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Room Tour: A Stylish Home Office with Sustainability at its Heart
Inventively repurposed ‘waste’ has given this workspace peace, visual balance and a cool Scandi vibe
Home offices have been high on many people’s wishlists recently, and the two female owners of this terraced house were no exception. When they called in designer Gemma Fabbri of Studio Fabbri to reconfigure and extend their two-bed home, one of the requirements was for a study each.
With this space, for a therapist in private practice, the challenges for Gemma were threefold: it needed to be cosy and private; the owner wanted to use reclaimed and sustainable materials as much as possible, and, due to reconfiguring the first floor, it needed to work around an off-centre window.
Check out how Gemma brought it all together beautifully.
With this space, for a therapist in private practice, the challenges for Gemma were threefold: it needed to be cosy and private; the owner wanted to use reclaimed and sustainable materials as much as possible, and, due to reconfiguring the first floor, it needed to work around an off-centre window.
Check out how Gemma brought it all together beautifully.
“This room originally had two windows, but because of where the landing had to come in, it was left with just one,” Gemma explains. “This meant the remaining window was over to one side. That’s partly what dictated the design.”
The owner needed a desk, plus plenty of shelf space for her many reference books. “It seemed quite natural that we should use that [blank] corner to create interest, but also a functional work area for her,” Gemma says.
Robin Day 675 chair, available at John Lewis & Partners.
The owner needed a desk, plus plenty of shelf space for her many reference books. “It seemed quite natural that we should use that [blank] corner to create interest, but also a functional work area for her,” Gemma says.
Robin Day 675 chair, available at John Lewis & Partners.
“The space needed to be neutral; it couldn’t really shout personality because of the type of work the owner does, so we were aiming for a comfortable, calm mood,” Gemma says.
The real design interest is the panelling, which has transformed the room and defined the desk area. “The panelling happened for a number of reasons,” Gemma says. “The owner is Danish and likes natural wood and quite Scandi, neutral colours. So I was thinking about Danish interiors and textures and the interesting linear details of modernist design.”
It adds sound insulation, too, which is important where the owner’s profession is concerned.
The real design interest is the panelling, which has transformed the room and defined the desk area. “The panelling happened for a number of reasons,” Gemma says. “The owner is Danish and likes natural wood and quite Scandi, neutral colours. So I was thinking about Danish interiors and textures and the interesting linear details of modernist design.”
It adds sound insulation, too, which is important where the owner’s profession is concerned.
What’s most impressive, though, is the fact it’s made from repurposed floorboards. They were taken out when Gemma was doing the extension downstairs, so were waste, which the owners were keen to avoid.
“Repurposing the floorboards was kind of the client’s idea, because she talked at the beginning about the fact there was all this waste heading for the skip, and was there anything we could do with it?” Gemma recalls.
“We decided we’d cut the boards down into battens and use them as panelling, but they weren’t in amazing condition, so we filled and painted them to match the walls,” she says. “What’s really nice is there’s a real sense that what you’ve taken from the house still stays with it, just in another form. It’s quite nice that it’s still here.”
They also make a good surface from which Gemma could hang the bookshelves and floating desk, so you can’t see any fixings. “The timber is cut at the point where the desk and shelves meet, so the shelves slot in. Then they’re fixed in from behind,” she says.
“Repurposing the floorboards was kind of the client’s idea, because she talked at the beginning about the fact there was all this waste heading for the skip, and was there anything we could do with it?” Gemma recalls.
“We decided we’d cut the boards down into battens and use them as panelling, but they weren’t in amazing condition, so we filled and painted them to match the walls,” she says. “What’s really nice is there’s a real sense that what you’ve taken from the house still stays with it, just in another form. It’s quite nice that it’s still here.”
They also make a good surface from which Gemma could hang the bookshelves and floating desk, so you can’t see any fixings. “The timber is cut at the point where the desk and shelves meet, so the shelves slot in. Then they’re fixed in from behind,” she says.
The shelves needed to be pretty strong, as they hold a lot of heavy reference books. Two 18mm pieces of ply were doubled up, with bookends added for a neat finish.
