To me, the desk is just crying out to be painted white.

And maybe the file cabinet replaced with a painted metal one.

This looks like such a fun place to decorate. Great job on the chair. I love how it relates to the molding. If you ever do decide to change the walls, a light silvery/lavender/blue would look great.

I agree - maybe the trim white, as well to brighten and cheer up the space. The yellow isn't so bad and I think highlighting the trim will really glam it up, as well.

Hello AT, My home office needs help.

1. I think the yellow just looks dark because of the dark furniture.

2. While I do love the chair, it doesn't work with the desk. Is there anyway you could get a new desk? One of those clear acyclic desks would look really nice (if someone has a link.)

3. How about getting vintage wood ones and painting them white or some other light color? Or if you got a new desk, I would paint the dictionary stand white and have the vintage wood shelves stay wood. :\

4. I do like anglepoise (sp?) lamps on desk, especially I think the nice clean look would make your office look less cluttery. But I am not sure if that would be enough light. How about a cleaner desk lamp and a floor lamp behind the dictionary stand?

5. I love the mannequin. I think you should lose the hats and the little notes and just keep it very simple. It's okay if it is a little tattered.
As for art, I would place it inside the molding. Get three big frames (at least 11X14) with a mat for a picture about 8X10, three similar photos that speak to you. And hang them in a trio. Dick Blick has some cheap frames with mats.
Or I would use a bulletin board for behind the computer and two pieces of art in the other ones.

6. I think a standing mirror would look great and go with the mannequin and would seem less crowding.

I would check out See Jane Work for ideas. They have some great stuff that really easily lighten up a dark place.

I love your home office. I like the color, I like the wood giving warmth and the white chair with the lovely upholstry look quite well put together. I think your design sensibilities are in the right track. Don't paint the desk white and don't change the file cabinet in metal - it would make the space look colder, which I am sensinsing is something you'd rather stay away from. I agree with the first comment to have a small rug under the chair - a sisal with a nice leather edging would look lovely. I see that the pattern of wood if different and sorto divides the room, but I think the rug would also bring it all together. Love the wall color and regarding artwork, I would put 3 frames same size (as the one you have hung in the middle) and put them one on top of the other - especially on the framing behind the tiny bookcase. In the middle one above your desk the most is 2 on top of each other....

You know what, actually, I think the best thing for your space is to just give me that chair. ;)

I absolutly love that yellow!!!

Paint the trim, it will make the wall pop. If you arent using the dictionary stand, can the manequin sit atop that? Almost a tall art pedastal?

Then either tack the existing mirror centered inside the left hand moulding - The moulding willl act like an exagerated frame - I have a cheap kmart mirror i was going to trash until i propped it in the spot and realised the moulding framed it nicely (I put a small vanity table under mine - you could put a short bookcase)

If your worried about more wood, what about some of the umbra floating shelves that have been posted here before?

I love this office so much just the way it is! The only things I would change are the very small print on the wall and the mirror.

The dictionary has got to stay. It adds gravitas. Good luck painting that trim, if you decide to. You can goop that up so fast it's not funny. Put the mirror on the inside of a closet door where it belongs. The dummy just might be what makes that space you, so decorate it as you wish. (No double entendre intended.)

I'd move the desk so it's in front of the window. If you don't need a desk with drawers, get a lighter glass and metal table or desk (Ikea sawhorses and top) A nice rug under the desk/chair would define that space as work.

Then, build low bookcases along the other wall, painted the same color as the wall. Maybe one could be more like a seat, with a hinged top and storage underneath, and a cushion on top.

And if you're waking up to look at a work station, think about getting a screen to section that part of the room off, otherwise you'll feel like you're never away from work.

What I really want to see is a big white bookcase in that corner to lighten things up and add a little height. And maybe re-cover the mannequin in white fabric?

I like the yellow, but because of the lighting, it looks darker and greyer in the photo than it really is. Therefore, you need more light. I also love the soft look of the wall trim matching the wall. Because of the light color, the trim stands out well without being too intense. Better lighting should bring out the effect even more.

Your chair made me smile. Don't know why, but I like it for that.

I love the motley feeling that comes from the mix of painted wood and natural wood. I'm not sure that white painted bookshelves are a good idea, since they tend to show dust more than other furnishings. Painting something else white might be a better idea to maintain the feel if you go for wood bookshelves. If you're reliable about dusting, the white bookshelves are an easy solution tho... make your decision based on what you will keep up.

