A home office space is essential for anyone who works from home every day or a few times a week. But that doesn’t mean your home office has to look or feel like your workplace office, right?

At home you can leave out the migraine inducing florescent over headlights and the sterile white or beige walls for more “creative” décor.

How about a moody, dark, masculine home office space situated in a small, awkward spare room?

This project was a client design from last year and I’d love to share the transformation to help you with your own moody masculine home office space.

We definitely left the boring, white walls in the dust with this project, and we checked every wish list item off along the way. (I even added a few recommendations for making the room function a bit better.)

Let’s break down what we did step by step so you can see how some of these ideas could work in your own home, okay?

The Goals for the Space:

My client wanted a big TV for video gaming and a seating solution to be used for gaming / lounging / reading. (To keep his creative focus, often taking breaks from working to play some video games.)

He works in tech, and the hours are long, whether he goes to his work or works from home.

Since he’d be spending a lot of his time working, he wanted an option for a comfortable place for his wife to hang out with him when she got home from work. (His long workdays were putting a kibosh on good, quality time spent together.)

Since she’s an avid reader, a comfortable reading spot somewhere in the room was a top request. Along with that, storage for a few books was also needed.

So, the room was to become a home office/reading room.

The Room’s Challenges Are:

Here’s where the “awkward” room part comes in.

The room is square (approximately 10’ by 11’) which makes the placement of furniture tricky because size and scale must be carefully considered.

It has an angled wall, which makes rearranging the room tricky.

And there’s a double door closet on one wall where the doors open into the room.

The entry door also opens into the room, which eats up half of the wall behind it.

There’s a big window that lets in great natural light, but they wanted the option to cover the window for privacy and light control.

He wanted to keep a sit/stand deck with a hydraulic lift that moves the desk top up and down.

He also often has zoom meetings with his colleagues and clients, and his background from his desk space was an old sofa pushed against the closet wall and a small blank wall next to that. (This was an important design detail that needed to be addressed. More on that in a bit…)

He began to experiment with a “moody” black wall behind his desk. His goal was to be bold, thinking that a contrasting accent wall would spice up the all-white room. Instead, he found that it made the room feel smaller and by painting the angled wall too, it made it more of a standout, highlighting how the angled wall cuts into the floor space.

How a Few Smart Changes Made the Room Shine!

Knowing the goals for the space and understanding that I needed to keep the lift desk, I got to work on choosing the things that would make it work better.

The first suggestion I made was to remove the double closet doors.

Since the room wasn’t meant to be a bedroom, removing the closet doors allowed most of the floor space to be unobstructed, which opened up the possibilities for a more functional furniture layout.

Without the closet doors, I had space for a comfy chaise – a perfect spot to curl up with a book or to play video games during work breaks.

I also advised closing off part of the closet opening, so that there was a tad more wall space behind the entry door, for a nice piece of art to anchor the wall and provide a zoom backdrop.

Here’s how I explained those changes

Let’s start with the pathways for the new layout:

The blue arrows indicate clear pathways through the room. There’s no furniture to obstruct the pathways.

The main pathway through is unobstructed. I made sure all the doorways were open and clear. The dotted blue lines show where more thoughtful navigation is needed to walk around. There still are standard clearances between all the pieces for comfortable movement.

Whenever possible, I position furniture to not obstruct the view through the space in any direction, but if furniture must be placed in sight lines, I will make sure it is purposeful and functional.

Here is the design rationale for the “functional” changes I suggested:

Staring right in the door, I placed a large 8’x10’ rug. Shown here with the blue arrow. The rug goes under the desk for comfort and to make sure the desk legs are level. (You’ll have to make sure the pile of the rug doesn’t interfere with the door swing…)

I removed the closet doors to make the inside visible and styled to flow with the room. This allows furniture to be placed closer to the door in a “seating zone.” Indicated by the orange arrow.

This back wall now becomes a feature wall with a large statement piece of art and a picture light above to illuminate it. (I thought it will be a great background for video calls and a beautiful feature when the door is closed.) The green arrow.

Here are the furniture choices with the design rationale:

The rug defines the desk and seating space. Indicated in blue.

I placed an etagere, open shelf in the closet for display and organization. A great spot for a few books too. (Orange)

The seating zone is defined by a curved chaise, great for lounging and reading. (Green)

A round table next to the chaise can be shared with the desk chair when pulled up beside it for video games and conversation. (Purple)

I kept your desk in the same position. I created a floating shelf above the desk for display and storage. It wraps around the angled wall and entry wall. (Yellow)

A low, narrow TV credenza provides an anchor for the TV and additional storage for anything you don’t need out all the time. (Red)

Purposeful and Strategic Lighting Makes All the Difference

There was only one overhead light for the whole room. So, I knew right away that more light was needed for tasks like working and reading.

