This week, I focused on fusing my artist and lighting creator skills. I found a solution to reduce the glare from the table light I made earlier this month.
In the video, you will see how I used another layer of foundational material. I did this to reduce the glare from the lightbulb yet allow some of the light to shine through in a unique way that you don’t typically get from table lamps.
You also see the sliver of clearer light that I start to create to make things interesting. I think the clear light signifies the light at the end of the tunnel for those in that manifestation and professional development space.
Below is a link to the video coming up on YouTube on 17th February.
And here is a sneak peek of what you will see.
Here is a link to the video due to be posted on 24 February showing my thoughts on the type of trim and what I plan to do next time.
This video explains why I started creating and making items to help virtual working professionals stage their on-camera backgrounds to emanate meaning about how they work with people, on projects, and in programmes, so they can confidently always feel proud to switch their cameras on.
This week I worked in an amazing training room up in Scotland.
The beautiful and comfortable meeting space was on the Mezzanine and considerately designed by an architect. It had beautiful view of the sea.
The materials used for building the structure and decorating were also fascinating.
Some of the walls were made of painted straw board and massive bricks of pink salt, which gave off a beautiful light, and it felt good for my well-being, too.
I loved that the room had an eco-friendly vibe, which you could see when looking at the painted stringboard. The stringboard walls also gave it an industrial edge, and the painting of the stringboard made it feel a bit more glamorous than if it was left bare.
I loved the pink blocks of salt used in the wall construction. Apparently, there are many benefits to using pink Himalayan salt as a construction material, including its being inflammable, great for acoustics, creating healthier indoor environments, and reducing pollution.
The design and materials are fascinating because salt bricks are used a lot in spa salt rooms (spaces I used to know well).
From this, I began to understand why the space was good for my well-being. https://pin.it/69njtGSGy. I felt nostalgic and joyful when I realised a designer had considerably considered inner wall construction for building, aesthetic, eco, and well-being reasons.
Salt rooms have a range of untested physiological benefits, such as fighting infection, clearing coughs, and reducing stress.
I also liked how they used giant pink Himalayan salt discs to make the table’s legs.
Another innovative feature of the décor and design was the wall of pots that adorned the main wall. This cute crockery collection offered subtle branding for the business but, most importantly, emitted creativity, camaraderie, and cosiness.
The wall of themed crockery, I imagine, acts as a fantastic backdrop for when they are doing virtual meetings.
Overall, because of the many innovative features I found in this training room, it is one of the more remarkable spaces I visited to facilitate learning workshops this year.
Visiting this space, this week helps to justify integrating more natural elements in decor items in the future. Potentially looking at new ways to integrate pink salt into my making and shelf decor items. I shall also look at collections of items with small words that buyers can use on their walls for more meaningful virtual meeting backdrops.
This week I was delivering professional development training and facilitated workshops in Manchester in the north of the UK and back down in London.
Me setting down after leading a one day professional development workshop about successful meetings
On the way back home I noticed how all the HQ buildings in the area had beautiful Xmas trees. Next year I will do a post on the line up of Xmas trees at corporate HQ buildings.
AI generated image
It told me something about how just putting up a Christmas tree in the spacious reception areas of these building is important for converting a sense of arrival and welcoming.
Seeing how the facilities teams of these massive organisation seriously consider the decorations made me realise that when we work from home we must also create our version of the well dressed welcoming Christmas tree for people that join our meetings online in virtual meetings.
My photo of Ashridge house Xmas decorThe beautiful tree in the entrance to the learner’s breakout area at Ashridge House Me using the decor backdrop of Motel One in Manchester
3 top tips for more festive spirit in your virtual and online office scene
Print off a printable Jolly leadership quiz to have some festive fun amongst other managers to bring some cheer to the workplace and available in my Etsy shop this holiday season.
