A Design Gift

I recently completed a fun office makeover for a young professional couple.  The wife emailed me in December and asked if I would redesign her husband's office at a local university.  She planned to surprise him for his January birthday.  This would be the second design project with this sweet couple, so I was excited for the opportunity to work with them again.

As you can see in this photo from our initial consultation, the husband  brought in  items that he planned to use for decorating his office, but just never quite got around to arranging them:

My first job was to assess the space and gather information from the client so that I could suggest what items should stay, and what needed to be removed.  The office had recently been painted, so we would work with the existing color.

The husband's wish list was short:  he wanted a small conference table for student meetings and a new, comfortable desk chair.

After taking the necessary measurements and snapping a few photos, I was ready to get to work on the design plan!  

Once we agreed on the plan, I began sourcing the items we needed.  My first stop was The Red Collection, one of my favorite consignment stores, where I found most everything we needed at great prices!  I shopped Craigslist and found the remaining items on my list.

One month after our initial meeting, I met the wife again for the installation! This is the surprise her husband found when he returned to his office (Happy Birthday!):

Most of the accessories that you see throughout the space were his.  I found the desk chair and the small 36-in round table in the foreground, at the consignment store.  The two banker's chairs were found on Raleigh Craigslist from a lawyer's office who was remodeling.  I picked up the succulent plant on his desk from a design studio.  We removed one bookshelf and moved the remaining two into the recessed area behind his desk, which was a great space saver!

I found the credenza and the lamp at The Red Collection consignment.  The framed art pieces all belonged to my client, so I just needed to find the best way to display them.  A gallery wall above his credenza was the perfect solution!

The small 36-in round table and the banker's chairs are working beautifully for teacher/student conferences.  The rug is another Red Collection find.

 I picked up the live plant on the table from Lowes.  

My favorite  part of this project was the reveal!  I wish I had turned on my camera as soon as the husband walked into his "new" office!  His happy reaction is just one of the reasons  I love my job so much!  He was beyond excited and I hope this makeover will add a little cheer to his workdays! 

I am looking forward to working with them both again next month as we  begin Phase 2 of their own home design project.