ELEGANT HOME OFFICE REVEAL IN BLUE + WHITE CHINOISERIE

Welcome to my new favorite space in our home. There’s truly something very special about having a room to call your own. I know it might sound silly, but this little room has become my biggest passion!

When I started thinking about designing an office, I knew I wanted to create a space that embodied elegance and served as a source of office inspiration. With a blue and white color scheme (of course), dressed in chinoiserie chic style, and filled with the beautiful things that I love, I aimed to create a haven where creativity and productivity thrive.

Gorgeous fabrics, a chic rug, beautiful pillows, window treatments, lighting, furniture, accessories and a beautiful, serene wall color (Harbor Fog 2062-70 by Benjamin Moore).

I wanted this elegant home office to speak to who I am creatively and also what truly brings me joy.

It is inspired by so many things that I love. But the biggest inspiration behind this space is my dear Mama, in Heaven. She would love this room so much and she would be so proud!!

I’m so fortunate as well, to work with some truly fantastic partners! Luckily, I already owned almost everything in here, from past partnerships, or things I’ve purchased.

But some of the elegant new home office furniture pieces truly make this a very special room.

The custom roman shade, made by Martha and Ash, the stunning, coordinating pillow covers from Arianna Belle, lumbar and greek key pillow from Paloma Living, lighting from Capitol Lighting, ginger jars, blue ottomans and other pieces from Lauren Haskell – all of these beautiful pieces make this room one of a kind!

White Ginger Jar Lamp

Illuminate your office space with elegance using the White Ginger Jar Lamp, a timeless addition that combines classic design with a touch of sophistication.

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How do you add elegance to a home office and how do you decorate a home office to make it yours?

Architectural details – wall moldings, built-ins, a fabulous window seat. Chic furniture, beautiful lighting, a statement making mirror, personal accessories and gorgeous textiles. If you love color, make it a focal point.

Who says a home office has to be boring same old, same old? Make it special, make it personal, make it yours!

I must discuss my new pagoda mirror – could this not be more gorgeous?!?

I had a vision for a fabulous statement mirror that would put the icing on the cake, and when I found this beauty, it literally made my heart pound, I knew I had to have it.

Tell me it’s not a total showpiece. It completes this wall perfectly, and in my humble opinion, it makes the room.

I’m being very selective with what I hang on the walls in here, and so far, this is the only piece. The wall adjacent to this (not shown in my shots), is still waiting for just the right artwork. Or possibly not!

We added upper and lower moldings on the walls, like we did in our dining room makeover, and in our gorgeous hallway makeover.

Moldings add so much traditional, classic character (architectural detail) to a home and have an elegance that adds so much beauty to a space.

Let’s talk bookshelves and window seats, shall we? Want to add elegance, classic details and make your home office truly beautiful? It’s all about those built-ins! More of that architectural detail I mentioned.

These shelves were already here before this was my office, as you may know, this used to be our son’s bedroom. We built these when we built our home, fourteen years ago.

I love having shelves throughout our home, especially built-in shelves – they’re the perfect way to add – you guessed it – architectural detail and elegance to any room. They also add value to your home.

Not to mention, they’re so much fun to style with pretty things…

I used various blue and white books from The House of Elements throughout my elegant home office, along with some books of my own, for styling. They make creating vignettes and displays so much easier.

Use colors within your palette to create a cohesive design. You can always cover your own books in paper or fabric to coordinate with your space as well.

Let’s talk seating. I absolutely love this built-in window seat so much. Thank goodness my husband, Neil, is super handy.

If you’ve been reading with me for a while, you know we’ve built everything in this house ourselves.

Lots of blood, sweat and tears. Literally.

There’s a heater under the window, hence the metal grates on the front of the window seat (which we painted white), so in this case, form follows function, and I must say, they add that elegance factor I was after.

We painted it all white, to match our trim, in Ultra Pure White in semigloss, by Behr, which is the paint we use on all of the trim throughout our home, for a clean, crisp look. It’s a very bright, true white and I love it.

