Dress | Bracelet

Since this is a shared office (two work stations), it has to function as a blogger office as well as the occasional space for my hubby to sit down and work in as well. If it had primarily been my office you would definitely be seeing A LOT more pink, however, since I wanted him to feel comfortable in the space I decided to include plenty of blue and navy to offset the lighter more feminine tones that still seem to dominate the space anyways lol. I love these velvet armless chairs that easily slide in and out from the desk, and this 4×6 striped wool rug that fits the floor space just perfectly is so fun with its yellow accent stripe!

The pops of yellow throughout the space really make me happy – in the artwork, the cute little clock, and of course the rug – keeping the space cheery and fun. The blush desk accessories couldn’t have coordinated with the large Homsense artwork any more perfectly, and the gold magazine racks and baskets tie in the gold hardware and pendant seamlessly!

blogger home office reveal Accessories | Pineapple Candle

blogger home office reveal The Possibility Mom by Lisa Canning

blogger home office reveal Google Home Mini | File Box | Trinket Box

Now onto my DIY library wall. At first glance it may look like we installed a board with shelves right onto the wall, however, if you look closer you’ll see that we actually painted a navy rectangle directly on the wall and and then installed IKEA shelves on top of it painted in the same colour. This was a super easy DIY to add some shelving for books, art, magazines – anything that you want to keep on display. I love that I can curate what’s featured change up what’s on display as time goes on. If you want to see a blog post with step-by-step instructions on how to make your own, let me know!

I currently have it stocked with inspiring design books c/o Simon & Schuster Canada to keep me motivated for the rest of work I need to do in the house, as well as included a selection of fiction titles that are keeping me entertained through the summer months. Curious about the selection of reads you see? *Stay tuned to my Instagram feed over the next week where I’ll be sharing a fun summer reading giveaway that you won’t want to miss! (BTW I couldn’t put down The Last House Guest and finished it in less than two days!)

blogger home office reveal Dried Pampas Grass | Vase (sold out)

blogger home office reveal To say I’m happy with the way the office turned out would be an understatement! I’m blown away with how the finished product looks and I love love love how colourful it is. Definitely working on making this house the brightest, most colourful version of our family. Also, loving how inspired I am when working in the space. It has certainly become the hub of the home and the centre for all our creativity!