Hang a stocking on your book shelf to signify and mark the festive season has begun and start conversations about being ready for Christmas and build rapport conversations about Xmas gift giving habits
Arrange some baubles on your shelf to give your audience something to break the ice about when joining your online meetings
What will you do decor wise this season to bring cheer to the office and team?
Look up from the main hall at Ashridge house and you will marvel at the amazing craftwork and design choices of those with an eye for style and culture hundreds of years ago.
Fast forward to November 2024 Really love what the brand formally known as Haekles is doing to assert their values around environment and social responsibility. They have changed their name and got new packaging that is not about creating a dressing table ornament. It is about creating a vessel for their product that is compost-able. It makes me love them even Love the smell of this had to take a photo so I can remembered it has Sweet Pea
Overall my visits this week made me notice the extent of my eclectic appreciations, I can be enthralled by ancient design and crafts through to being captivated by 21st century crafting of our cultural practices from brands like Formaly Known as Hackles.
Sleek and sophisticated fittings and Furnishings for Hard Working Zone
Boucle textured seating
Elegant breakout area
Japandi meeting room
Plants bring organic
An Effective abundance of textures
While visiting some London City offices recently, I found some authentic Japandi. Working as a facilitator corporate trainer/ instructor I was able to see how the combination of textures used in the external meeting rooms and breakout area fittings created a captivating and calming atmosphere. Colours are neutral and highlighted by the colours from natural elements such as metals and woods and watery looking glass panels.
A spacious training room with rubberised tableMinimalist and well considered details
Natural wood accents Beautiful combination of natural textures.
If you want to create the Japandi look in your home office here’s five things to remember
Natural elements wood, marble, wool and metal
Paired back details
Double the circulation space for that sense of spaciousness
Juxtaposition of natural textures such as mats verses glosses
Tiny elements of metal craftsmanship to admire
Comment below to share what your favourite elements are in Japandi office or home interiors. Do you like light Japandi or dark Japandi?
Visiting my local hospital I found it enjoyable to pause and explore the art.
Charring Cross Hospital uses art well. The images below are what captured my thoughts this week when I visited the hospital for a check up.
Not only was I mesmerised by the colours, the vibrancy of the paintings, I noticed how easy it was for me to feel calmed and be part of a community of gallery viewers enjoying the art at my local hospital. You saw it, it made you contemplate when when you walk through their corridors or approached the lifts.
David Wiseman’s huge artwork on the first floor of Charring Cross hospitalLovely small artworks on display at Charring Cross hospital in the main entranceThe wide array of artwork at the entrance of the hospital in Fulham
I never noticed the art before, it was a stressful moment for me but the art helped me to feel calmer. But it is a lesson to us all about the role that art could play in our own workspace.
Art is known to uplift, bring joy, elevate, bring hope or help our racing thoughts pause from its meditative transfixing properties.
So don’t forget to include art purchases if you are renovating your own home office and wanting to style your shelves.
Let me know in the comments, how many pieces of art do you have in your home office? How many on your shelves? How much art is on your wall to create an aesthetic virtual meeting backdrop?
If you want to see the art I created small enough to display on shelves, click on this link to browse the art that I sell on Etsy.
The AI created the feature image based on what it read about the blog. The four images above are what I took myself. Other parts of the blog show examples of AI generated images to create design scenarios.
It’s amazing how inspiration for decor can arise in unexpected places.
Some of the gardens and Ashridge house
Intricately carved wood paneling
One of the sitting rooms as Ashridge house, showing beautiful decorative carvings
Hopefully these images give you ideas for moving beyond the straight lines and grid forms in wood paneling for your library decor.
AI created the featured image above after it read my post. I wouldn’t say I liked the first one it chose, but I settled on this one as the colours tied in with the green and gold that I talked about this week. This week, I’m reviewing the different themes in bookshelf backdrop styling that I do for my own shelf in my 9 to 5.
Themes for your backdrops
You can theme your shelf or backdrop beyond the colours of the books. The pictures below show how I have fallen into the trend of colour-coded bookshelves and am working to curate more meaningful staging for myself.
