Designer Tips for Creating the Perfect Home Workspace

Three designers share their tips for creating the perfect modern home office.

Your home workstation—whether it’s a whole room or tucked into a pantry—should be a space designed to inspire. Here’s how three designers met that challenge.

 

THE LOOK: Elegant Functionality

Designer Angela Robinson transformed a flex space in this North Vancouver condo into a beautiful workstation for a young family. The simple yet elegant set- up remains organized and uncluttered thanks to custom millwork.

DESIGNER TIPS

Treat open shelving as a decorating opportunity. Open shelves offer a handy storage solution, but they’re also a chance to create elegant displays. Accessorize with stylish, functional storage boxes.

Shine some light on the situation. Choose a table lamp over a desk lamp to keep open spaces feeling homey rather than office-like.Repurpose your furniture. Make the most of the furniture in your space. These Alban chairs call this alcove their home, but can be brought in as the matching fifth and sixth dining room chairs when company arrives.KEY PIECES1. CB2 TPS mint 3-drawer filing cabinet, cb2.com. 2. Table lamp, homesense.ca. 3. Bigso Viktoria magazine holder in dark grey, roominorder.com. 4. Nuevo Living Alban dining chair, novofuniture.com.  

THE LOOK: Vintage Eclectic

This bright and airy office designed by Sophie Burke serves as a retreat in a bustling family home. White walls and furniture complement the room’s abundance of natural light, creating a serene spot to browse emails over a morning coffee.

DESIGNER TIPS

Use a mixture of textures and styles. The combination of this industrial zigzag Jielde floor lamp, a cozy wool rug and a ’50s-style white side chair with tufted buttons brings a diverse yet harmonious vibe to this office.

Embrace your green thumb. Add greenery to your space in the form of potted plants or small evergreen trees, as Burke did here. It’s an easy, natural way to add more colour to a room.

Add a pop of colour. This cheerful yellow chair from West Elm—one of the first things you see when you enter the home—is a lighthearted addition to the workspace.KEY PIECES

1. Jieldé Loft zig-zag floor lamp, espacedonline.com. 2. Retro Wing chair, westelm.com. 3. Parsons desk with drawers, westelm.com. 4. Arne Jacobsen Series 7 chair, informshop.com 

THE LOOK: Sleek Modernism

Tucked inside a kitchen pantry, this workspace designed by Lynn Clarke can double as a functional office or a kitchen prep area. The room imitates the home’s modern aesthetic with a neutral colour palette and a sleek stainless steel counter.

DESIGNER TIPS

Blend open and closed-door shelving. A mix of shelving options keeps an office from looking completely utilitarian. While the open shelves allow for decorative pieces, closed-door shelves are better for functional storage.

Spice up your walls. Customized wallpaper—in this case, the words reflect the home’s White Rock location—can help express your personal style. Graphic wall coverings or decals are another option, says Clarke.

Step up your chair game. Find key furniture pieces, like chairs, that speak to the style of your space, then add accessories to complement them. In this modern mid-century home, a bent plywood chair fits the bill perfectly.

KEY PIECES1. Custom wallpaper, metrowallcoverings.com. 2. Herman Miller Eames molded plywood lounge chair, informshop.com. 3. Anything stapler and tape dispenser,  vanspecial.com. 4. Wooden storage box, remodelista.com