Home Offices…creating a space just for you
by Molly Cooper, Design Coordinator for Cooper & Co
By now you realize you either have an awesome home office, or it is the most unfriendly, blah space you’ve ever had to set in for eight straight hours, or you’re like me and have your operation set up on the dining table!
With most everyone working from home, and the sweet angel children that I am sure you all have, because mine sure are…insert sarcastic eye roll…at home as well, one has by now figured out what all the “home” office fuss has been about all these years.
Creating a Makeshift Office
Maybe some of you have kicked children out of their rooms and decided to take their space and make it yours every day during working hours, but let’s face it that is just not practical. Maybe some of you are the ones everyone else is jealous of with a nice, quant space, a cute little desk and matching chair, all the storage solutions a person could ever dream of and a DOOR! Yes, a door…oooohh a door that locks…that sounds even better, you know, to keep the angels out.
With all that said, what is realistic for you right now as the threat of Covid-19 is sweeping our nation and sending lots of folks to their “home” offices?
What You Really Want
Personally, I have developed a “must-have” list two miles long for my office in my soon-to-be-built home. Have you figured out your list yet?
No matter if you are in the planning stages like me, or if you have been in your home for 10 years, everyone can have a space to work from to call their own. First you need to make a list of what you need your office to do for you or your family.
Will this just be a space for you or are you going to share with the children and let it be a homework space as well? The furniture you choose will be determined by both the size of your space and what the item will be used for. If your office is adjacent to a main area of the home such as the front entryway or main living space, choose a desk that will flow with the furniture in these close spaces.
Pictured at top is the home office of a female entrepreneur in her 30s. She wanted a pleasant, yet efficient, space that incorporated all her favorite motifs, which was created by Cooper & Co. designer, Molly Cooper.
This office was designed for a young farmer who operates his large-scale farming operation from his home office that is decorated with a collection of vintage farm pieces like cans, calendars, scales and bags. Designer Molly Cooper chose the reproduction general’s campaign trunk as Nick’s desk. A light fixture was crafted from a piece of the tractor the homeowner drove as a boy on his family’s Alabama farmland.
Working from her home during Covid-19, Molly Cooper created a workable and attractive space in her temporary 800-square-foot house, which she is sharing with a husband and two sons until their new home is built.
Function and Form
Next, comes the fun part, the decorations. Let the décor you hang on your walls or place around in your office reflect your personality. Even lighting can tell a great deal of who you are. I added in a chicken coop themed light for a homeowner who loves chickens. I also took part of a tractor hood that a once young boy had grown up driving around the farm and had it converted into a light fixture.
“You can do so much with a little imagination
and things you have lying around.” – Molly Cooper
No home office is complete without a comfy, cozy chair and some great organizational pieces that coordinate with each other. We all have things we need in the office, but instead of just throwing them out on the desktop, arrange them neatly or hide them away in a drawer when not in use.
Home offices can be such fun spaces that display lots of personality, but just make sure when you design yours, think of all the ways it needs to work for you, and if possible, install that door, even if it is to keep out the angels just for a minute or two.