Consider curating talking pieces on your shelves to help you connect with colleagues. Avoid those bland vanilla Items you got because the influencer told you they look great. It might be a good idea to plan your shelf styling. You could take a picture on your phone and get the AI to rehash it to produce a simple outline like the one I did below. This might give you a sense of where the lines of the styling need altering so that they form that V shape or pyramid going across.
Image above based on photo of my bookshelf and the Android AI amended it to produce other stylised versions that I then selected.
Remember that it’s all about your personal branding (the extent to which you, in your backdrop, epitomise the organisation or company brand/ strategy), especially if you are a leader. It is also about your well-being through the social connection that can arise from extended chats about you and your curated collection. So what you place on the shelves should open up tales of your interesting travels, curious pieces of art you bought because you liked what the artist said or the strange way they made their art. There could also be pieces that tell of your scrapes and how you got through things; some examples below have those.
A green themed show. Artwork and all items connect by colours, including what I’m wearing.Caught me in the middle of styling and pointing to placement of newest item. But other items on the shelf have been used to tell stories of fires, favourite cosmetic brands and awards I have won.
A wide angle just after I realised audience thought my bookshelf was a photo I uploaded to teams.After some careful styling this has a white black and gold theme, with lights on.
Whatever you do with your shelves in your 9 to 5 backdrop, ensure they are on message for you. Remember, it is your home, but it also plays a significant role in your personal branding and your potential in the organisation. The way we present ourselves on camera is now as crucial as the attire we used to carefully select for meetings with the boss.
Our backdrop is our new jacket.
What do you think or do about your backdrop for meetings? Think about it if you want your professional personality to shine beyond using the standard images available in Teams and Webex. Zoom, etc.
The WordPress AI generated the featured image above of the gold lighting, after it read my post. I think it’s OK as an illustration of the mood. It seems to understand what my blog post is about home offices and new forms of lighting. But it does not represent what I created, but I’m glad it didn’t use my design. It only used the colours I’m talking about. So that’s what makes it OK.
15cm x 18xm painted skin assembled on table lamp frame.
Last week I wrote about preparing for the design competition, using my inspiration from visits to the design centre in Chelsea and noticing other lighting creators offering their variations of the black and gold lighting theme. This week I can report that i have submitted my work to the competition. Below shows the other images and videos I took of the later part of my process.
Finished two just one more to go. Experimenting with legsThe black and gold lamps lit upLamps in situ on display on my bookshelf
The current lampshade and lighting trend is for big white empires with the gathered version emerging as being a preference.
Above is an array of white neutral lampshades for table lamps in a variety of styles and forms, seen at the Design centre Chelsea during my Wow House visit.
However, please enjoy the feast of table lighting fashions taken from my recent trip to the various rooms in Wow House at Chelsea last week.
This white lighting trend at some areas of the Chelsea design centre appears to echo what I wrote about in my previous posts, especially the one anbout high street table lighting.
As a lampshade maker, I don’t make big white lampshades.
More white drum lampshades
Instead, I specialise in creating small lighting and shade accessories so that they both fit on a shelf system or bookcase arrangement on bedside tables adding a pop of colour, to support shelf styling and staging themes.
I’m here to support those whose tastes for colour are not yet met by monotonous style trends or lackluster supplier management tactics. Did the mainstream lampshade suppliers suddenly say you can have any colour as long as it’s white (just like Henry Ford said about cars in the early 1900s)? I also understand, the plethora of white lampshades might also be down to the minimalist’s quiet assertion and retaliation against the rise of maximalism.
Despite the dominant theme of white lighting, I was pleased to notice more bold and characterful displays of table and ceiling lighting for the home. These seemed to be more fun and cheeky suggesting a personality of their own. Alas, there wasn’t many of the colourful ones to find.
