Traditional Home Office with a Reading Nook Ideas and Designs

We are delighted to reveal our recent ‘House of Colour’ Barnes project. We had such fun designing a space that’s not just aesthetically playful and vibrant, but also functional and comfortable for a young family. We loved incorporating lively hues, bold patterns and luxurious textures. What a pleasure to have creative freedom designing interiors that reflect our client’s personality.

Danville Project

Applegate Tran Interiors

Award-Winning Library

Natasha Habermann Studio

Lake Minnetonka Chateau

John Kraemer & Sons

Builder: John Kraemer & Sons | Architecture: Sharratt Design | Landscaping: Yardscapes | Photography: Landmark Photography

Haute Home Office

Laurie DiGiacomo Interiors

A luxe home office that is beautiful enough to be the first room you see when walking in this home, but functional enough to be a true working office.

Window Seat In Home Office

Christopher Scott Cabinetry and Design Inc.

Nothing begs for a book like a window seat, and adding custom shelving and lighting around the cozy spot only adds to the charm and functionality of the space.

Quarry Lake Home

Du Interiors - Dulce Roberto

Home Office

Comfortable and Collected

Ann Lowengart Interiors

The family living in this shingled roofed home on the Peninsula loves color and pattern. At the heart of the two-story house, we created a library with high gloss lapis blue walls. The tête-à-tête provides an inviting place for the couple to read while their children play games at the antique card table. As a counterpoint, the open planned family, dining room, and kitchen have white walls. We selected a deep aubergine for the kitchen cabinetry. In the tranquil master suite, we layered celadon and sky blue while the daughters' room features pink, purple, and citrine.

home library

Eleven Four LLC

Brattle Street Victorian

Elms Interior Design

Photography by Michael J. Lee

The Old Vicarage

Keeley Green Interior Design

Photos by Davide Lovatti Styling by Emilio Pimentel-Reid

Amethyst Balboa Island

William Guidero Planning and Design

Classic dark patina stained library Mahwah, NJ

WL Kitchen & Home

Classic dark patina stained library Mahwah, NJ Serving as our clients' new home office, our design focused on using darker tones for the stains and materials used. Organizing the interior to showcase our clients' collection of literature, while also providing various spaces to store other materials. With beautiful hand carved moldings used throughout the interior, the space itself is more uniform in its composition. For more projects visit our website wlkitchenandhome.com . . . . #mansionoffice #mansionlibrary #homeoffice #workspace #luxuryoffice #luxuryinteriors #office #library #workfromhome #penthouse #luxuryhomeoffice #newyorkinteriordesign #presidentoffice #officearchitecture #customdesk #customoffice #officedesign #officeideas #elegantoffice #beautifuloffice #librarydesign #libraries #librarylove #readingroom #newyorkinteriors #newyorkinteriordesigner #luxuryfurniture #officefurniture #ceooffice #luxurydesign

Highlands Ranch Home Office and Closet Built-in

Closet Factory - Colorado

A custom built home office built in shelving and cabinets in a dark wood stain to match the clients current home decor. Lighting runs up the shelving units to draw attention to the client's collection of personal display items. All of the office machines are behind the lower cabinets hidden away from view creating a beautiful, functional uncluttered working space.

His Library Office

Provanti Designs, Inc

When working from home, he wants to be surrounded by personal comforts and corporate functionality. For this avid book reader and collector, he wishes his office to be amongst his books. As an executive, he sought the same desk configuration that is in his corporate office, albeit a smaller version. The library office needed to be built exactly to his specifications and fit well within the home.

High Style in San Antonio

BRADSHAW DESIGNS LLC

Warm and inviting this new construction home, by New Orleans Architect Al Jones, and interior design by Bradshaw Designs, lives as if it's been there for decades. Charming details provide a rich patina. The old Chicago brick walls, the white slurried brick walls, old ceiling beams, and deep green paint colors, all add up to a house filled with comfort and charm for this dear family. Lead Designer: Crystal Romero; Designer: Morgan McCabe; Photographer: Stephen Karlisch; Photo Stylist: Melanie McKinley.

Quarry Lake Home

Du Interiors - Dulce Roberto

Home Office

Seventh Green

Sage Designs

Comfortable Study with built-in shelving, decorative dentil crown molding and volume ceiling with truss beams.

