Hi Design Lovers! How are you holding up?
I’m doing fine except that every other day, in the evening, I start thinking I am coming down with the virus. Then the next morning I wake up fine and feel stupid. :-)
Anyone else?
My job is really kind of rolling along at a steady pace. I’m not seeing clients face to face anymore or doing job site visits, and except for two projects underway, most just wrapped up or shut down for a break.
The part of my job that is still clicking along at a steady pace are my Designed in a Click, email consultations.
They keep coming in and the questions on my blog keep rolling along, so I haven’t noticed a real change in pace yet, except that I’m doing it all from my office at home.
Today, I’m sharing a resimercial type project, done via email, that will have you wishing for a work situation like this, whether you are working from home right now or not.
Here’s the entry / reception area for this resimercial office suite that houses executive and professional co-working spaces.
Have you heard that term, resimercial, with reference to interiors before?
I have here and there, and my office used to be down in an area with lots of these types of offices.
Resimercial is basically a blending of a work/home like setting. In this case, and like on the street where I used to office, homes had been converted into offices and were functioning as businesses.
I was really excited to get these questions from the owner of this property, as she had done a great job so far with the interior finishes and furnishings.
It had been renovated for executive / professional co-working, like attorneys, psychologist, accountants, etc. The room she needed help with the most, was the large conference room. This room is meant to hold board meetings and real estate closings. It needed to be impressive.
It was very professional looking and tastefully designed. She just needed a little help finishing things up.
That’s where my Designed in a Click service can really come in handy, as most designers are mainly interested in big, luxury projects and don’t often offer such small, bite-sized Q&A type services.
My blog contains affiliate links. Any purchases, at no additional charge to you, render me a small percentage, are most appreciated and make this blog possible. :-)
Conference room in a traditional resimercial building with a fireplace and live edge conference table.
The navy rug offers sound absorption and contrasts nicely with the live edge wood table top. Both of these items were to be kept in the finishing of the design.
The fireplace lends a residential quality in this conference room, along with the French doors and wainscoting.
This room has a comfortable but very professional vibe. It’s perfect for meetings in this co-working resimercial building.
Here was the backstory on this space.
This is a house, on the historic registry in the state of New York. The owner’s style leans towards modern and she was trying to balance that with the historic New England vibe (hence, the antiques sprinkled in).
“I have taken the room as far as I can and need help polishing the look. Everything in this room will need to stay except the dining chairs, mantel decorations, small buffet under the TV and the antique cabinet.
The table is a live edge table, 40 x 120. The ceiling height is 9 ft. The paint on the fireplace is Benjamin Moore Blue Note and the walls are Benjamin Moore very light blue. The metals through the building on the doors handles, hinges and sconces are oil rubbed bronze.”
Question 1 - Lighting
She needed sconces, you can see the white discs on the walls where sconces were to be placed, covering up the electrical wired there.
She also wanted a fixture over the conference table, it had been wired for a chandelier. I needed to be mindful of viewing the tv for presentations, so she didn’t want it to drop down low over the table.
Here was my response….
I like going brass here, it's such a nice accent with the blues in the room and you have the gilded frame on the art. It would be nice to repeat that.
I like these fixtures (pictured below) together, the shades are similar and they have a simple but traditional look. I like their clean lines. I am not too fond of fussy traditional items in corporate work environments. I think a tailored traditional is nice.
This sconce, below, is substantial in size. You could do a single, but with the locations I see, this would be appropriate (except for the ones behind the tv, those should be painted to match the wall and ignored).
The chandelier is 22" high, so it should be fine for tv viewing. You could check at installation and drop it a few inches from the ceiling to have a little chain there.
This 22” high x 28” diameter chandelier would fit fine up high over the conference table. It relates to the sconces in style, while not matching exactly.
Brassy sconce with tailored traditional style.
Question 2 - Chairs
She wanted new chairs here. These were heavy and hard to move. She liked a more modern look, but didn’t know if it would be appropriate.
My response….
I love going modern here. These will be comfortable and look very current.
I like the white leather, I looked at black or gray but they just made the room look dull. Also, looked at a caramel leather, but your table is already a similar color so I didn't want everything in the middle of the room to be that one color tone.
I like how the white is crisp and relates to the trimwork in the space. (Look at how fabulous the white leather Eames chairs look in the current season's Shark Tank.)
This first option is from Knoll, really good quality, but Crate and Barrel has an inexpensive option. There are other brands with similar styles too.
Knoll white leather desk chair
Crate and Barrel white leather desk chair
By the way, if you’re looking for a new office chair for your home right now, THIS DESK CHAIR is getting rave reviews and is on sale. Anything Herman Miller, Knoll, etc. is well researched and built for ergonomics and will do wonders for your back if you are sitting a long time in a desk chair.
Question 3 - Curtains
She needed to darken the room for viewing the TV.
“I want a high quality velvet or silk (not sure about the sun though) and take them up to the ceiling and outside the casings. Thoughts? Color and style?”
My response….
Navy velvet would be nice. I like that it would relate to the rug and define the windows. Maybe a velvet that has a small texture to it. You'd have to get cuttings to see if the color worked and then find a local workroom that could make them.
There are shops on Etsy too, but I think window treatments are best done locally. They can supply the rods, install, etc. You can buy the whole package through them, including the fabric.
Here’s the type of velvet I would look at.
Question 4 - Artwork
Her husband had purchased the art and it needed to stay, but she was wondering about the gold finish of the frame and if it worked in the room and how it would work with the lighting.
My response…..
The artwork is nice. I like the gilded frame and the traditional motif. As I mentioned above, a brassy finish on the lighting will relate to that.
Wrapping Up….
She loved the champagne gold twiggy wallpaper I had done in a dining room alcove. She wondered if she could do the same here behind the TV.
I'd either paint the back wall to match the dark blue on the fp wall above the wainscot there, or go with a vinyl grasscloth wallcovering in that same color.
I think it would be okay to paint and put the money more toward comfortable seating. Since the niche is covered a lot by the tv, I think you couldn't appreciate that twiggy patterned wallcovering that much there. Also, I like tvs on dark surfaces, it camouflages their big black mass.
This console would be nice under the tv. I think it just needs a heavier piece there to balance it. I like the clean lines here with the traditional styling.
Finally, if you want something on the wall where the antique piece is, you could do an open console of some kind, below.
With this one, it brings in the brass and white that will already be in the room and is a clean style that doesn't compete with anything. It would be a nice place for a few accessories or maybe a tray of drinks, etc. It would look good with the sconce I selected, above it.
Here are all the pieces pulled together on a storyboard.
She was a bit concerned the chandelier was too small for the space so I did a quick sketch, to scale, to show her how it would relate to the table size. In this case, it is something that will add detail at the ceiling, not really relate to the table like in a dining room.
This email consultation service helped her finish things up with this resimercial project and gave her a definite direction on how to proceed.
If YOU need some design direction on a room you are struggling with, maybe I can help you too. :-)
I’ll be sharing more of these in upcoming posts, so subscribe to my blog to see how these design dilemmas are addressed.
If you are a designer and now, in this unsettling time of the virus and isolation, are wanting to try out an email design service yourself, check out my Guide here. I’ve got 22 pages of tips, best practices, examples, and possible pitfalls that I’ve dealt with over the years of offering this service.
At $15, it is affordably priced to help if you’re trying to add in a new remote type service into your business model.
Please pin this to Pinterest to help me share how these consultations can help! :-)
