Work in style in a beautiful and functional home office.

The new work from home scenario that has permeated 2020; has spilled over to 2021. You may be realizing you will be working at home a lot in the future too. A home office you enjoy being in is essential now. These home office bookcase ideas are here to help up your working from home setup. Whether you have a dedicated room or carved out a space in your living room, you will find some inspiration here.

The trick is to get the balance between decor – mementos, books, greenery and wall art- and practical additions like storage, just right. In this post, I will give you some practical storage ideas. According to Oprah, you should start with storage. 30 Best Home Office Decor Ideas 2021 (oprahdaily.com) The storage Oprah and Jenny talks about is built- in storage. Furniture such as bookcases work well too. I will also be focusing on how to decorate shelves or bookcases to create a beautiful space.

I have put together some practical, but stylish home office storage tips that I will share now. This post will share other bookcase decorating tips too. Perhaps you want to fill your bookcase in your office with books, inspirational art or quotes or even greenery. I will share some tips about how to use books, wooden signs and greenery that work too. If you prefer a decorator to guide you through the process Lynteriors is here for you. A decorator by your side service may be the answer. Go to the “Services” page for more information. If you want to do it yourself or want to learn more than read on.

Home Office Storage Ideas: Furniture to Consider

Tip # 1 Remove Clutter by Using Home Office Storage

In a home office, when it comes to furniture you need a desk, chair and plenty of storage. Your storage can come in whatever form works best for your space. But opt for as much storage you can fit in. In my home office a bookcase was included to store interior design books and binders.

Home offices can get pretty messy, so you will be glad to have extra space to hide away the excess clutter. It is crucial to have the best storage solutions. Storage will keep your space tidy and well organized. Add plenty of storage, such as; drawers and cabinets, bookcases and shelves to contain the day-to-day mess.

Notice that I added a white storage basket and a woven geometric white and gray basket to my bookcase. They store items such as; paperwork, paper, and clipboards. I use the clipboards when I make notes while I am at some of my customer’s homes. Likewise, I store smaller items such as wood veneers in the boxes under the gold orb. Choose smaller home office storage accessories such as baskets which are functional and stylish. You could add contemporary or modern baskets to update a classic or traditional or transitional style home office like I did.

Add Functional Storage as Bookshelf Decor

Tip #2 Choose Baskets and Boxes- For a more organized work space

This next photo shows more storage baskets and box ideas. They are on a smaller shelf closer to my desk. The shelf features organized storage for all my must -haves. Your home office should be tidy, but do not be afraid to add boxes or baskets to store all of your knickknacks you need every day. Boxes and baskets keep papers, messier work items and smaller objects out of sight and out of the way too. For example, all my mail etc. is easily accessible in the highest white basket. Having a spot for everything will make you feel calmer and ready to tackle any project that comes your way.

Many boxes and baskets are quite stylish. The baskets and white and silver box on this shelf have a more modern style. Pick ones you love. They add style and interest to your bookcase and shelf decorating. It can be difficult to figure out which style to pick that will go with the style of the furniture in your room. Lynteriors can help you figure out what style accessories will go with the style of furniture in your room.

Arranging Accessories on Bookshelves

Tip #3 Ways to Arrange Books on Bookshelves

 

I alternate stacking books horizontally and vertically across the shelves. This adds interest to the bookshelves. The photo below shows that I have some of my books and binders standing vertically on some shelves. I placed others horizontally in piles on other shelves.

Another trick is to turn books around; so the pages face outward. No spines showing is another way to arrange books. This can help you to stick to a more cohesive color palette. As the photo above shows, I turned most of my decorating books around; so the pages faced outward. This trick helped me stick with a white, black and gold colour scheme.

Are You Struggling with How to Decorate a Home Office Shelf?

Tip #4 Choose Homey Décor

If you are wondering how to decorate a home office shelf, the following tips should help too. First, one of the most important truths to remember is; that a home office is not a cubicle in a skyscraper. It is in your home, and the decor should reflect that. Like my other post mentions. So include family photos and personal mementos in your bookcase vignettes.

You will be more productive in a room that brings you joy, so put in the effort to create an office that feels like home. Shelving that includes treasured mementos will help create a space you want to be in. Rather than a space, you have to be in. Go to the other post to find out more about mementos. And how to incorporate mementos in your vignettes and bookcase.

