When I painted my office bright purple with silver stripes, I thought I would love it forever.
Super glam has been my design aesthetic for years and it was the perfect expression of my personality and my brand. But now, I've found myself moving away from the glittery, girly-glam look and toward a more subdued Mid-Century modern look.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who's experienced growing out of an office. It can be sad, since you put all this time into perfecting it, and it can also seem daunting now that you want to change it. But really, even the smallest changes can switch your office's design around and you don't have to blow your budget to do it.
Like I mentioned, my current office is painted bright purple and silver, so it's definitely big on glam and low on subtly. If you have white walls or another neutral color, don't worry about changing the color. But if you painted it a bright color like I did, you might want to think about switching back to a neutral color. You could use peel and stick wallpaper like Swagpaper, since you can simply remove it the next time you want to change up your office look. You should still keep your branding colors or favorite color in the decor, just in little doses like with the Duke & Winston store.
If your office walls are neutral but your accessories and decor are the problem, there's an easy fix. Using accessories like lamps, rugs, curtains and desk accessories to express your personal style is great because they're easily swapped out when you get sick of the look. Change that silver lamp for a vintage 50's one or ditch the mirrored desk accessories for a more industrial looking set. These are cheap fixes that can transform the entire feel of the room. If you need some inspiration for a Mid-Century office, take a look at the offices on the first seasons of Mad Men. These are perfect examples of that style of office.
You can also switch out your office art for a change of pace. If your office is decorated with glittering, pink, swirly texted art, replace them with some vintage advertisement prints, old maps or classic landscapes. Usually, places like Etsy have some amazing vintage or vintage-inspired art that will help move you from girly glam to Mid-Century Modern. And the best thing is that art is easy to hang and remove if you change your mind again in the future.
Remember: your office is an extension of you, so make sure you absolutely love it!
Have you changed your mind on your office design? What did you change it from and to?