I had the seat cushion made locally, out of the same fabric as my roman shade – Germaine in Marina, by Pindler Fabrics, which is the same as my matching pillows. How stunning is this blue and white beauty?!

Mama would love it so much…in fact, she’d be sitting right here, on the window seat, flipping through decorating magazines while I work.

I know she’s smiling down and saying how gorgeous it all is!

I framed one of my very favorite pictures of my beautiful parents – this was taken when they got engaged…isn’t it such a great shot? They were like a Hollywood couple.

I styled it with one of our wedding pictures, and this monogrammed vase, which has a very special meaning as well.

It’s our initials, Anka and Gordon, it’s also my parents’ initials, Anka and George.

Ginger jars and blue and white, well, as you already know, are things I just adore, so naturally you’ll find both in my home office.

Coral sculptures (one of my weaknesses…can you really have enough?), some favorite design books, colored books for styling, vases and beautiful objects – like this white horse statue, a piece I bought years ago for our daughter’s room – are always in my styling arsenal.

Not just things I think are nice, but things I truly love and find beautiful.

CORAL SCULPTURE

Enhance your office with a gorgeous coral sculpture, adding coastal charm to your workspace.

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Another ode to my special Mama, is this framed Psalm 32:7 print I designed. I found these gorgeous chinoiserie illustrations on Etsy, and used them to design and frame one of my Mother’s favorite Psalms.

She had this Psalm on a handwritten note, sitting on her counter for the longest time (she was pretty famous for her plethora of notes!), so I designed and framed one for her years ago.

Then I created this one for myself as a tribute to her, her love and devotion to her faith and of course, a reminder to myself of my own.

Storage is key to an organized home office, so if your space and budget allow, use dressers or cabinets to hide the ‘stuff’.

We had these white Ikea dressers in our basement and they’re perfect in my home office – they’re spacious and hold many things that I don’t have room for in the closet.

More on these a little further down!

PLAIN WHITE DRESSERS ALL DRESSED UP

Want to know another design secret to creating an elegant home office space with your signature?

Make plain furniture pieces look spectacular by adding gorgeous hardware.

I used our very old Ikea dressers that have made their rounds throughout our home over the years, and added these sophisticated and elegant brass ring pulls.

Chic, sophisticated, a little glam, a little classic – these dressers are truly so elegant in my home office. They provide extra, much needed storage for fabric swatches, pillow covers, supplies, etc…

Style it all with a fabulous mirror, favorite books, more ginger jars and coral, faux florals and a pair of gorgeous lamps. Basically your favorite things.

I love using symmetry, it makes me happy. It’s used in classic design for a reason…it brings calm and balance to a space.

You can never go wrong with a symmetrical display of anything!

A few more of my favorite things, symmetrically styled, help to balance out the design on this wall and anchor the mirror.

Below is a look from the other side of my home office. This is a tough room to photograph, with little space to navigate with a camera and tripod!

I wanted to give you a glimpse of the moldings and closet doors from this angle also. We painted doors the same color as the walls, in Benjamin Moore Harbor Fog, as noted above.

I actually didn’t get any good pictures of my desk or chair! Unfortunately, my desk isn’t available anymore, but you can get a better look at it from when I used it in our entryway last spring. It’s one of my favorite pieces.

My office chair is actually an extra dining chair that we added brass casters to the legs.

It’s not a huge office space, but it’s just right. It’s bright, beautiful and filled with the most beautiful things that make my heart happy.

It was inspired by my beautiful Mama and the influence she had on me, throughout my life and everything I do, and I simply couldn’t love it any more.

Thank you SO MUCH for reading with me today. I hope you’ve fallen in love with my elegant home office the way I have. It’s truly amazing how a beautiful interior space can bring so much joy and well-being. When I sit down to work, walk by and get a glimpse, or simply stand in here and take it all in, it brings me so much peace, happiness and inspiration…and will always make me think of my beautiful Mother and the lasting impression she left on me. It is truly my special, happy place. I hope you’re inspired to create a space of your own that does the same for you! Having my very own space to work, create and make magic happen is truly a blessing for me. Thank you for following along! xo