Tip #5 Use Art and Wooden Signs as Bookcase Decor

When it comes to bookcase decor, add art or wooden signs you may have around your home. Wooden signs are another great element to use as bookcase decor. They can inspire you to keep going. My “dream” sign does this for me. This inspirational sign, in the photo below, encourages me to keep working too. It is reflective of one of the things that motivate me.

Tip # 6 Layer in Greenery

Greenery is definitely in. Country Living suggests bringing nature indoors. They have some great ideas too. Check the ideas out at: 21 DIY Home Office Decor Ideas – Best Home Office Decor Projects (countryliving.com) Greenery does bring life into your home office. Greenery can increase productivity and make you overall happier and calmer while you work. They can make a seriously pretty statement as well. The containers add visual interest too and can add a pop of colour. These are all good things for bookcase decor. The photo below shows how I added 3 boxwood orbs onto a modern white platter which I then placed on the top of my bookcase. If you want to learn more about bookcase decorating or if you want to learn about home office desk decorating click the following link: My Redecorated Home Office Reveal: Tips For Bookcase Decorating Included – Lynteriors (wordpress.com)

Conclusion:

In summary, home office storage is important. Furniture that provides storage such as a bookcase is key to creating a space that is functional. Storage will help keep you productive too. Smaller storage accessories such as baskets keep the office tidy and well organized. Just like a book shelf does.

Furthermore, baskets add style and beauty to the room. Bookshelves can be used to create visual interest and add beauty to the room too. You too can work in style in a beautiful and functional home office. It is true. A home office does not need to be ugly and boring.

In this post I shared how to decorate bookshelves with books and plants too. Books can be stacked various ways so they are more pleasing to the eye. If you want a more neutral colour scheme, the books can be turned so the pages faced outward. I shared that adding potted plants to your bookcase adds another decorating dimension.

If you need help decorating Lynteriors is here for you. Do not hesitate to contact Lynteriors at 416-721-6217 if you need help. Many of you may want a designer by your side or on zoom to help you decorate your bookshelf. You may need help deciding which accessories to add and where. Or you may need help picking furniture for your home office. Lynteriors is based in Aurora, Ontario but Lynteriors also provides e-design service. Lynteriors offers virtual consultations and in-home consultations too. Go to the “Services” pages for more details. Click on the following link to get to the “work with me” page. https://lynteriors.wordpress.com/work-with-me/

It is not just how you light up your home, but what your lighting looks like. Well-executed lighting can jazz up a humdrum space. This includes your foyer and its lighting design. Lighting can indeed enhance the ambience of an entire home.

Lighting A Foyer

The foyer lighting needs to provide adequate illumination. It needs to provide adequate lighting for the tasks that take place there. Also, the foyer is the introduction to your home. As a result, the foyer ceiling fixture needs to create a great first impression. It needs to be inviting and memorable too. The foyer ceiling fixture can help to create that first impression you are looking for. One that is memorable and inviting too. Plus, it can provide adequate illumination.

I can help you choose your light fixtures to get the above desired effect. So you can have your dream foyer or room too. Like I was able to do for one of my customers, Megan. Megan loved her ceiling fixture, we picked out together, so much that she emailed me after her husband installed it. She told me how much they both loved it! She also gave me a testimonial. The testimonial, explains the lighting problem she had, so I thought I would share it.

As Megan put it, ” We bought a new house that had a number of light fixtures that we did not like and were not to our taste. Lynn came and did a consultation and helped us choose something that fit the space and our style much better. There is so much choice out there that it was hard to see the wood for the trees! Lynn has a keen eye and a good sense of style!”

-Megan, Newmarket Ontario.

Megan had moved into an open concept bungalow in Newmarket, Ontario. The foyer/stairway ceiling fixture had too much bling for her taste, so she phoned me up.

Searching for the perfect light fixture can be a daunting task. These 3 tips will help you sift through the hundreds of options looking for the right style and finish. How to figure out your preferred lighting style is the first tip I will talk about.

Tip #1 Look At Your Furniture Style

First decide which styles you do not like. For example, Megan knew she did not fixtures with bling.

The furniture in your home can help you narrow down your lighting style preference further. They can give a clue about the lighting styles you are drawn to. The sofas in Megan’s living room provided me with some clues. These sofas are beside her open concept foyer. Since you see the sofa from the foyer, a light fixture that coordinates with the sofa would help unite the rooms. Megan already had updated farmhouse style sofas. As the photo above shows, the sofas had updated white upholstery. These sofas also have curved arms and a straight lined sofa back.