They are rare find indeed. I noticed that the more colourful ones were displayed in the trade shops in the Chelsea Design centre, while a couple of select dark red, purple hand sewn table lamps with or without gathers were thoughtfully placed in the Wow house display.
This was a development from previous years as those with colour in the Wow house previously were looking a bit anemic, washed out. Might we see more colourful table lamps in the Wow house next year?
Update: 1st July. Just Seen Homes and Gardens on Instagram just posted a thought provocation, asking scrollers to consider the whimsical style featuring colourful lamps and various colour palettes Homes and Gardens on Instagram thus we live in hope of the un-bland-ing of ambient lighting pieces.
The main thing to remember when selecting your lighting or designing your lights for ambiance within a colour scheme is to not be pulled in by what is obviously available. Dog deeper for more interesting suppliers. Go for colour drenching, harmonising or coordinating until you are happy that you are making your own mark and showing your personality.
Do you prefer a colourful light for ambient lighting or white lights?
Let me know in the comments, below.
Click on the link to view the colourful lighting I have in my Etsy Shop
Since it’s the end of the month here are links to the previous four weekly posts, just in case you missed them.
On search for design inspiration, I went to the Wow house, down the road from me at Chelsea Design centre. The exhibition is in its third year, which means that I was there at the first Wow house see blog link. But then I had used visiting the Wow house as a tactic to get me out of the house after my pandemic imposed social anxieties.
Now that those wowes are behind me I had a bit more pep in my step as I visited this time. Now, in 2924, I was purposefully looking out for the latest thinking about home office design and where the field is on shelf styling and lampshade trends. This post is about examples of home office styling and accessorising I saw. I have pulled together my top five to comment on.
Study One: Conceptualising Studio Spaces
Subscribers will remember that I love the fantastical in art and this studio by Fosbury Architecture has done it in room design, furnishings and finishings. They have ensured that all work surfaces receive the maximum levels of cosy because every office artefact, tool and piece of equipment is covered by the fabric of the sponsor Dedar. I loved the sumptuous nature of it. It certainly is an answer to the current calling for cosy office or cozy office decor as they say in USA. I later sat in this room with 20 other people when we were on the guided tour.
Conceptual Studio workspace created by Fosbury Architecture for Dedar Nicola Campri and Claudia Mainardi at Wow House 2024
Sitting there in the corner gave me a real sense of belonging and feelings of affinity with the others on the tour. It felt safe, cocoon like. It has given me some ideas about the future of training room design, that I have long complained to my colleagues about. Perhaps training room studios could be like this and the cocooning is the butterflies that will emerge from their day of corporate training.
Study Two: Functional Reality.
There were also office and study displays to be found in the showroom windows adjacent to the exhibition. The example below from Ligne Roset. This shows the reality of what people tend to buy. I do love the warmth of a dark walnut wood. It might be the new burled wood style that is coming in.
Study Three: Global Style Influences
East meets west. Japan has an influence in the room set up below. By Anahita Rigby’s cool office with a strange zen yet industrious feel. It was one of the rooms that enjoyed sitting in for a long time just absorbing all the textures.
Below are videos of lighter versions of studies.
Study four: How to elegantly place your desk in your bedroom
The exquisite desk arrangement in the Courtyard bedroom of Veere Grenney showing restrained elegance for Schumacher.
Veere Grennay’s elegant desk creating a study area in the Courtyard Bedroom
I think you can hear other viewers giggling about another room, they were hinting at how one of the rooms reminded them of a cosy country cottage. I left the sound on as the music seemed to find to fit the calm feel of this desk arrangement.
Study Five: Library Decor on Stage
And lastly putting on a grand appearance (his background explains why) is the Library by Andrea Benedettini. He used to be a Ballet Dancer and the Library was inspired Swan Lake and theatre curtains. I love the ballet and have seen many productions and this library setting was significant for me as it including floor to ceiling curtains to cover the walls. Andrea Benedetti is said (by the tour guide) to have been inspired by stage curtains for the wall draping. It was beautiful. I love that the overall look acknowledges the importance of presenting those bookshelves. And this room is a great exemplar for shelf styling cabinetry integrated into a room.
