Mission Home Office
Looking for a style to decorate your home office? Shabby chic just won’t cut it, cottage style is too informal. Consider Arts and Crafts / Mission style décor for your home office.
Arts and Crafts, often used interchangeably with Mission style, is the period of design ‘rebellion’ in the early 1900’s that focused on the craftsmanship of design in response to the mass produced furniture of the 1890’s and the heavily embellished Victorian period.
Arts and Crafts is characterized by strong lines, exposed joinery and little ornamentation. Materials used during this timeframe were oak, metals – particularly copper, stained glass and painted tiles. Most ornamentation consisted of stylized floral motifs.
Arts and crafts style for your home office will warm up the room with vintage and antique pieces while giving a businesslike air to the room. How do you get the look?
Arts and Crafts Furniture
Mission style furniture is readily available in the secondhand market and is still quite affordable. Look for oak desks, bookcases and tables with warm patina – patina refers to the natural aged surface of an item. Avoid refinished furniture or accessories, as it severely devalues the pieces.
Arts and Crafts Accessories
Choose accessories of the period for the room. Again, there are plenty of affordable Arts and Crafts pieces on the secondhand market. Ebay and local auctions are a good place to start for finding them. Accessories to look for: Copper desk sets, bronze vases and art pottery from the early 20th Century.
Arts and Crafts Lighting
There is an incredible selection of Arts and Crafts lighting available. Stained glass shades add the color and lamps usually have wood, hammered copper and bronze bases. Slag glass lamps are perfect, they have panels of colored glass that almost look smeared with various colors. Period slag glass lamps can cost big and wiring may need to be replaced. Reproduction lamps and lighting are perfectly acceptable.
Arts and Crafts Comfort
Doesn’t sound like a very comfortable home office? Try a Morris chair, one of the first recliners. Usually in oak with cushions on the back and seat, use a bold stylized floral upholstery to soften the look or leather for the manly touch. Period Morris chairs can also cost, but reproductions are readily available. A comfy loveseat or couch in Arts and Crafts style upholstery can soften the look of the room as well.
Warm up the room with an area rug. A Morris style area rug can also soften the room, and again, reproductions may be the answer, as period rugs are difficult to find in perfect condition. An oriental rug is an option as well.
When redecorating or designing a home office, and you need a business look with a warm, homey feel – Arts and Crafts style just may be the answer, and it just might be in your budget.