The Playroom to Home Office Layout

I have a 27″ iMac on my desk with two external backup drives, a memory card reader, full keyboard with number pad, and a Wacom tablet. A cute little floating desk in the middle of the room isn’t practical. There are three possible placements for the desk in my new home office as I clear out the playroom: on the long wall by the closet door, near the windows, or in the nook by the door to the stairs (formerly painted with blood splatters whimsical polka dots).

I need storage for fabric and wallpaper samples, paint decks, and paperwork, and a place for the printer too. Since it’s a finished attic and the walls are sloped in much of the space, the long wall seems best suited to something like low bookshelves, filing cabinets, a sideboard, or cabinets. The closet can handle bulky items or overflow.

Placing the desk near the windows would be pretty to look at (and would photograph well), but it wouldn’t be the best for working. We put an air conditioner in the window during the summer because the third floor can get pretty hot, and I don’t want to work directly in front of the AC. I would also be concerned about screen glare. I’ll be adding either curtains or roman shades, but if I could leave them open most of the time, the natural light in the room is nice.

That leaves me with the nook by the door to the stairs, which is where I’ve been working for several months already while it was still setup as a playroom (on that little white desk that I had originally thought would be great for the kids’ art projects). I’ve already repainted the room and while I don’t love facing a blank sloping wall that doesn’t have the height for artwork, I like being near the door as opposed to having my back to it. To the right are the toy shelves, but once I get some storage setup, I can add lamps and style it up.

3D rendering, TA DA!

(I think I’ve made one of these for half of the rooms in our house now? They’re essential for playing with floor plans and getting a sense of scale.)

The furniture and rugs are placeholders. I wanted a solid layout as the first step because the space is tricky; now that I know what I need, I’ll focus on filling in the blanks. My desk will stay near the door. Storage goes on the longest wall where the kids’ toys are now. A comfy chair can be tucked under the eave by the radiator. And a small dining table is a flexible piece that can either function as a desk for an assistant (I do not have one right now, but I have in the past and may again) or as a place to spread out and go over projects and client work.

I haven’t had a space solely for my office in a long time — it has been a home office slash, as in /playroom, /bedroom, /guest room. And now I’m going to have this beautiful dedicated workspace! I’m getting pretty excited about it with a weird mix of guilt (taking over so much room) and pride (@*$% yeah, my business deserves it). I’m still working out the details, but I can’t wait to share more!