Andrea Benedettini Library
Overall I found I was full of wonder at the wow house. I was struck by how every study room appeared to use fabric as a wall covering. There was also deeply considered treatment of the ceilings as a feature or complement the room
Metal tended to feature in the lighting for all office desks and shelves so this might influence what I do with future lighting collections too.
Art was another big feature for shelf and desk displays, with nearly every room acknowledgeing the important role that art plays for personalising the space and conveying the inhabitant’s unique personality. I particularly loved how in the Martin Moore kitchen with Studio Vero (Romanov Brihi and Venetia Rudebeck) they purposefully curated and displayed green and organic themed art for shelves in their kitchen. It complimented the beautiful green and black marble surfaces they used, to make the space feel like a place to spend time and truly enjoy.
As a bonus i have added the Colefax and Fowler Morning Room by Lucy Hammond Giles. For some reason this was the room where everyone seemed to just want to sit in and rest and take in the decor.
Colefax and Fowler, Morning Room by Lucy Hammond Giles
What are the best office set ups or studies you have seen? What did you like about the five studies I’ve looked at?
I was watching BBC news while away from home and noticed my eye drawn to what the presenter was saying. It was a psychology Professor in Sheffield interview on BBC.
I noticed how it seemed like he had carefully arranged how his office set up would appear on screen.
When it comes to home office decor themes I discovered that have my preferences.
I don’t like the cold, stark, hard surfaces office look. It might seem futuristic (very 21st century to us Baby-boomers). But those images used to be the standard result of search for office decor or desk style as far back into the early 2000’s. It felt boyish, channeling teenage son lone woolf, building code and gaming in their bedroom and I just couldn’t relate.
To the other extreme I do not like the overtly feminine big frilly country kitchen table, make shift office desk and ramshackle bookshelf disorganised recipe books; propped up iPad against tiny metal pots of lavender look. That was a trend for a while, fitting in with a cottage core or rustic chic.
There is also the girl boss look, I see with some YouTubers which is less chintzy but has neon name signs on white walls and lots of fluffy textures incorporated whether the a macrame wall hanging or stringy plants dangling from shelves or wall (for the backdrop). These are combined with sheepskin covered chairs or armrests. It does give off a dreamy fantasy of what a girl’s world of business could be like (pink fluffy and pretty). It seems to be playing at being in business and those of us women working in corporate or refugees from freelancing know that, it sure ain’t no game. However I get the need to convey the light ethereal fantastical vision contrasting the hard realities of our capitalist system.
Instead, I like a style that that emanates wisdom, elegance and being grounded. The moody and cozy home office style is indeed a theme on Pinterest. When you look at those images you see a bold cohesive comfortable and elegant look.
The cozy home office
Be mindful, though. This look isn’t that shining high polished look that you might find in Dubai, Knightsbridge or Belgravia show houses where our top interior professionals produce. Perhaps akin to what you see in TV show Buying London (Netflix 2024). No, this cozy home office look is somewhere that you and I will feel comfortable doing everyday business because it is as if our friend down the road was the cabinet maker and our interior design pal (old friend from local comprehensive/ grammar school) helped with sourcing of fabrics for the wall and space planning of our furniture.
My work as a corporate trainer/ instructor and coach this week took me for an onsite to our client in their new home in an amazing building. The Arbor Building is in Blackfriars Road in London, UK and it boasts that it is carbon neutral. There are neighbouring buildings and I’m told it is a fossil free development called Bankside Yards which is a major architectural, construction and interiors project feat. I was especially impressed at how beautifully the interiors echoed the sustainability ethos too. See the photos I took below
My return to and finding new uses for the small drum lampshades have sparked fresh creativity and renewed interest.
