Small home office design
June 19, 2014 8:59 AM   Subscribe

What design / remodel / reno / decoration ideas do you have for a home office / chillout space backing onto a kitchen, 7'4" wide by 9' long , with 9' ceiling, for a DINKY couple in Queens, NY?

We're in contract on a co-op in Queens and will be renovating soon. Here is the soon to be renovated kitchen, with a "breakfast room" that we will put sliding doors into to separate from the kitchen.

Here is the kind of reno we will do to the kitchen and the kind of pocket doors we will likely installā€¦..


We want a space beyond the pocket that will act as a home office to work in (small computer desk, reading chair), and chillout area when we want to read while the other is watching TV or entertaining. If a chillout couch was used, could fold into a futon or some other sleep surface if possibleā€¦..or another piece of occasional sleep-able furniture.

Style of the room should be vaguely "modern"/"art deco", but as we are closing the door, as long as it's not too frumpy/wacky, we're open to suggestions.

What paint colors/ decorations would help the room serve its purpose?
What can we do with that window (looks onto fire escape, faces SSE, 6th floor, must be securable).
What alterations could we make to the room that would not require permiting(i.e. no knocking down walls). I'm amenable to mounting stuff on walls/ceilings.
Furniture? Accessories? Ideas?

Any other creative ideas links blogs etc to specific examples would be awesome

Vendors in NYC or beyond for this kind of small-room stuff?

Go nuts in your suggestions, the room is a semi-blank canvas! Looking for inspiration!
posted by lalochezia to Home & Garden (4 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
It looks like that space doesn't have great light, which is a good reason for you to remodel it in a fashion similar to the option you posted--lighter colors, perhaps in a lacquered texture, will help reflect light.

Perhaps look into track lighting or some other light option other than a single overhead light.

Some strategically placed mirrors could also help reflect light, though that may be tricky to pull off in a small kitchen.
posted by dfriedman at 9:07 AM on June 19, 2014


I think you could Ikea hack this really easily.

Instead of a sofa or futon, think about a Daybed with an actual mattress on it. More comfy for sleeping, and you can have a trundle, or storage underneath.

I'd do a table top, balanced on some Ikea drawer units, and maybe wall mount some additional cabinetry or shelving over that. If you have room, a bookcase.

I really like this idea from the IKEA Hackers site.

Have fun, this sounds like a hoot!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:15 AM on June 19, 2014


You can use PAX doors as your room divider.

If you use frosted glass, you'll get the light from the window, through the kitchen, but you can still have the privacy.

As for the window, a nice curtain or blind will work nicely.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:20 AM on June 19, 2014


Best answer: Check out Resource Furniture (there's an NYC showroom), specifically the desk/bed options. Here's another company that makes them.

I'm also a huge fan of the ELFA series at the Container Store.

Weird idea for the fire escape gate: maybe paint it (or enlist a talented friend to paint it) so that from far away it looks like a mural/painting hung on the wall?
posted by melissasaurus at 12:06 PM on June 19, 2014


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