A Whole Room Redux: Spare Bedroom to Study

Since we rarely have sleepover guests, our second bedroom was a bit overwhelmed with beds, dressers and two computer areas (one Mac, one PC).

Richard’s big-box particle board desk had collapsed during the move (pictured below, it is standing upright due only to gravity) and I had been working on the same tiny 24″ x 30″ table since I was an undergrad. I had been cruising craigslist for a ‘find’ of a sleeper sofa, but after months of watching the boards, never saw one I trusted.

I had been considering putting one of the computers in an armoire, to close off some of the computer clutter in the room. I found a few candidates but the majority required a lot of unfolding of doors, top and bottom, shuffling around of chairs, and general awkwardness. They all seemed to be made for people who rarely use the computer.

So I kept looking for desks and along the way I bookmarked a rug, a chair, new lamps, and even a sofa. Before I knew it, I built the whole ’study’ from scratch with my browser and had it all delivered to me piece by piece from a variety of different sources.

The Before Shot: One can barely squeeze between the bed & the desk

The After Shot: Open & Organized

Richard’s new desk anchors the left wall with accompanying hutch and matching file drawers. I ordered these direct from Bush furniture for about $600 for the whole set. I loved the ‘Chinese’ armoire (via HomeDecorators.com) because the work surface just folded down. No fussy doors and keyboard drawers to mess with to instantly clean up the room.

Hey there's a Mac in there!

The ‘Chinese’ computer armoire set set me off in a design direction. A comfy, clubby, well-traveled look was what I thought the room needed. Leopard print on the floor, the Chinese Chippendale desk chair from Ballard Designs (a bit of a splurge, but it was my birthday gift) and a very inexpensive (faux) leather ottoman rounded the room out.

The room was small, so of course I planned everything out to scale in Adobe Illustrator before I ordered anything…

Plan for Study

The paint color is Ralph Lauren “Library Mahogany” after an expensive false step with a something that turned out too orange from Benjamin Moore. The drapes are white linen, from HalfPricedDrapes.com. I recommend them for price, but they messed my order up twice and I ended up waiting longer for them than anything else in the room, including the sofa (which took about 8 weeks to arrive). But I’m really happy with their product, they gave the room a great finished look for not much money.

Richard's work area (Complete with Napoleon bust for inspiration when he is conquering virtual worlds)

View From the Door

This antique table had been hidden behind a sofa in the front room, I love that I can see it in full in the ’study’ now. This fantastic lamp was a relief to find on super-duper sale from Horchow.com. I really struggled to find the perfect light for this spot.

The Antique Table

And that’s it. The room went from one that we basically ‘passed through’ to one where we actually hang out.

And since I never tend to FINISH projects completely, there are a few things I need to get too. I want some bamboo shades to layer underneath the drapes… Bright morning sun will clobber you between 8-10 am. And maybe one day we’ll treat ourselves to a small flat screen TV  to go above my red desk, so we can watch from the sofa, but right now… I think we’re good.