I had the wonderful opportunity to head to NYC for an exclusive blogger event at Dwell Studio sponsored by HP. If you have a home office like I do, then chic is NOT the word describe it. It’s more like a whirlwind of books, papers, wires and random kids’ toys. This event was the perfect opportunity to learn some new ways to clear the clutter, get organized and decorate the space for an optimum level of concentration and creativity!
Dwell Studio founder Christiane Lemieux gave us great advice on color, texture and style. Sure I think about those things for the rest of my home, but my office has always kind of been an afterthought. We were asked to bring in photos of our homes offices and I was pleasantly surprised that many of the other bloggers had some of the same issues as me. We were able to print out our photos on the amazing HP Photosmart 6520 e All-in-One printer (so I could see our hideous office in a crystal clear color print ha!).
I share the office with my husband, so we have several bookcases filled with (mostly his) books lining the far side wall. We have a desk with a desktop PC, a fax machine/printer/scanner combo as well as a phone. Technically speaking, not a bad setup, but it could use improvement on the décor. Dwell asked us to create a “design board” on the types of improvements we’d like to make. After taking a good hard look at our office and its current state, there are quite a few improvements that could be made. A good de-cluttering session is at the baseline of updating the home office. Keeping the office “toy free” needs to be a priority (our kids have the whole basement, their rooms and pretty much the rest of the house at their disposal). Next, updating the color palette and décor would really make all the difference. I am kind of obsessed with the mint trend and it would be just the shade the office needs. Having 2 separate smaller desks with chairs would enable both of us to work in there and keep our papers organized. While there is no direct access to natural light, we do have recessed lighting, which is ideal. Cleaning out the bookcases to get rid of what’s not useful (or sentimental) would free up room for some decorative pieces like candles, book ends and small prints. I’d also get some small plants, art prints for the wall and maybe a small fountain for my desk (I need the extra Zen!).
These relatively inexpensive fixes would make such a difference in the look and feel of our office. As a gift for coming to the event, HP supplied us with our own HP Photosmart 6520 e All-in-One printer (I practically squealed in delight!). This printer is AMAZING; it prints wirelessly, is a duplex printer, has individual ink cartridges (so you only need to replace each one as they run out), is web connected with App access, has on-the-go wireless direct print and e-fax capabilities. I immediately brought it into my work office as we do a decent amount of photo printing there. Take a look at this beauty!
My office will be the chicest place in town!!! Thanks Dwell and HP!
disclosure: I attended an event and was given products as a thank you for attending. As always, all opinions are my own.
