New Victorian: Amazing Office Decor

I just returned from a lovely and rejuvenating trip to Victoria (hence the play on words in this post's title)!

Despite the fact that my infinitely-irritating headaches and back pain persisted and didn't relent until Sunday (four days into my trip), I had a wonderful time. I ate and ate. I walked and walked. I had breakfast (bacon, orange juice!) and a facial with my marvellous aunt. I had a massage. We ate French food. We ate local, organic food. I ate chocolate creams. We ate Indian food that M. made. We ate pizza and walked in the park and looked at the ocean. I shopped for antiques and tested sofas. I bought an antique etching. We shopped for books. We talked and talked! My back ached and I took a hot bath in epsom salts. I iced my aching neck. I walked more. I came home weary and rested in my quiet room. I savoured the west coast weather (chilly but green!). I watched cherry blossoms and crocuses unfurl. I had a great break!

But...

What I wanted to share first is my friend M.'s apartment wall, where she displays some of her portrait postcards. This is just a fraction of her 5000 card collection. M. and her hubby I. share a lovely, brightly-lit, airy space with amazing views over the city and park below. I love their apartment, which is small and comfortable and inviting (and smells good) and always has something good to read, and is filled with character (plus, she has a zero-gravity chair that my back needs).

M. can tell you who almost everyone on this wall is:

Besides postcards, she has heaps of books too, all of which she devours. She is very clever. If that isn't enough, she's learning Italian (and ballroom dancing)!:

As you look closer, you become engrossed in the individual cards. They are so absorbing as you start to recognize faces (and can't remember names...)

If you don't know who they are, you are encouraged to pull them off the wall and read the back (and remind everyone):

I love the juxtaposition of the beautiful and the brilliant, the young and the old, the witty and the wise and the well-built. And the just-plain talented:

I love this wall and think it's a fabulous decor idea for your office. That is...if you don't mind spending twenty years collecting and (gradually) spending thousands of dollars...!

You should see her other postcards...famous people are just the beginning!

Thanks M. for letting me photograph your collection (and for being you)!

Home Office: Essential Qualities

Although they don't all typify my usual airy traditional style preference, there's something I like about each of these home offices from my archives. I think these rooms possess essential qualities of any good home office (just perhaps not all in one room). I'm thinking about these qualities as I redesign my home office. I just wish I had 12 foot ceilings.

The Essential Home Office shall possess:

1. A good sofa (for naps and reading)

2. Lots of white

3. Art you like (to heck with anyone else)

4. Tranquility and quiet

5. A sensible desk

6. Good light

7. A spot to spread your stuff out

8. A place for books

9. Beautiful things

10. An extra chair for the cat

11. A good reading table

12. A chair for a friend

13. Some books

All photos Elle Decor: 1. Miles Redd (Simon Upton photo) 2. Hugh Newell Jacobson design 3. Gil Shafer design 4. Matthew Patrick Smyth (Simon Upton photo) 5. Laura Sartori Rimini & Roberto Peregalli

Home Office Inspirations

Now this is my idea of a home office.  It's especially great for those hectic days when you need to sign the cheques for all your servants and look at your decorating magazines.  Some folks have such a hard, hard life!

Photo:  Shoot Factory

Sadly,  I suspect that your home office doesn't look like this.  I know mine doesn't.  Regular folks have offices that look more like the room below (or not, but at least this is the realm of possibility!)  With a simple Parsons table (say, from Ikea), you're off to the races.  This wee office has lots of storage and the open-backed bookcase serves as a room divider while still letting the light through.  I think this idea is brilliant, since offices are often stolen spaces in other rooms and privacy is king.

Photo: Living Etc.

I really like this Martha Stewart office wall idea (below). This is a novel twist on the plain vanilla office chalkboard!  With a lot of painter's tape and patience (and Valium), this amazing wall can be yours very inexpensively!  I just love Martha.

Photo: Martha Stewart

This is a picture-perfect office for me (below) - all white and nothing out of place.  But sadly, this just isn't my reality.  I would need a lot of bins and baskets and drawers to keep this serene space looking stylishly uncluttered, but I still love it.  See, I really do have some modern genes.

Photo:  Living Etc.

In this handsome office (below), I don't love the furniture, but I like the arrangement - with a big side table for staging and sitting stuff.  I'm finding that a large side table is vital in a home office for transitional papers - the more surfaces, the happier I am.  But what I loved most about this room was the artfully-arranged vintage photography collection, whose framing and style belie the modernity of the room.  The photo collection takes this room from generic to chic-unique!

Photo:  Living Etc.

This office (below) is the cat's pyjamas in my book, in terms of ingenuity.  You don't need a ton of space - just one long wall to install a big slab o' desk!  This idea is pure genius, and it looks utterly amazing in front of a big graceful window.  Practical and simple, and elegantly executed!  And the glossy spring green makes my heart go ka-thump!

Photo: Living Etc.

I like the wee office below, as it appears to be tucked in behind a headboard or other room divider.  You don't need a ton of space if you have a laptop!  It looks like the owner used a small table and flanked it with two simple storage units to yield more surface area.  My favorite thing in the room is actually the clear Plexiglas file holders (to the left of monitor) - does anyone know where to source these?  I also like the big shallow bowl for newly-arrived mail.

Photo: House to Home

This office (below) is super-clever if you're building from scratch - as in kitchen design, a long, galley style office is a great use of space.  I would do all closed cabinets on the bottom (except for the kneehole of course) and all open on top for display and photos. 

Photo:  Source Unknown (House & Garden?)

Next is a typical home office which I've included because it makes great use of space (an extra table for the printer always helps unload your desk) and I really liked the little shelf next to the bigger shelf.  Corkboards are also de rigeur for your magazine clippings and postcards!

Photo:  Cottage Living

Modern shelves never cease to please.  I think home offices make great display areas for family photos and an ever-changing collection of eclectic art.  Give yourself lots of shelves and surfaces for your art collection and your photos.

Photo: Source Unknown

This is a dining room (below), but I just adored the shelves and think this would work equally well in a home office.  Heck, there's no sense having one shelf when you can have six.  Stack 'em to the ceiling and show off your collection of thingamajigs. 

Photo: Apartment Therapy (Anastassios Mentis apartment)