“Creating bookends keeps the look simple and makes it feel part of a whole design, rather than having little add-ons,” Gemma says.
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“Creating bookends keeps the look simple and makes it feel part of a whole design, rather than having little add-ons,” Gemma says.
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As well as this windowless corner making a good spot for the work station, positioning the desk along this wall created privacy for the owner’s confidential work. “If someone were to come into the room, [the owner] wouldn’t have her back to them and they wouldn’t be able to see her screen,” Gemma says. “It makes her feel quite comfortable and private.”
The flooring is cork. “It was chosen because the colour is a nice rich dark shade and it looks warm, but also because it’s really sustainable,” Gemma says. “In addition, it’s insulating and, importantly, has good acoustic qualities, and that helps to make the space feel calm, too – you don’t want sounds bouncing off the walls.”
Espira Corka tongue-and-groove cork floorboards, The Colour Flooring Company.
The flooring is cork. “It was chosen because the colour is a nice rich dark shade and it looks warm, but also because it’s really sustainable,” Gemma says. “In addition, it’s insulating and, importantly, has good acoustic qualities, and that helps to make the space feel calm, too – you don’t want sounds bouncing off the walls.”
Espira Corka tongue-and-groove cork floorboards, The Colour Flooring Company.
To help the window seem less off-balance, the white wall creates a border around the glazing. “It sort of frames that window,” Gemma says. “The paint colour is a soft white, almost warm grey, which sits nicely with the panelling colour – they don’t jar.”
The window itself is uPVC, but it was already in place and changing it seemed gratuitous. “We were going to change it,” Gemma says, “but we looked at it and thought, no, it’s fine, and the client didn’t want it going to landfill if it was perfectly functional.”
The owner does some patient consultations in here, so there needed to be room for a chair (there’s also a sofa on the opposite wall, not shown).
The pendant light was rescued from elsewhere in the house – “Again trying to minimise waste,” Gemma says – and adds to the stylishly functional feel of the room.
Walls painted in Dutch White, Craig & Rose. Black pendant light; wall light (over desk), both Anglepoise.
The window itself is uPVC, but it was already in place and changing it seemed gratuitous. “We were going to change it,” Gemma says, “but we looked at it and thought, no, it’s fine, and the client didn’t want it going to landfill if it was perfectly functional.”
The owner does some patient consultations in here, so there needed to be room for a chair (there’s also a sofa on the opposite wall, not shown).
The pendant light was rescued from elsewhere in the house – “Again trying to minimise waste,” Gemma says – and adds to the stylishly functional feel of the room.
Walls painted in Dutch White, Craig & Rose. Black pendant light; wall light (over desk), both Anglepoise.
Gemma chose a calm colour for the panelling “It gives a little bit of impact, but it still fitted with the Scandi feel,” she says. “It sits nicely next to the colours in the cork, too.”
Unsurprisingly, the owner is really happy with the scheme. “She loves her office,” Gemma says. “It’s her sanctuary, somewhere to go where she can close the door and it’s her space. And that’s always lovely [to hear].”
Walls painted in Plummett, Farrow & Ball.
Tell us…
What do you think of this Scandi-style home office, designed using reclaimed and sustainable materials? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
Unsurprisingly, the owner is really happy with the scheme. “She loves her office,” Gemma says. “It’s her sanctuary, somewhere to go where she can close the door and it’s her space. And that’s always lovely [to hear].”
Walls painted in Plummett, Farrow & Ball.
Tell us…
What do you think of this Scandi-style home office, designed using reclaimed and sustainable materials? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
Who lives here? A female couple
Location Walthamstow Village, north-east London
Property A Victorian house with three bedrooms, two of which are used as home offices
Room dimensions 12 sq m
Designer Gemma Fabbri of Studio Fabbri
Photos by Alexandria Hall Photography
As Gemma was reconfiguring the house and adding rear and loft extensions, the first floor layout had to change. “We had to turn the staircase, so instead of it running through the centre of the house, it ran up the left side, which meant the rooms upstairs had to change their whole layout,” she says.