Extreme Office Makeover

I typically hang out in the residential side of the design world, but a few weeks ago I dove head first into my first commercial project. I styled an office space. In a totally un-planned, took-over-my-entire-life-but-was-pretty-fun-and-satisfying manner. I should really say Brent and I styled an office space, as this was a huge team effort and the office for the company he works for.

Brent started a new job in May and was influential in the opening of the company's Atlanta office in Buckhead. Since moving in, the office has been pretty sparse with only a large conference table in the common area.

Brent's personal office was furnished but the rest of the space was pretty empty and bland. But it had good potential with tons of natural light.

With the team spread all over the country, this office was not top priority, until.....a few weeks ago when it was. A top priority that is. A big meeting had been set up and getting this office up to par and fast was crucial. Brent said he knew a girl ;) and before I knew it we were given a budget and 1 week to bring this space to life.

Before we hit the shops we came up with a game plan. With the conference table pushed to the far side of the room we wanted to create a sitting area that felt more like a lounge or coffee shop. Not only would this give the crew an alternative meeting spot, but it would warm up the space, keeping it from looking too blah, blah sterile office-like.

We set out to find furniture that evoked a certain masculine-chic vibe.  Nothing says man chic' like leather so we perused every store within a 30 mile radius looking for the perfect leather chairs within our budget. Sounds easy enough, right? WRONG!  Finding furniture that is available to purchase and load up the same day is near impossible, especially when multiple quantities are needed. Once we found the pieces we were looking for, Brent rode all over town convincing people to pleaaaaase let us take their floor model(s). He literally had to beg a few of them, but finally we had ourselves four brown leather chairs, one sofa, a coffee table and two end tables. We grabbed a few plants and some accessories and our man chic' sitting area was in business (no pun intended).

Next, we created a printing/coffee/filing station. 

We purchased a shelving unit and sat the printer on top for easy access. We utilized one shelf for extra paper and filled the other with two large leather baskets (from Target, soooo good) for additional storage. We moved the mini-refrigerator and filing cabinet side by side to fill this wall and used the continuous "counterspace" for the Kurig, K-cups and snacks they keep on hand for meetings. We bought two towel racks and mounted them one on top of the other for coffee cup storage. We found the 6-piece map art at World Market and the money tree and pot are from Home Depot... And just like that, this little corner of the office was not only functional but aesthetically pleasing too!

The back wall is huge... like 28 feet long, huge... and was totally, 100% blank. With the conference table sitting in front of this space, it was imperative this wall feel finished. We went back and forth on how to fill the wall and finally came up with a plan which consisted of two 55" pieces of art and the company logo mounted dead center. We found the skyline view of both Atlanta and NYC at Ikea, already framed. For the logo I enlisted my trusty engineering wiz, Richard to blow up the logo and have our CNC machine cut it out of MDF board. We wanted the logo to sit off the wall for a 3-dimensional look, so we purchased some 1" wide wooden dowels and chopped them to 1 1/2" in length to mount the letters and frame. Brent assembled the frame and painted it with the letters. He pre-drilled the holes for all the dowels and then proceeded to mount it on the wall. Because the letters float within the frame, the installation was tedious and required a lot of measuring and figuring, but in the end was so worth it and looked just as we had envisioned.

To finish off the office we painted a wall in floor to ceiling Rust -Oleum dry erase paint and mounted a pivoting flat screen TV to the perpendicular wall. We wanted this corner of the office to be full of functionality for any and all meeting needs the group may have. 

You know, I've always felt commercial work was cool, but lacked the opportunity to show personality. But I have to say this project was fun and I feel like we were able to put our spin on things while still providing a super functional space. The before and afters on this project are drastic, which is always fun to see, and the overall space just feels 100% more professional and nice.

Here's one more shot of the finished space. This is the view as you walk through the front door...

It was a whirlwind and a lot of work but the end results make me very happy we dove in and conquered this beast!

All photos are my own.