CLEVER DECORATING: Home office ideas

SIX STYLISH PROJECTS TO SHOW YOU HOW TO CREATE A BEAUTIFULLY ORGANISED SPACE

-  NICKY PHILLIPS

Choose cork

Sustainable and stylish, cork makes a perfect memo board, and over a whole wall it also absorbs sound. Mount clipboards in a row above your desk for more space for notes.

Give it a twist...

To co-ordinate the look, cover the clipboards in offcuts of wallpaper, and paint the cork the same shade as your wall.

Display memos

Turn an old canvas into a decorative noticeboard. Cover in fabric and secure with a staple gun. Attach trimmings or ribbons in horizontal bands as a way of displaying favourite cards and keepsakes.

Give it a twist...

For a classic look, criss-cross ribbon over the fabric. Secure with split pins where it crosses.

Hide your work

Hang floating shelves in an alcove and screen off with a linen curtain once work is done. Add a stool that can be stowed under the desk, or used as extra seating in a living area.

Give it a twist...

Get a carpenter to make doors to cover your work area and paint them in the wall colour to create a seamless look.

Be creative

Add a lipped shelf to panelling painted with bold geometric shapes for visual impact. Brass shelves dotted around allow you to showcase books and brochures in a more artistic way than simply showing their spines.

Give it a twist...

Replace books and brochures with framed artwork.

Go for stripes

Paint ombré sections between floating shelves. A soft plaster-pink tone painted above the skirting that blends into deeper hues above, delineated by floating shelves, creates a pleasing focal point.

Give it a twist...

Alternate two tones of bold colour to create a striped wall feature between the shelves.

Keep it flexible