I recently got an email from Holly Hughes, the community manager at Chairish—a great site devoted to vintage furnishings and accessories. She invited bloggers to use items from the Chairish site—and elsewhere—to put together a dream room. This challenge gave me the chance to create my ideal home office:
My starting point was a concept I’ve always wished I had room for: Using a dining table as a desk, because I never seem to have enough room on my conventional-sized model. So I found this great desk on the Chairish site to use as the starting off point.
Next, I had spied Amanda Nisbett’s Cielo chair for Niermann Weeks last week at the opening of the new DC Design Center, so I also knew I wanted to use that dreamy chair in the design—it’s got the gold webbing on the back. The accent table between the chair was one of those serendipitous finds that come down the rabbit hole of Web searches, so I was thankful to learn about the artistic work of Jiun Ho.
My third building block was art by Hunt Slonem, who signed his book for me last week at the Lee Jofa showroom, where he has a new line of textiles featuring his whimsical wildlife. I’ve also covered three homes in as many months that have works by Slonem in them—amazing.
And I’ve forever been a HUGE fan of Maya Romanoff wallpaper, and when I went to the Web site to look around, I was wowed by the new River Bed pattern they’ve got out, and knew it would fit perfectly with my organic-modern approach.
Next, I needed a rug. I was poring over my stack of shelter magazines over the weekend, and I hate saying this, but Restoration Hardware’s ubiquitous ads pulled me in, particularly its line of Moroccan rugs. I liked the abstract geometry of the Marra wool rugs, and the cream version proved to be an excellent ground for the wallpaper.
And as luck would have it, I already had pinned the gorgeous Gazelle coffee table by Holly Hunt in my search for pieces to go in our new family room. I can’t afford this one for myself, but it can certainly go in my dream room!
I also knew where to look for the settee—we’re getting our new family room sectional from Room & Board, where I had spied the lovely lines of this Murphy sofa. I put the same khaki color on it here that will be on our sectional, which just happens to work with the dream design.
The lighting came together—well, organically. I went to Circa Lighting (a natural starting point for great pieces), and almost immediately found this beautiful Yul table lamp, which adds some jazz to the desk/dining table. Next, I turned to another favorite outpost, Jayson Home, where the Piero horn chandelier also popped out instantly. Finally, I need a floor lamp for the sofa, so I turned back to Chairish, where I also quickly found this great mid-century Sonnenman-style ball floor lamp.
As I was finishing off my collage, I noticed that there was a glaring empty spot where the desk chair should be. This didn’t come so easily, and I’m not entirely sure that it’s THE ONE, but I chose the classic Eames wire chair by Herman Miller. I liked it because it’s practically invisible, yet the metal frame and the square geometry complement the other shapes in this room. But if anyone out there has a better suggestion to finish out my dream office, please let me know.
The collage and product referrals can also be seen on Polyvore. Thanks to Holly at Chairish for getting me inspired!
