Behind the office design:
The office in our Spring model home was such a fun project. The rest of the home we went so light and airy with white paint and trim, so we added rustic touches with beams and natural wood tones. We wanted to go bold with the office. This room really feels like you are walking into another world. It feels so inviting when you enter the space.
The beautiful Peppercorn Paint:
At first it started with an idea to do a black office. We picked the color Peppercorn by Sherwin Williams on a color swatch and didn’t give a second thought until the painting crew came in. When we were doing the walk through of where we wanted the paint to go, we decided last minute to really go for it and paint all the trim, windows, doors and ceiling! We got asked about 10x by the painting crew if we were sure about painting the ceiling;) It was a little bit of a risk (not really, it's just paint!) but it turned out so good, and the painting crew ended up loving it too. The color turned out even better than we could have imagined. This is one those cases where it is just good to go with gut instinct. The color is more of a saturated charcoal and we are loving it more than if it was a true black. After getting it up on the walls, we realized a true black would have been way too dark for this house. We already have black windows and doors, so the black still pops with the Peppercorn color.
Built-in desk:
The built-in desk and floating shelves were an add on halfway through build. They were on the original plans that Justin, our architectural designer, designed. We had to scale back on some projects that our homeowners wanted to do down the road. Once they started thinking about desk placement and the cost of buying a desk, it just made sense while the trades were all in the house, doing the built-ins. It was custom stained on site to match the natural white oak cabinetry going on in the rest of the house. The wood is actually a poplar, and the painters warned us that it might pull a lot of green, but hey turned out gorgeous, and they look identical to the white oak custom cabinets. Three openings were drilled in the top of the desk to discreetly hide all the wires from the lamps and computers. Little details like this need to be considered for the overall design.
Floating shelves:
The floating shelves are so beautiful in the little niche and are a perfect way to bring in the much needed styling. This room is so dark, so adding in plants, books and fun objects breaks up the color, giving it some contrast. The shelves are thicker than an average shelf, giving it a more custom and grand look.
Square wall panelling:
The square wall panelling adds so much interest to the room. We knew that the dark color would be a lot, and by adding this detailed wall gave this office so much character. We chose to put it on just one wall, because it would have been too busy with the built-in desk and floating shelves. It is the perfect balance when you walk into this space.
Black windows:
The huge black windows bring in so much light throughout the day, with this office being an East facing room. The windows are so deeply set that it creates almost another shelf detail in the window sill. It would not have been the same if we just painted the trim the expected white. The Peppercorn color around the window gives you a feeling that you are in a cozy study that has been there forever.
Gold chandelier:
The West Elm brass gold mobile chandelier is the perfect finishing touch. This office needed a metal finish layer, with the Peppercorn being such a strong color base. This lighting fixture really fills the room, without visually crowding it because of its long sleek arms. Originally we had more traditional tube Edison bulbs, but the walls just engulfed the light. We went with clear brighter bulbs, even though it wasn’t exactly the look we wanted, the light is so important in this office so you can see all the beautiful details.
What started off as a pretty simple room ended up evolving into one of the most beautifully designed rooms in this house. If you asked our Style & Structure team, this room ended up being our favorite…shhhh, don’t tell the other rooms!
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