A multifunctional space serves as a den and home office with library shelving and dark wood throughout Photo by Ashley Avila Photography

Traditional Home Office with a Reading Nook Ideas and Designs

Whether you work from home or need a study space to get things done out of hours, finding room in the house for a home office makes for a valuable addition to many homes. Having a traditional home office can seem like the best of both worlds, but it’s important to keep in mind that this should be a productive space that keeps out the many distractions of home. You may not have the luxury of a dedicated room to turn into your traditional office room or home library, so choose your space wisely to ensure privacy and adequate storage. A carefully designed corner in your living room or an alcove can be made into a productive and stylish study space. Your home office furniture with the desk in the centre of your design, needs to include both work surface space and storage ideas – never underestimate how quickly a computer desk can become cluttered with stationery and box files.

How do I find traditional home office ideas?

For any basic home office or study set up there are just two essential office furniture items: desks and seating. If you will be a frequent home worker then you will also want to invest in nice desk lighting, filing cabinets or bookcases. Desks need to be large enough to accommodate all the tools of your trade. The material your desk is made from will set the tone for your home office design, whether you opt for glass, traditional teak, luxurious mahogany or affordable pine. Investing in a good quality task chair is imperative for the office – there are some great ergonomic chairs at every price level that will help to compensate for our modern, computer-bound lifestyles. If you have room for an office chair other than your computer chair, choose something comfortable but still supportive for when you need a break from your desk. Ideas that include a nice bookcase design and wall shelves mean your traditional study can double as a home library. For a truly luxurious home office you could consider fitted office furniture which will maximise the space you have and create a permanent space in your home dedicated to work.

How to find ideas for my traditional home office decor?

The right ambience will make your home office a place you enjoy spending time without taking away your focus. Choose a colour scheme that encourages productivity for you – that may be a palette that is calming and restful, or you might feel more inspired by bright invigorating colours and graphic prints. When decorating the walls, look out for items that create the right studious vibe for the room. Wall maps, pinboards that can serve as mood or inspiration boards, and world clocks can all be great options when considering office design ideas. Practical necessities like desk lamps needn’t be unattractive – there a range of stunning designer lamps available. After all your hard work to make this a productive space, clutter can be very distracting so limit the items on your home office desk to a couple of your favourite photographs and perhaps a trinket or two to stimulate the mind. Papers and office supplies should be tucked away, so keep the space tidy and maintain your office as a calm work space that promotes focus – all the better to see your lovely decor with.

How do I setup a home office in a small room?

A home office doesn’t have to mean a separate room – the nature of working from home involves compartmentalisation, so apply this concept practically to your space. Even a small space, if sectioned off properly, can be transformed into a great workstation or study area. Unused nooks are the perfect places to fit your study in a small room – place a desk and chair under some floating shelves. Even under-utilised fitted wardrobes can make an innovative makeshift home office desk space with built-in storage. If the room you have can’t accommodate a full set of office furniture, opt for versatile options such as home office desks with built-in drawers or storage benches. If you use a laptop instead of a desktop PC, you may even consider a folding table that can be simply tidied away when you’re done working or studying. Alternatively, you may want to leave the house altogether – garden offices, either purpose-built or converted from sheds, are increasingly popular as a tranquil space away from the chaos of home life. If it was good enough for Roald Dahl, it’s certainly good enough for us.

How do I create a traditional home library?

If the stuffiness of home office desks, swivel chairs and filing cabinets is too much for you, a traditional library space may be more your thing when it comes to study, work or even relaxation. Libraries are peaceful and quiet places, and with careful consideration you can recreate this in an area of your home. Books are obviously going to feature heavily in your home library design, and you’ll need a place to store them. A bookcase or nice shelving can create room dividers if you don’t have a whole room to dedicate to a home library, and the benefit of bookcases is that they are movable – you don’t have to stick with one layout it it’s not working. If you don’t want to take up space, shelves hung on the walls will work just as well, and if you really want that authentic library feel then you’ll have to go with built in bookshelves that stretch from floor to ceiling. Next all you need is a comfy chair in amongst the books or a desk if you plan to do work or study from your library. Remember that traditional library areas can be slotted in all around the home – under the stairs, in a corner of your living room or kitchen, as a mezzanine or in a small spare room.

Ireland

Tailor my experience with cookies

Houzz uses cookies and similar technologies to personalise my experience, serve me relevant content, and improve Houzz products and services. By clicking ‘Accept’ I agree to this, as further described in the Houzz Cookie Policy. I can reject non-essential cookies by clicking ‘Manage Preferences’.