Working With Home — Stylist and artist Cecilia Elguero is the interior genius behind our most beautiful home office sets. Whether you’re looking for a space full of personality or productivity, we asked her for her tips and tricks to assembling the perfect work setup.
Embrace Change
When your workspace looks the same all the time, it can get really stale. Even if you’re bringing in a small new element, like a candle or a ceramic vase or a plant, it can help to spruce up your desk area. Something that I find visually appealing is reorganizing by color or size. Even changing the order of things, like books on the shelf, can help renew and refresh your space.
The Right Lighting
Lighting can transform a space in the most economical of ways. Focused spotlights help create delineations within a room, without any walls. If you have diffuse lighting that gives attention to every single part of the room in the same way, that may actually be distracting. If you’re in a darker room—like for gamers or someone that’s in video editing—color lights are a good way to bring in little design elements that create some interest.
Hacking Small Spaces
How do you translate your vision to fit the space you have? That’s where beautiful storage solutions come in. If you’re a minimalist in a small home, you need the flexibility to bring out or put away your things. For example, my husband and I use the dining table as our office, but we have a little cubby so we can put our laptops away when we eat. It’s also great to have one surface that fulfills different functions—like a bench that opens up for more storage.
Color Theory
When colors are within the same range, your home office can feel a bit more soothing. As a ’70s soul I love warm tones and I really gravitate toward earth tones. In this home office, overlooking the pool and the beautiful sky, we brought all those blues into the space to evoke the ocean. The cool tones look so serene, especially when paired with the more neutral colors in the home.
Wall & Desk Décor
Let’s say after a long meeting, you’re just drained and then you look up at an image or a little saying you like. It's like a little refresh, a pick-me-up! Similar to how you might gaze out the window, they’re a palate cleanser for me. They can also be gentle reminders of what matters. I have a friend who put up images of the loved ones she hasn’t been able to visit during the pandemic. These objects are there to support you, whether it be emotionally or in sparking your imagination.
Find Your Rhythm
It’s so intimidating when you want to set up a space. Play with your room and allow it to change until you feel like it’s right. I’m such a believer in this idea of an organic way of decorating, observing what works, how the light hits the room, how you move throughout the day. You have to arrange the space to suit not only your needs but your way of working. Do you need magazines nearby to refence things you saw and read? Do you have certain routines that need to be translated to the space? It’s OK for the process to be messy when you’re exploring. Don’t be afraid!
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