Currently the empire and coolie (more correctly conical) style of lampshade is all the rage. This created my dilemma, as fewer people were buying the drum shades, especially in the small sizes that I make. And I had made a lot to experiment and sharpen my practice of adding more decorative elements to them like the metal upholstery studs as I’ve always loved that classic look.
But, this week I set on a spree to rediscover what the styling options were for the plethora of small 15cm drum lampshades that I have in store (not all are in the online shop).
When people think about their dream home, they often think about the broad architecture. They might also dream about the interior space, structure and design. But their imaginings often miss considering the tiny decor details like the composition and likely colours needed in styling their shelves, open storage and library bookcases. Instead those finer details are left to chance. Then what we see at best their shelf display is about arranging things neatly. And at worst the shelf seems to curiously be like an exposed front draw with tens (or 100s) of items drowning in layers of sticky dust.
This post gives a few ideas for styling your shelf. It especially shows you how to use pieces of shelf art to anchor the colour scheme and inspire what items should go on the shelf and how to artfully display them so the scene is an amplification of the art.
This bloganuary prompt (what makes a good leader?) made me chip in mid week and roll over to Sunday. We are seeing more reports on successful leaders being able to follow a variety of elements within the organisation. Some of the elements include what their followers say is of concern. Leaders today also must follow guidance and advice from a range of stakeholders. Later you will read how important it is that leaders get the very soft and aesthetic elements right too.
Following rules for shelf styling. Clumping elements in threes, fives or sevens, Maximising the layers, using lighting, botanicals, colour and painting tactically to get an inspired feminine industrious vibe.
Zone into wellbeing elements like designer iconic candles and image on a brochure i liked.
This new year allowed me to reflect on how important our home office decor is. I was encouraged about its importance from recently watching the Jay Shetty conversation with Kelly Wearstler (famous interior designer) on You Tube 2nd October 2023. The messages about decor from their talk (Your space can affect your Mood) that I took away were:
The decor of your home needs to stand out and be distinctive to everyone else’s as so much of our interiors looks the same these days
Beautiful interior decor and careful styling can help to uplift your spirit as well as bring peace and calm
Everyone is looking at our backgrounds in online meetings and trying to make sense of who we are
Picture is of my backdrop in the midst of a shelfie makeover. I was trying to get the books and outline aligned to the obligatory smile shape. Lighting of the bookshelf is also vital several reasons which I shall explain in other postings
Some of the other reading I have done say more. Since doing my interior styling course and reading more about shelfies and office decor, I note they all tend to stress the connections that people make about your decor and your identity. Our office decor then is an important piece of personal branding.
I even stumbled across a couple of old organisation behaviour papers that I shall share later in other blogs with you. These research papers point to the important role of artefacts like office decor on shaping and sending messages about organisation culture.
So this year some of my content will provide helpful hints and tips about home office styling that converts your online meeting attendees into people that start icebreaking conversations that are more meaningful.
Drop me a line. If there is anything particular you would like me to cover in my future posts about home office styling, shelfies, backdrops, cultural artefacts in organisations, then please let me know.
Why did I start designing and making elegant lampshades that soften our office table lamps? Here I recall three parts of a conversation forming reasons why I found it vital to begin this quest and where I am now.
In 2012, I complained to an interior design/ architect friend (I was sharing a Chelsea office with) that we saw too much hard surfaces in office decor (albeit for durability and health and safety) when organisations should be enacting the softening up to echo their espoused prioritisation for well-being and more human side of organisational life.
Even though we are post-COVID, more of us are out and about. Home is still proving to be an important part of our lives. I realised that I’d been taking home for granted and gave myself a few moments to stop and think about what random (not normally thought of) items make my home my home. Some images are below with captions that explain.
This week I had time off from my 9 to 5 and immersed myself in making while fighting a head cold. But determined to stock up for my Etsy shop and develop the idea of a decor solution for people working from home. Realised that being a lowly crafter, artist and maker has advantages for pushing the art envelope further to improve how businesses work.
Home Office Charm 
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