apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

What is your Inspiration for your office?
My last office space was all white and light, and my new home is too - so this time I thought I'd go the exact opposite! I wanted to create a sleek, chic, dark, moody space. Luckily for me, I secured the studio through a great project called Renew Newcastle which finds short-term creative uses for empty buildings in the CBD - and as this building will be demolished in a few years as part of a new development, I let loose by doing all the things a 'normal' landlord situation probably wouldn't agree to: such as painting in a deep charcoal tone with doors and trimmings in high-gloss black.

What is your favorite element of your office?
My desk chair. Originally intended to be a ‘guest’ chair – the gloss black ornate Louis is so gala I couldn’t resist using it as my everyday chair instead. It feels like I’m perched on a throne! It’s a one-of-a-kind designed and produced piece – thanks to the creative duo of interiors guru Fyona Coulton and divine upholsterer Karen Lockwood of Urban Upholstery. The funky fabrics were sourced online – Amy Butler’s ‘Retro Martini Mustard’ and a vintage black and white un-named design found on ebay. (Which I'm beginning to think may be original Florence Broadhurst 'Japanese Fans' - or reproduction at least...)

What is the biggest challenge of your office?
The building is a former optometrists clinic - so every room has a sink in the corner! I worked furniture around mine and added a black mosaic splashback to try and make it part of the room.
Also, as the main walls were exposed brick I didn't want to spend the time painting into every mortar and crack - so instead I covered up these walls with oversized canvases in textured grey linen to match the wall colour. They're now also functional pin-boards.
Finally, the clinical blue carpet needed to be solved - it remains beneath a shag black rug from ebay that was big enough to cover the floor space.

What was is your proudest DIY?
The feature 'artwork' gets a lot of compliments - but it's actually just a $8 piece of fabric from IKEA stretched across an old canvas that I painted back into with yellow to customise to the scheme.

What was the biggest indulgence with respect to your office?
I have a huge fetish for homewares - lampshades and vases in particular and had these two musts on my shopping list. 
It took me a while to find the biggest round pendant shade I could ('Marilyn' from Freedom - sprayed yellow) - but it really completed the space, hung low.
The gorgeous retro yellow glassware from an antique center added the final touch, in organic shapes to compliment the canvas artwork.

Tim has a great blog that has heaps of exciting behind the scenes details of his work, you can visit it here.

Thanks Tim!