A home office is different than that blah cubicle at work. Often (or in theory) the home office also functions as a guest bedroom, so no one wants it to feel like cookie-cutter cube hell.
Enter 30A Home (1106 N.W. 50th; 286-3153), where it’d be pretty much impossible to find something that isn’t fabulous. For a desk, consider the very one 30A Home uses: a large, industrial metal table. Shoppers can personalize the table with different fabric toppers (one client just had the same table topped in black faux snakeskin).
For behind that cool new table, how about some beetles? Yes, as in bugs. Except these are jewel-bright and mounted in a sleek, modern shadow box. The mounted insects are part Christopher Marley’s “Pheromone” series. The bugs leave behind that creepy-crawly feel to become artwork through Marley’s designs. Check out the beetles, butterflies and holy-crap-huge walking sticks.
One way to keep a home office from venturing too far into “office” territory is with cute storage. No Regrets (9219 N. Penn; 753-5485) has moved a few stores down in Casady Square to a larger, brighter space and carries a ton of products perfect for the home office.
For storage, I love Scout collapsible organizing bins. They’re bright and come in lots of different sizes — so much better than a metal filing cabinet. On top of a desk, I really like the heavy cardboard boxes (with lids) by Semikolon. Each has a spot to stick a label and the colors are preppy-cool: green, blue, red and brown.
It looks less like an office and more like a cluttered discount retailer.
No Regrets can personalize a ton of desktop pieces (like adorable calendars and mouse pads by Dabney Lee), and you can’t leave without picking up one of the Jonathan Adler animal erasers. They’re fat and bright in shapes like a turtle, whale or elephant. I’d definitely never erase anything with them, but I’d love to line them up on a shelf.
Finally, make things cozy at Designer Rugs (7118 N. Western; 842- 9000) with pillows, rugs and throws.
I loved the Tutti throws in a rainbow of solid colors and the Madeline Weinrib batik-print pillows in tropical oranges, pinks and browns. For something really unique (and a ton of fun), check out the Working Class Studio puffy frames. They’re exactly what they sound like: stuffed fabric “frames” that would be perfect around a bulletin boards.
Photo by Mark Hancock
