A substantial house in one of the Peninsula’s most desirable neighborhoods, this residence was home to a busy family of five looking to design spaces that welcomed their large extended family and friends. For the living room, we were tasked with creating an architectural, elegant space to seat fifteen. A den/library highlights the homeowner’s passion for green. In the powder room, we selected green and navy grasscloth wallpaper for a burst of vibrancy.

Cartography Printed Ceiling in Home Office

Laqfoil Ltd.

Antique maps are our customers' favourite ceiling prints. How does one print a ceiling? The secret is stretch ceiling. This ceiling is a stretchy sheet of nonporous material. After it got printed using a digital wide format printer, it was installed by Laqfoil, by stretching it between profiles, or tracks, that hold it around the perimeter. It will never fade, discolour, chip, bubble, peel, or need repainting. If there is a water leak overhead, it will catch the water, saving the furnishings below, until the leak can be stopped and repaired. Once the water has been removed (with a wet-dry vac), it can be returned to its original shape and appearance as if nothing ever happened.

The Green

User

Custom home for a family, this desk and cabinetry was custom designed for this hallway space. Designed by MMA Interiors, this desk-nook features a Polytec Porcelain bench suspended over timber cabinetry

Wilmette Home Office

Change Design

From boring plain basement space to masculine spacious home office.

JQB Ltd Design - master stateroom writing desk

Jonathan Quinn Barnett Ltd

Photos: Steve Cridland

Hurspierpoint

The Workshop

bespoke 30mm Birch plywood painted library home office

Home office with drop down desk and TV area

More Space Place - Jacksonville

Scarsdale home

Lucy Harris Studio

Key decor elements include: Art: Illumination Yellow and Green by Betty Merken and burst and peek by Fran O’Neill from Sears Peyton Gallery Wallpaper: Bang Dem Sticks wallpaper from Drop it Modern Sofa: Lotus sectional from Crate and Barrel Pillow fabrics: Cymbeline by Tibor from Holland and Sherry, Laveno Barre Mache from C&C Milano and Cracked Ice Minor by FLOCK from Studio Four NYC Stools: Modern Stacking stools from West Elm reupholstered in Steelcut Trio fabric by Maharam Bowl: Iridescent glass bowl from The Future Perfect Desk lamp: AJ table lamp from Design Within Reach Desk chair: Beetle meeting chair by Gubi from Design Public Group Coffee table: Eames Elliptical table from Hive Modern Light fixtures: OK fixtures from Flos

Backyard Office

Ulrich Barn Builders

Home Office with Wall Bed in Oak Wild Synchronized Textured TFL

Valet Custom Cabinets & Closets

Vanillawood

Josh Partee | Architectural Photographer

Shades of White

SV Design

commercial office

Maxwells Closet Classics

Copper Falls

Alan Mascord Design Associates Inc

Copper Falls was featured in the 2007 Seattle Street of Dreams. Photos by Bob Greenspan.

baron office

Chalkhouse Kitchens

Beautiful home office with a Scandi midcentury vibe, featuring oak slatted walls, Shaker panelled tall storage cupboards, oak veneered desk and frame open file storage

