Tiny Office Project - Space Planning Phase

Working with relatives and friends is something I normally just don't do. I'm fine offering an opinion or some resources, but I feel it is better to keep business separate. However, when my husband asked for help with his new work office, I couldn't exactly say "no." I tried. To start with, his ideas and mine for this space were radically different. Where he saw, "big sectional," I saw "tiny loveseat." Where he saw "$5,000 hydraulic stand up/sit down" desk, I saw "$500 vintage desk."

Needless to say, the project languished. Everyday he had to go into work and use random, leftover furniture that had been placed in his office just so he something in there. Finally he said the words every designer (and wife!) loves to hear - "Do whatever you want. I just want it done."

With that in mind, he did have a few requirements. He wanted the seating area to be as large as possible and either a stand up desk or a desk with a keyboard. I was also stuck with a giant flat screen TV affixed to one wall, and his ergonomic desk chair. One wall of the office is completely windows, which added another element of difficulty to this already challenging space. At left is a photo from the doorway of this challenging space.

With these factors in mind, I had to begin space planning. To give you a sense of scale, the office measures only 10' x 12', so finding small scale pieces was really important. The biggest challenge was the desk. Luckily I found a petite glass and steel number that was not only inexpensive, the perfect size AND had a keyboard tray, but it was also not hideously ugly! (Photo below.)

Now that the I knew the style and dimensions of the desk, I could get to work planning out the rest of the space. In the floor plan below I have a 5' loveseat, two small nesting tables and a 2' wide chair. I did manage to find these pieces, and I will write about them in my next blog post!