In addition to that, I also wanted to bring in light to highlight certain areas of the room.

As you will see in the proposal pictures below, I color washed the entire room in a dark, moody charcoal black. (Color washing small rooms makes them seem bigger because it blurs the lines between the walls, and ceiling.)

One way to ensure that a color washed, dark/moody room doesn’t feel oppressive is to add recessed lighting in the ceiling. They will illuminate the entire room, making an even wash of light that will make the room visually expand.

Here’s the lighting plan I suggested:

5 ceiling puck lights for additional ambient and task lighting. (Yellow)

A floor lamp behind the chaise. (Green)

A new centered ceiling light. (Purple)

A small globe accent light on the TV credenza (Orange)

An accent light, sculpture light, on the shelf above your desk. (Blue)

A floor ambient light for some moody light on the angled wall. (Red)

This is How the Room Would Look with the New Dark/Moody Changes

View from the door:

As you walk into the office, I wanted there to be a dramatic and inviting first impression. The chaise is angled toward the low, narrow TV credenza.

Behind that, I placed medium wood blinds on the large window. To create a more cohesive and seamless wall. (I recommend curtains that are the same color as the wall.) The curtains are installed high, only a few inches below the ceiling.

The blinds cover only the bottom windows, and the curtains will black out the room when drawn to make TV watching better.

View from door (inside room.)

I installed tambour panels on the desk wall. Although I didn’t move the desk, the panels offer a great new detail, visual texture – that’s contrasting and dimensional to the black or dark charcoal gray walls and ceiling.

(My thought is that you could install LED strip lights into the bottom of the wrap around shelves to illuminate the desk. They could also be color changing to create a fun vibe when you’re playing video games or watching TV.)

I purposefully didn’t place lamps on your desk to keep it clear and to not impede the “sit to stand” function with the new shelf above.

The décor on the shelf is also purposeful and provides high contrast with the art.

I show décor layered with attention to different shapes, height, texture and scale.

(The small foot stool, tucked under the chaise, provides a footrest for your desk chair as you watch the TV.

View From the Window Wall

This view shows the focal wall with the 2nd half of the new wrap around the shelf above the TV.

The TV credenza is simple, low, narrow. It provides additional storage for components or office stuff.

There’s a small side table next to the chaise that can be shared as you pull the desk chair out to turn toward the TV for games and viewing.

View of desk:

I placed an ambient light beside the desk, on the angled wall. It’s meant to be a diffused, occasional light.

The LED strips under the shelf are more about task lighting that can be adjusted, and color changed based on your mood.

I kept your desktop and changed the top finish to a darker, medium wood tone. (This is a simple DIY wood stain project that will make a huge difference.)

View of closet Wall and Zoom Background:

Two things are happening here:

First, the large art is highlighted with a picture light above to create a 2nd focal point in the room. (or 3rd depending on the paneled walls and the TV viewing wall…) I like the idea of something large and impactful behind you – great for background of video calls.

Second, I removed the closet doors and door trim, then added the same wood panel detail on the entire inside of the closet. This creates a nook for books, décor and decorative storage on the etagere shelf inside the closet. I also arched the top to mimic and tie it in with the arched window. The impact is both dramatic and functional. (There’s also a puck light inside the closet to illuminate the open etagere shelf below.)

View of the TV Wall:

I painted the door to match the wall color so that the wall. This makes the room feel more cohesive, not choppy the way a white door would look on the dark wall.

(The décor on this section of shelf is minimal and varied.)

Shelf Styling:

There is a variation of items on the etagere shelf. Different shapes, minimal objects, different finishes, and mostly neutral items.

I suggest you keep a lot of open space, group items like books together, and bring in organic shapes like faux plants or real ones too.

As you can see, with a few simple changes, like removing obstructing closest doors, and reframing the closet opening, along with a dramatic and moody paint color wash, and some strategically placed tambour panels; this once awkward, tricky, and small home office has become a fully functional and very stylish workspace.

I’d love to hear what you think of this moody, masculine room.

Did any part of it stand out as something that you’d try in a small office space?

What would you change, if anything? Would you add something else to it?

Leave me a comment below and tell me all about it!