With wireless Internet, your home office can be wherever you choose to sit. That's fine if you live in a paperless world and can concentrate amidst the chaos of daily life, but it's a bit easier to keep track of household finances and meet important deadlines if you have dedicated work space.
Instead of letting your after-work activities take over too much real estate, why not consider making your office a dual-purpose space? The den/home office (also known as the d'office or ho-den on the set of my HGTV program Sarah's House) proves that you can create a multifunctional room that is both a relaxing place in which to hang out, and an inspiring space conducive to business activities. What's the magic recipe for making your live/work area efficient, effective, and elegant? Here are some ideas:
Make it a room with a view. To make your work area inspiring, place the desk in front of a window. The view will keep you alert and you won't have to get up out of your chair to daydream — staring at a blank wall can't possibly encourage innovative thought.
Opt for drawers over tables. While it would be nice to just set up your laptop on a table and call it an office, if you don't have lots of drawers to tuck away papers and necessities, your desk surface will be a constant disaster. Ignore this little bit of advice at your own peril. A smaller desk with lots of drawer space is a better investment than a big one with less storage.
Embrace the urge to purge. You don't need to keep every paper that enters your home. Be vigilant about recycling, and keep only pertinent papers. All household bills for an entire year can generally be kept in a small portable file caddy, then moved to a larger filing cabinet out of sight and out of mind (preferably hidden in the basement) for long-term storage.
Unify with colour. If you find pieces with different colours or wood tones, it's easy to associate them by spray lacquering them the same colour. Dreary mahogany and dated golden oak can be made to look dazzlingly glossy and sassy with the magic of a good white. ("Natural White" by Glidden is my all-time favourite white for trim, furniture, and ceilings).
Go wireless. For a small investment, you can rid yourself of the tangle and trip-hazard of cords. Printer, fax and router can be hidden behind closed doors, freeing up precious desk space. A vintage cabinet, sideboard or armoire can be divided up to accommodate all your technology and office supplies. Pull out drawers can be easily divided using one- by two-inch pine into compartments that keep all your paper, envelopes and stationery organized.
Keep it light. Let the boardrooms and executive offices use the classic bankers palette of dark mahogany, forest green and oxblood (leather). Opt for a scheme that is sunny, cheery and bright so your office is a place that wakes you up instead of lulling you to sleep with sombre tones. I couldn't resist the bubbly energy of the yellow and cream graffiti print and used it to set the tone for the entire room.
Balance the budget. By selecting vintage furnishings to fulfill your desk and storage needs, you'll have some money left over to splurge on the fittings for the den side of your split space. Keeping with the vintage vibe, I found a gilded bamboo cocktail table and side table that add a touch of Palm Beach panache to my north-facing space.
Focus the space. I think a den should be focused on chilling out, so I dedicated maximum space to a nine-foot-long sofa with chaise extension so that book-reading and movie-watching are as comfortable as possible. Forget about trying to squish a bunch of small pieces into your small space and just use one big sofa. You don't need furniture groupings since you aren't receiving guests in your private space.
Make it white. Many may think my logic is skewed, but I think white is a perfectly practical choice for upholstery. At $6.99 a yard for 100 per cent cotton twill, it's certainly well within the budget, and if you get the covers on the seats and backs sewn without piping, it means you can simply toss them in the washing machine and the dryer any time they get soiled. (Be sure to get the inside seams serged, and to prewash and dry the fabric before sending it to the upholsterer.)
Rein in your inner cheetah. If you are crazy for cheetahs, leopards, zebras, ponies or any other member of the animal kingdom, try to remember that less is definitely more. Accents should be just that — a small "hit" of something high-impact, and not an overpowering motif. One yard of fabric is enough for two pillow faces and I think that's all the animal instinct any room requires.
Introduce a little Ivana. After years of nothing but cool, silvery metal tones, all things gold are back in fashion. Antique brass, gilded accents, and warm metals à la Ivana Trump are all the rage. I wouldn't go overboard on this either, but the infusion of warm metals on lighting fixtures and drapery rods can be a welcome change from all things pewter, and in a room with a "sunny outlook" it seems perfect.
Follow the fashionistas. If you don't believe me, just look in the pages of any fashion magazine and you'll see … yellow is back! Not the preppy Provencal palette paired with periwinkle blue, or the day-glo shade of a school bus, but crisp, clear saturated shades of this cheery hue are all the rage. I like my yellow tempered with plenty of white, and a hit of ebony or espresso for contrast. Just remember, a little goes a long way so limit your use to accents instead of overall application.
Sarah Richardson is host and co-producer of Sarah's House and Design Inc.( www.designinc.ca ) on HGTV ( www.hgtv.ca ) and principal of Sarah Richardson Design ( www.sarahrichardsondesign.com ).