Thursday, January 28, 2016

Mackenzie Page Interiors-Office Inspiration


When I decided to go out on my own and give Mackenzie Page Interiors a full time shot, one of the things I kept hearing from all the "advice givers" out there was to keep my overhead as low as possible for as long as possible. This is a sentiment I totally resonated with, and thus my decision to carve a space out of our guest room for my office for the time being. It's ideal in some ways---Hello early morning emails in my PJ's! It's not ideal in others, but I am making due.

This has not stopped me from dreaming up ideas for my own office once I get to the point where having one makes sense. I am more traditional with a twist in my own style at home, but when I have my own office some day, I love the idea of doing mostly contemporary with some antiques mixed in, like this gorgeous mirror at Aerin Lauder's office shown below. I'm very inspired by both her office and the Moda Operandi headquarters, also based in NYC.






Aerin's Lovely office above. I love how she so effortlessly mixes modern pieces with vintage and well thought out pops of color with clean and crisp neutrals.

And Moda Operandi's offices. Those window frames painted in a high gloss oxblood---I cannot even. SO GOOD.



Love their unabashed use of pink.



Also loved this crisp and clean conference room I saw on pinterest.

So, For my office, I think I'd start with sealed concrete floors in a grey color.
Like This.


Followed by walls painted in a whispery pink, like Farrow & Ball's Middleton Pink.


I think when you're a lady boss it's the perfect opportunity to throw caution to the wind and just go for it with the pink.

Speaking of going for it, I think I'd do several rugs made of bound leopard carpet.




Most of the surfaces in the office I'd keep simple, but for my own desk, I love this one by World's Away. How could you not be creative on a burlwood and brass surface?


I saw this chair on ABC Carpet and Home's website about a year ago and I am still coveting it for my desk chair. It's price tag was a tad steep for me (keeping that overhead down, remember?) but I think I could recreate the look by recovering this Ikea chair in a pink velvet and spray painting the base in a rose gold!



For the rest of the office surfaces, I like a bunch of these simple Ikea tables put together.

I love the idea of having these chairs pulled up to the Ikea tables. I love the classic style, and reinvented with the hunter green or navy, they are perfection!




Every design office needs a little seating area, and I love this tufted pink velvet settee from Anthropologie.




I love this more contemporary coffee table, also from Anthropologie to offset the traditional and girly factor of the settee.




On the desks, I love the thought of using several of these lamps from Ikea. A great price, and I love how they bring out the use of both brass and nickel.


I envision my office as one big room and I'd love to have an island for meeting with clients and laying out fabric stories. I would do two of these marble topped islands from Jet.com.



For seating around the island, I love two or three of these Serena & Lily counter stools. I like how they add a fun Frenchy element!


Over the islands, I'd place a few of these pendant lights from Ikea.


On the wall, I'd add two fun vintage mirrors---Love this pair from Circa Who.



I'd also do some fun retro photographs on the wall---maybe this one of Babe Paley taken by Slim Aarons, available on Photos.com


Here's hoping I'll get to make this dream a reality someday soon!