The ceiling fixture she gravitated to had both a simple straight lined stem and curved lines like her sofa. It was an elegant contemporary chandelier with modern, classic and country elements. Your furniture can give you a clue about your lighting preferences too. If you find you want some advice, I would be glad to help you. I would be glad to help you find out what your lighting style preferences are too. Or I can help you find out which light fixtures will go with your existing furniture; like I did for Megan.

Tip #2 Consider Your Architecture and the Architectural Finishes

The next step or tip is to consider your architecture in your room. This was my next step in the process I used to narrow down which lighting style Megan would like. And I used it to find out which one would work in the space. She did not complain about her front door or her stair rail so I knew she liked the style of her door and stair railing.

If the foyer is the room you want to find a ceiling fixture for, consider the architecture in it. For example, consider the architectural style of your stair railings and front door. If it is another room, then consider any architecture in that room.

In a foyer, your stairway’s style and finish are two factors to consider. They are crucial to consider when contemplating staircase lighting. This was important in Megan’s case since the fixture would also be above her stairway. The photo shows that Megan’s stair railing had a straight-lined classic styling and a black finish. The black stem on the chandelier echoed the straight lines and black finish of the stair railing.

I considered the front door and its architecture too. I did so because it is close to the stair railing and the foyer lighting. The photo above shows the door detailing. It has black wrought iron detailing The detailing has both modern straight lines and classic curved spirals. The chandelier’s curved arms echoed the traditional spiral shaped wrought iron door. The chandelier’s straight stem echoed the modern straight lines on the door too. As a result, the ceiling fixture worked with the door architecture too.

Tip #3 Create a Sense of Drama with Lighting

Lighting is often used to create a sense of drama. A ceiling fixture creates drama when it is a sculptural object or has a sculptural shape. It also creates drama if it captures people’s attention. Megan’s ceiling fixture is large enough to capture attention. It also looks sculptural so it does create a sense of drama!

A statement piece can add drama too. And a statement piece needs to be central to the space. Megan’s foyer ceiling fixture is in the the centre of her foyer. The curved lines and black detailing assists in creating a dramatic statement too. As a result this chandelier does create both a sense of drama and makes a statement! You can achieve this too by picking a chandelier. Chandeliers usually are sculptural in shape so they naturally create drama.You can have a chandelier if your foyer is high enough or is over a stairwell like Megan’s is.

Conclusion and Decorating During Covid

The stairway light fixture echoes the sofa curves in the living room. The foyer light fixture also echoes the architecture in the foyer. As a result it ties the living room and foyer together and creates harmony in the open concept bungalow. The elegant sculptural  light fixture also adds interest, drama and makes a statement in the foyer. Furthermore, Megan loves it! It does indeed enhance the ambience of Megan’s home.

I can help you like I helped Megan. If you have time and love to be involved in the design process, we can collaborate like I did with Megan. We can pick lighting together from the lighting company website I work with. This type of service is called “Designer by your Side”. Go to the “Services” on this website page for more details.

If you are busy or have a project that involves many light fixtures, I can create a lighting design for you based on a questionnaire I have you fill out. I can manage all or part of the project too based on what you prefer. I want to help you create your dream space and do so in a way that works best for you.

Lynteriors is based in Aurora, Ontario and offers full service interior design as well. Lynteriors offers virtual consultations, telephone consultations and, in-home consultations as well as a digital design packages. and other decorating services. The great thing about digital design is that it is affordable, less time consuming and contactless. So virtual consultations and digital designs become a great decorating service option during a pandemic. Visit the Services and Digital Design Page on this website for more information.

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How to Redecorate Your Office During a Pandemic Using Vignettes

Due to Covid-19, working at home has become the new normal. I will share tips about how to make your home office a pleasure to work in. You can make this space efficient. You can make this space stylish too. Learn how to marry these two elements. Plus, if you find the place you work in a pleasure to be in, your productivity is boosted too. Would you agree? My new home office plays a big role in enhancing my productivity and a positive mindset. I enjoy working in my home office after I decluttered and redecorated it. The secret is to use vignettes.

Definition of a Vignette

In this blog, you will learn how to use vignettes to create a stylish home office and one that is efficient too. Vignettes can help you have both. First though, some of you may be thinking, “what is a vignette”. Well, in the realm of interior design a vignette can be described as:

• an arrangement of objects grouped together;
• to tell a story;
• and to create or support a style or theme in the room.

