Whichit: Design | Re-decorate Your Home Office

'Don't take your work home' obviusly doesn't work for everyone. With a laptop, computer, or just a pile of papers, the home office environment should be comfortable, cozy and well lit.

With inspiration of creativity & renewal that London Design Festival brings with it, my blog post is dedicated to improving your workspace design. There are a variety of interior design styles but I will choose to focus on the 4 leading workspace styles. I will ask you to leave your opinion and voting on the query in the end of this blog post…

Which style would you choose to redecorate your own workspace..?

I'm so excited to know your opinion already!

I'm sure many of you have come across pictures of attractive and beautiful work spaces… I'm here to help you achieve the style you desire with a limited budget, and without much of investment.

For this purpose I will recruit the help of the new IKEA catalog, which brings a variety of reasonable priced design solutions, without compromising on their beauty. Ikea managed to generate a surprising buzz around its new 2015 catalog by introducing a colorful and geometric collection which allows you to create a stylish environment, filled with joy and creativity that will make you fall in love with your space.

THE MONOCHROMATIC STYLE

Black & white design is timeless and elegant. When it comes to your working space, the colour balance has a huge advantage, it gives great concealment to the mess which is usually on your desk. Monochromatic color choosing does not limit the choice of your interior design styles, as it could be adapted for a minimalist, modern, cleaned line design, and at the same time could fit a more rich and ornate design, such as a Victorian or Country styles.

Few examples for your monochromatic game: Set the color of the main wall in black paint, wallpaper or chalkboard paint (my favorite). That would be interesting and effective, because it's really brings the focus back to your monitor. In this case, you should choose your main furniture in white, and add a sophisticated black desk lamp like FORSA / HARTE or the cute owls GULORT lamps shade.

Colorful office products look much better if they have a nice contrast. The black RISSLA desk organizer series is perfect since it looks fine and high quality, and its surface can withstand sun exposure, scratches and coffee splits, without losing its color.

Ikea have several monochromatic rugs to fit your space. From geometric patterns, to cowhide texture (not imitation, unfortunately), the monochromatic rug can give a stylish touch, even to the simplest workspace. Check out

STOCKHOLM / LAPPLJUNG RUTA / SILLERUP rugs.

Top picks from Ikea;

ADDING A TOUCH OF COLOUR

You can upgrade each work space by adding noticeable color elements, without significant changing the main furniture. You can choose one main color and add a matching secondary color in a low dose. In this case you should keep your main furniture in a calm color, such as white.

Few items that would do the job: Single colorful chair from REIDAR or PATRIK series is a great way to set your main color touch. PALLRA office storage can add a stylish color and organised your mess at the same time.

Your desk lamp is a brilliant way to add a secondary color… Check HARTE cool pink lamp or GAVIK lamp in various colors.

Another option is to choose really flaky single furniture such as chair or armchair and add a few items in colors that appear in its texture. New SKRUVSTA chair could be. If you are lucky enough to have space for an inspirational couch in your home office, I would defiantly recommend Ikea's geometric PS 2014 pillow series to throw on it. Just pay attention not to overdo with lots of colors… You need to maintain your concentration after all.

Top picks from Ikea;

THE URBAN STYLE

The urban design is very stylish and highly in demand these days. Urban interiors feature non-traditional home materials and design features, often including objects that are more traditionally used in an industrial sense. The Urban style sees the use of galvanized steel, concrete floors, metal siding, exposed beams and unfinished surfaces to create a distinctly modern, bohemian look.

Redecorating your Workspace into an urban style design, could be enjoyable and interesting, since you can rummage through your Grandma's attic and find nostalgic items to upgrade your workspace. If you don't have any luck with warehouse surprises, you can always visit the flea market and of course find similar items that can provide the urban effect in IKEA!

Table with donkey legs is a great start to styling your urban office. LINNMON / ODDVALD desks can properly give the carpenters table's look. HEKTAR pendant lamp with its little brother, HEKTAR spotlight, can give a significant expression in inserting the black iron element. KNODD black bin can perfectly match them.

Rustic wood elements are necessary to complete the urban look. You can count on the new STOCKHOLM wood chair and SKRIBENT book-end to do the job.
Another excellent item which fits the look that we are trying to achieve is the DIGNITET stainless steal curtain wire, which can smartly replace the traditional corkboard.

Your urban workspace is not perfect until you add some unique, non-functional, objects used as urban style features. An old type writer old records as wall decoration, vintage street signs or a vintage fan.

Top picks from Ikea;

THE SHABBY CHIC | COUNTRY STYLE

The look may be unstructured and lacking in formal rules, but this timeless aesthetic can add an effortless elegance to your home office. With handicrafts, salvaged furniture and vintage textiles you don’t have to search high and low for the perfect piece.

Many shabby-chic/cottage style themes centre around the use of shades of white. This is invariably combined with soft dreamy natural or floral-patterns, wonderful pastel blues, greens, creamy peach, and delicate pinks, used with plaids and stripes.

Ikea can easily help you reach the dreamy shabby chic style. You can start with LIATORP or HEMNES desks and add a matching bookcase or shelving unit.

Accessories play a major role in creating the Shabby Chic stile. Add vase with flowres (Lavenders would be my choice), create a unique bulletin board from ornate UNG DRILL by painting it in pastels colors and attaching a corkboard in the back side of the frame. I can promise you it would look amazing!

Your papers and notebooks can be arranged in lovely KVARNVIK office box set. Another must have item is a soft white rug, ADUM round rug would be perfect. If you really want to invest you can add bright soft curtains. Check out INGMARIE floral curtains or basic white light curtains.

It's nice to have a comfortable armchair to let your mind rest from to time to time. EKTORP TULLSTA armchair comes with few fabric patterns, can fit like a glove to your Shabby Chic home office.

Top picks from Ikea;