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.
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?
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.
Home Office Charm 
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