The 3 items in the photo above make up the vignette. The room is a rustic style great room in a cottage. The rustic style candle with the stone base supports the rustic style of the great room. On the other hand, the contemporary vase and abstract bear update the style in the room. These accessories add a contemporary style to the room now. You can use this tip to update your room too.

Decorating with Vignettes Tells the Story About the Owner of the Room

A vignette should reveal something about you when others view it. Another person should pick up something about your personality such as:

• the colours you are drawn to;
• decorating styles you prefer;
• travel locations that you visited;
• favourite sports, hobbies, passions, or interests you enjoy;
• and/or reveal something about your family.

For example, my bookcase pictured above reveals some of the colours I love. The bookcase and books and binders on it reveal that I love black and white. The books and binders reveal an aspect of my personality: namely, some of the colours I prefer.

I bought white and black binders when I was in my interior decorating program because I loved the colours. I also bought them to use them as notebooks and to store my assignments. When I am working on decorating projects for customers, I sometimes refer to my notebooks. As a result, they are on my bookshelf for easy access. I placed them on my bookshelf, to make my home office more efficient. Bookshelves can be functional and reveal some of the colours you love too.

Some of the vignettes reveal other aspects of my personality too. For example, the dance plaques in the above vignette reveal interests I enjoy. They reveal that I like to dance. The engagement photo of my husband and me reveal something about my family. It reveals that I am married. As a result, parts of my personality are revealed in my book vignettes but also in the dance vignette.

You can also build a vignette using books or binders like I did. Stack books vertically and horizontally to make it interesting too. Each grouping of books make one vignette.

As you can see, bookshelves are not just for books or binders though. They are the best place to show off your personal keepsakes and other items that you love too. I suggest you gather keepsake items from around the house that you want to add to your office vignettes. If you have enough accessories that you love and keepsakes that you can use which are lying around your home, you do not even need to go shopping. A bonus during a pandemic!

Before and After Photos of My Home Office Desk

Before I could build my desk vignettes, I needed to declutter my desktop. As you can see, my desk was very cluttered. The two vignettes on my redecorated desk finish off the look of the desk. Rooms look more polished or pulled together when vignettes are incorporated into the room design.

Just wanted to share another home office organization tip. The baskets in the bookcase against the wall store some of my loose papers, gadgets and magazines, etc. Add some baskets to your office shelves. Baskets will keep everything together and decluttered so you can stay focused. It is a lot easier to store and organize everything in your home office if you use baskets.

By the way the baskets create one object vignettes on the bookcase shown above. I pointed this out now because soon I will discuss that vignettes have one, three or five objects in them and why

Now that you have an idea what a vignette is, I will share how to create one.

How to Build a Vignette

There is a comment I want to add about this vignette. The cup has an important function. It stores office materials such and pens and pencils that are within easy reach. Vignettes help make your office more efficient and stylish at the same time! This is another example of this.

Bookcases and Vignettes

Vignettes can be used to decorate a office desk like the vignette picture above. They can be used to decorate a bookcase too. Decorating a bookcase is more complicated because a bookcase has many shelves. Follow these three tips. They will help you decorate each shelf of a bookcase.

How to Decorate a Bookcase Shelf – 3 Tips

Personal keepsake items often have memories attached to them. For example, my daughter’s first ballet shoes (in the dance vignette) bring back memories to me. She likes to dance too so that keepsake item reminds me of her recitals and dance competitions. They bring a smile to my heart. You can add keepsakes items(that bring a smile to your heart too) to your vignettes as well.

The items in a vignette can include store-bought items too. For example, I like the orb that is in this bookcase. I like that it has a contemporary style. As a result, I added it to the bookcase. Store bought items can reflect the styles and colours you prefer and therefore reveal a bit your personality as well. For more vignette ideas go to https://lynteriors.wordpress.com/2021/03/24/how-to-decorate-a-home-office-part-2-bookcase-decorating-tips-included/

In conclusion, bookshelves pull double duty as storage for books or binders and display space for accessories. They can be functional and pleasing to the eye.

Stagger the Books and Decor Across Multiple Shelves

Vignettes can make a room including a home office more pleasing to look at. They also help make the home office more functional as well. They are also an excellent way to showcase your personality too. My home office has become a retreat. It is not a place that I dread to go into because it is cluttered. It inspires me to sit down now and do some work and I enjoy my surroundings while I do it. I hope some of these tips help you create a more pleasant and functional home office too. Contact Lynteriors at 416-721-6217 if you have questions or need help. Lynteriors is here for you.