The mannequin does not really stand out or help add character to the space right now. Better lighting for her is where I'd start. Then improve the color balance on the accessories if lighting doesn't improve things enough. She's really quirky and fun, so only get rid of her if you discover you loathe her. I wouldn't recover her, since that style is a classic department store look for a reason. Very easy to change her appearance, and she'll never clash with what she wears.

1. Agree about the need for a rug to demarcate space. I think that will make the biggest difference.
2. Personally I don't like the chair...but maybe with a rug the look would be more appealing...
3. Staring at a wall. If I can avoid it, I always like positioning my desk so I'm not staring at a wall. I'd also prefer not being able to see the screen of the monitor from my bed... Could you turn your desk so that it is perpendicular to the wall? Your back to the window? It might make the space cozier.
4. Bookcase. I love glass-fronted book cases. Maybe replace your dictionary stand with a taller larger bookcase. That would have room for the dictionary and the mannequin on top.
5. Lighting. I'd add a task-light and use the current lamp (or something smaller) as ambient cozy light for the corner of the room.

I adore this wallcolour, even with the slightly greyish cast, I think that's what makes it work with the lavender of the chair.

I like the chair with the existing desk, but I would paint the wooden filing cabinet white, and put some beautiful knobs on it (Anthropologie has great ones). I think this will help to tie in the chair.

RE the lovely mannequin, I would take everything off her, then find a beautiful silk scarf that incorporates the yellow, lavender, a bit of white, and some browns/neutrals and have a bit of fun tying it around her neck. Keeping it very simple will allow you to look at it and remember your mom in the nicest of ways.

RE the mirror: Perhaps something with a chunky white painted frame would work? Or maybe gold gilded?

RE the storage: Perhaps a low built in bench or storage cabinet that you could put a cushion on top of? Something similar to the LACK bookcase from IKEA (but on it's side)

If you're thinking of adding curtains, something like this could be beautiful and help to further tie in the colours
http://www.reprodepot.com/mk19926021.html

I also agree with the rug idea a few others mentioned.

OK, must tear myself away from the computer now. Have fun designing such a beautiful room!

I do love that chair there. It's somehow very evocative of some feeling, but of what I can't precisely say. It makes me think differently about such chairs and wonder how one would look and feel in my place.

I think the mannequin is too cluttery there, even if it didn't have all that stuff on it. Unless it inspires you while you're working, I'd move it.

I love those walls.

Perhaps paint some of the 'negative' space so they look more like frames? And I do think you need furniture of different shades of color - it can be wood, just a different shade of wood.

OK, Joy, there you have it: paint the desk, don't paint the desk, move the desk, replace the desk, paint the walls, paint the trim, leave the walls alone, paint the file, don't paint the file, replace the file, paint the bookshelf, don't paint the bookshelf, replace the bookshelf, move the bookshelf, build a bookshelf, recover the mannequin, paint the mannequin, leave the mannequin as is, move the mannequin, spotlight the mannequin. The chair makes the room, the chair isn't working, send the chair to jgee. Got that? Good! OK, who else has a problem?

Actually, Joy, you can go in any of several directions, you just can't go in every direction, and certainly not all at the same time. Your wall color is fine, and your trim is interesting enough without the fancy paint job, so leave the walls alone. Sure, plain, square panels might be OK accented with white paint--I say might--but with your room's re-entrant corners, & 3 panels at that, a contrasting paint job will likely take your room way beyond "cheerful" into out-of-control-manic. Now I don't know about you, but when I'm trying to write, I have a hard enough time concentrating without an hyperactive paint scheme screaming "Look at ME!" No, plain one-color walls are good, especially with such a handsome, sophisticated color.

Still, handsome or not. I wouldn't call your wall color "cheerful", not, at least, judging by what it looks like on my monitor. Not, as I said, that it's unattractive. In fact, it looks very good with the warm wood tones of your desk & file. And it also looks fresh & crsip with the your white chair & its contrasting upholstery. So far, so good.

The problem comes with the the relation between the straight-arrow, no-nonsense style of your desk/file/bookcase, and the flirty, curvaceous chair. Individually, they're fine, and they each work equally well with the walls, but together, they remind me of Joe DiMaggio & Marilyn, and you know how well that turned out. One or the other has to go.