Boulevard 2016 Front Cover

Troico

Twin Peaks House

Mihaly Slocombe

Twin Peaks House is a vibrant extension to a grand Edwardian homestead in Kensington. Originally built in 1913 for a wealthy family of butchers, when the surrounding landscape was pasture from horizon to horizon, the homestead endured as its acreage was carved up and subdivided into smaller terrace allotments. Our clients discovered the property decades ago during long walks around their neighbourhood, promising themselves that they would buy it should the opportunity ever arise. Many years later the opportunity did arise, and our clients made the leap. Not long after, they commissioned us to update the home for their family of five. They asked us to replace the pokey rear end of the house, shabbily renovated in the 1980s, with a generous extension that matched the scale of the original home and its voluminous garden. Our design intervention extends the massing of the original gable-roofed house towards the back garden, accommodating kids’ bedrooms, living areas downstairs and main bedroom suite tucked away upstairs gabled volume to the east earns the project its name, duplicating the main roof pitch at a smaller scale and housing dining, kitchen, laundry and informal entry. This arrangement of rooms supports our clients’ busy lifestyles with zones of communal and individual living, places to be together and places to be alone. The living area pivots around the kitchen island, positioned carefully to entice our clients' energetic teenaged boys with the aroma of cooking. A sculpted deck runs the length of the garden elevation, facing swimming pool, borrowed landscape and the sun. A first-floor hideout attached to the main bedroom floats above, vertical screening providing prospect and refuge. Neither quite indoors nor out, these spaces act as threshold between both, protected from the rain and flexibly dimensioned for either entertaining or retreat. Galvanised steel continuously wraps the exterior of the extension, distilling the decorative heritage of the original’s walls, roofs and gables into two cohesive volumes. The masculinity in this form-making is balanced by a light-filled, feminine interior. Its material palette of pale timbers and pastel shades are set against a textured white backdrop, with 2400mm high datum adding a human scale to the raked ceilings. Celebrating the tension between these design moves is a dramatic, top-lit 7m high void that slices through the centre of the house. Another type of threshold, the void bridges the old and the new, the private and the public, the formal and the informal. It acts as a clear spatial marker for each of these transitions and a living relic of the home’s long history.

Modern Education Eleven

Townsend + Associates Architects

Tudor Guest House

Nyhus Design Group

Home Office Design Ideas with Carpet and a Built-in Desk

A home office has many uses and isn’t a mere luxury anymore. You might work from home, or bring work home, or you might just need a place to go through bills, mail or store important paperwork. Kids can use a home office to do their homework, or quietly play a game online. Browse the photos on Houzz for home office ideas and inspiration, and strike up a conversation with the architect or designer or your favourite picks. For more home office ideas, check out the Stories section.

How much office storage do I need?

To ensure your home office or study room isn’t buried under a deluge of paperwork, books and supplies, incorporate plenty of shelves, cabinets and drawers. Floating or built-in shelves with cubbies can stock books and magazine holders; or for a more traditional look, make room for a large bookcase that fits in with the decor of your home. Invest in a filing cabinet to store paperwork, and opt for a lockable filing cabinet if you have sensitive documents. A tray organiser can store incoming mail and will help prioritise bills. The type of desk you choose is also key to keeping things organised. Look for desks with deep drawers and plenty of surface space, and add tray organisers to the drawers to keep track of staples like pens, pencils, highlighters and sticky tape. If you want a streamlined look, find a way to conceal any computer cables or wires, too. One solution is to install a false back on your desk, if it doesn’t already have one.

How do I choose an office desk and chair?

If you spend long hours hunched over your work desk at home, invest in ergonomic office chairs with wheels for better back health and comfort. Consider optimal lumbar support with flexibility in adjusting handles and back angle. Most rolling office chairs come upholstered, typically in leather, but that’s no reason why you can’t have one custom-made to suit your home decor. When picking out your work desk, be sure to consider its overall function. If you work from home and hold meetings, pick an oversized, sturdy desk that is double-sided (can be accessed from both sides). You’ll want it to look professional, so opt for dark timbers over high-shine finishes. It’s also a good idea to create a separate study desk for the kids, so homework doesn’t go missing among your files. If your home office is for the whole family a two-person desk or built-in long work bench are more suitable. Where space is tight, look for a retractable computer desk, or utilise an awkward corner with a corner desk.

What home office decor will encourage productivity?

Use your walls for to-do lists: hang a pegboard and paint it in your favourite colour or be adventurous with chalkboard paint and whiteboard panels. Bulletin boards that keep the whole family in order are an extra feature that always come in handy. Use your stationery and office accessories – think pencil cups, paper trays and magazine holders – to add colour and pattern, and desk lamps, clocks, maps and calendars to personalise the space. Above all else, aim for ease of use.