Home Office 2.0

Rebecca

Aug 28

3 min read

Thirty spokes converge upon a single hub;

it is on the hole in the center

that the use of the cart hinges.

We make a vessel from a lump of clay;

it is the space within the vessel

that makes it useful.

We make doors and windows for a room;

but it is these empty spaces

that make the room livable.

Thus, while the tangible has advantages,

it is the intangible

that makes it useful.

— Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 11

This was the poem that my guinea pig recited to me while I was sitting in my car taking our 15-minute Discovery Call. I had a feeling the collaboration was going to work out. She was restructuring her business and needed to upgrade her office to reflect where her business was going. She also wanted to create a meditation room.

The home office had served her well the past 10 years, but she needed it to feel more structured and elevated. A place that would convey the support she provides to her clients – clear, disciplined, steady – while also showing her creative side. The deadline was April 1 – ambitious considering we were already in November.

Here is the office before:

We started with discovery, moving the story of her evolving business through the kaleidoscope that is the Happy Eyes framework. She shared the collage she was working on, we swapped poems by our favorite Irish poets and contemplated where to begin with this blank slate. Her home was full of colorful Persian rugs. This was the clear starting point.

A trip to Carpetbeggars just outside Baltimore is less like a shopping trip and more like stepping into a party. After drooling over countless rugs, she was drawn in by this Afghan rug that had what seemed to be a seed pod motif. She marched to the front of the store with 100% confidence that this was the right rug.

Next was the shelving. After careful deliberation, the decision was made to do a wall of built-in’s. Was this going to bust the initial budget? Yes. Did the room need it? Yes. Was she going to regret the decision in 5 years? Nope.

So she went for it.

Handsome shelving in-progress.

Using the Sherwin Williams color fan kinda like a Ouija board, she picked the color Vast Sky. Initially for all the walls, but then decided to put it on the ceiling/built-in wall and keep the walls the same neutral as other rooms in the house. This keeps it calming and coherent with a light and airy feel.

Step-by-step, we worked through each decision. Some independently and others together during what was like an interior design improv jam session. She had fun connecting with a local glass studio to design custom pendants for her built-in shelves. I took on wrangling the desk and chandelier (inspired by the poem above) and gathering intel & quotes for IT equipment.

See the pretty blown-glass pendant light?

The walls were left bare while she gave herself time to feel out what she wanted there. One side of the room is left brain – white boards for strategy and mail pockets. The other side is right brain with the art, books and a window seat. Joining the two sides is a blown-up image of her new logo, created by local graphic designer J. Spence Holman, with a peace lily plant beneath it.

Her logo peeking out to greet clients during Zoom calls. Hello!

Did we meet the deadline? Kind of. It was operational by April 1 and she was able to move back in after camping out at her dining room table, but all the finishing touches all came together in the next few months. Is a room ever “done”? Not really. It will always evolve, but getting it to a place where you can feel free of obvious loose ends when you walk into the room is a good place to be.

My favorite story that she shared: in the morning, she’ll come up to her office, sit on the window seat and stare at the pair of beautiful paintings by her artist friend, Caryn Martin, while drinking her coffee.

THAT IS THE GOAL, my friends.

Awe.

All the parts coming together to form something greater than the sum.