It used to be the Dentist office; that little commercial building that sat on the corner near Roanoke’s Main Street. In small towns like this one, everybody knows when something has come under new management, and so, it was no surprise what the buzz of the town would be when Jonathan Hodel bought the old building. No one could have imagined the big plans Jonathan had to make the outdated interior into a chic, industrial office building for his company: Cloudpoint Geographics.
When Jonathan asked if I would help him decorate I was sort of shocked. He wanted me, little ol’ me to make his company’s office beautiful and welcoming? Of course, I took him up on it.
It wasn’t long before I realized: while I can do a great job of making a home beautiful and inviting, an office is another story. Here are some shots of what it looked like when I came.
I didn’t know where to start when decorating a commercial building. Images of waiting room chairs and boring, cheap art kept coming in my mind whenever I tried to think of what was “normal”. I decided to look at what functions needed to be met in the space and go from there. Those functions are:
- Bright lighting
- Mail slots at the front desk
- Something to store pens and pencils in
- An area for office supplies like paper clips
- Message boards
- Candy bowl
- Clocks
- A mirror
- A Coat hanger
- Shelf décor
- Wall décor
- Area rugs
- Window Treatments
Having lists always gives me a clear and defined direction to go and this one was no different! Once the list was created I was able to break up the budget for each category and have more confidence while shopping.
Before shopping, though, a plan had to be made. The word Jonathan gave me to describe his style preference was “industrial”, which definitely excited me. I knew I could work with industrial. It would have been very hard had he requested something like contemporary or modern.
The industrial look, to me, is defined by two things: metal and wood. It has a utilitarian simplicity and rejects frills and the unnecessary due to its origination in actual warehouse and workplaces. Thankfully, it is now a popular style and easy to find elements for.
Here is the mood board I created and gave to Jonathan, which he approved of and gave me the go ahead.
Planning and shopping were the difficult part. Putting it all together was fun and exciting.
Unfortunately, I had to miss the open house, but was able to sneak in before and snap these pictures of the finished project.
We were all thrilled with the result and I, for one, would definitely not mind working in such a chic, industrial office building.
Some of the elements, like this pallet backdrop and coat hanger below were handmade by me and you’ll be seeing the tutorials for shortly.
The crown glory of the office are the two light fixtures above the conference table and front desk.
They were also handmade, but by Jonathan, and not me. When I saw them I was literally awestruck for a little while. Seriously? Can you believe how gorgeous this one is with its wooden beam and huge chain?
Or, what about this statement making one? You can’t walk into the room and not admire it. Any guesses for what it was made out of?
An outdoor umbrella!!! Probably the most genius thing I’ve seen!
So, if you ever need to decorate an office building of any sort and don’t know where to begin, remember to think of what needs should be met first such as storage, seating, containers, message boards, paper holders, window treatments, wall décor, clocks, etc, and then proceed with your plan, shopping list, and DIY projects.
If you like what we’ve done with the place, be sure to check out my new decorating business page: Charming Designs. If you’re local, you could have a transformation just like this in your home or commercial building!
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