Office Nook Inspiration

Putting the desk in the closet wasn't an original idea. You've probably already seen a feature or two on your favorite blogs. Mr. P and I hadn't seen one in real life though, so we started out a little hesitantly.  Then I searched around for inspiration and really liked this feature on Country Living:

There's a few differences from our intended nook look - namely color, style and doors.  That may not seem like much left for inspiration, but I drew several lessons that we're going to try to incorporate.

1. Custom desk - We already have one file cabinet that we weren't sure how to incorporate.  Now I'm thinking we round it out to two and make our own desk so that we have storage as well as control over the dimensions.  If it's one thing I despise is shopping around for very specific dimensions.  It's a time drain.

2. Shelving - I think the shelving makes this space look purposeful and also doubles as useful storage/display area.  The floating aspect keeps things light.

3. Color - the paint and wall paper define the space.  While we won't be wall papering, we do want to paint the trim half way down the wall a nice crisp white to match the rest of the trim.  I'm also thinking a two tone scheme (a neutral above and a darker anchor color below) will help define the space and compliment the larger room.

Given these takeaways, I built a little inspiration board with a more traditional look that suits our tastes and the character of our flat:

Clockwise from Top L:

Pottery Barn - Crown Molding Shelves

Crate and Barrel - Colette Side Chair

Pantone Palette - Antique White, Almond Buff, Espresso and Persian Red

West Elm - Workwear Canvas Home Office Containers

Crate and Barrel - Harlow Vanity Desk

Now, I'm on the hunt over at Craigslist to see what sort of second hand treasures I can score that will achieve the look!