If you decide to scratch the cheerful bit and go in for Serious Writing, send Marilyn to the other room, get a dark-wood chair & the biggest most serious, square-framed mirror you can afford and hang it--don't lean it--dead center above the desk for a big architectural effect. If you can't afford a big-deal mirror new, find a big old multi-pane window in a rough chipped-paint finish, get yourself a glass cutter & cut up a few of those cheap mirrors & fit them into the panes, send the little picture to the other room with the chair, add a serious rug, switch the file & the bookcase, ditch the hats, put the mannequin on the file with a small uplight below her, get a better lamp in a dark bronze & presto, you're Doris Kearns Goodwin.

If you'd rather be Marilyn, or you want to go the cheerful route, then it's the dark wood tones that need to hit the road, so make a tailored cover for the table out of yellow--real yellow, not dirty yellow--fleece. Yellow velvet or yellow felt or canvas would also be attractive, but fleece is easy to toss in the wash. Make a big gusset right in front for your legs, & inverted pleats at the corners, then add a big border at the bottom edge--maybe a double line of white sew-on tape, maybe (if you're feeling ambitious) a Greek key design. Basically, ask yourself: What would David Hicks do?, and if you don't know, look him up. If you're not up to painting your wood file & shelves--buy white metal ones--files are like $19 at KMart--and do the same thing as above with the mirror, but this time it's shiny white except for the corner panes, which you spray--lightly--with translucent auto paint in whatever the blue counterpart of Candy Apple Red is. The white lamp can stay, but you probably need a real working lamp anyway, so get one in white. Add a grass rug & bind it in blue, or if you've taken a pass on sewing the Greek key border on the tablecover, paint the Greek key border in dull blue & white on the rug. This time, the little picture can stay, and so can the hats. And now you're all set to write like Anita Loos.

At any rate, whatever you decide to do, the first thing is to decide which approach you want to take: Joe or Marilyn. Then it's just a matter of getting rid--in the visual sense, not in the yard-sale sense--of anything that doesn't contribute to that particular aesthetic. Basically, you want to follow the method Michelangelo used when he began roughing out a sculpture from a giant block of white marble. As he explained to the Pope, "It's easy! The finished sculpture already exists inside this block, so all I have to do is get rid of everything that doesn't look like David."
MAGNAVERDE.

Thank you, all, for your excellent suggestions. I'll be busy this weekend trying them out.

One general, puzzling question: when you have a large desk like this, what scale works for a lamp? To me this one looks too small. I tried CB2's Bauhaus lamp (http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=120&f=3795 -- it's great in person) but it seemed too big. Maybe a counterpoise is the answer, although task lamps don't offer the ambient light i also crave. There once was a Tolomeo lamp with a translucent shade, but I can't find it anywhere.

The room gets lots of nice natural light during the day, so I perhaps I can manage just with task lighting.

Why not hang two long mirrors to the left and right of the desk (in the center of each molding panel)? Basically, flank the desk with two mirrors for balance and paint it white, get a white filing cabinet that can fit under the desk (better yet, paint a small filing cabinet bright yellow to relate to your walls and put it under the desk), and you are done.
RE the light fixture, the pipe in the corner provides a perfect camouflage for a cable... you could easily put a hook in the ceiling and hang a globe style light fixture and then just run a white cable behind the pipe and plug it in behind the desk. A hanging lamp would show off the wonderful height of the room. I would go pretty big, and opt for a globe style to counteract the squareness of the desk.

I agree that painting the trim white will make this space look amazing... it is such a classic look and will tie into that beautiful white chair you have.

A suggestion about lighting... pick out any lampshade you like (drums look really nice like this, i did it in my living room and everyone who comes over just loves it), then get a really long corded socket from a lighting store (like the ones on Canal St, which is where I got mine, IKEA also makes them), then put a swag hook in the ceiling by where you want the lamp to hang, and one all the way in the corner. attach the lampshade to the socket and swag the cord.

hopefully you have a little extra of that delicious paint color so you can paint the cord that color where it hits the wall (obviously, leave the rest white so it blends with the ceiling). plug the other end into an outlet and voila! fantastically gorgeous and extremely affordable pendent lamp.

I also really love the idea of putting the mannequin on the dictionary stand. It really elevates it to an art status that way :)

Good luck! Please send in after photos!

I have no advice on any of your points, unfortunately, but I think the chair looks EXCELLENT.

i'd advise dealing with the wire clutter in some manner (i.e. hooking it underneath the desk.)

but otherwise i really like your home office!

Thusly...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a286/MAGNAVERDE/desk--stacydeskafter1.jpg