Colouring in the Box - Advice for Office Decor

Image from a Lace and Flora LJ post - quite my favorite place for beautiful photos

A dear friend of mine works in an office and asked me for some ideas to help her liven it up a little. While she likes her job well enough, her desk is apparently lacking life.
It seems I've gathered a reputation for creative decorating (blame my halloween celebrations) and festive spirits and so she asked me to put together a few ideas for her to make her office less 'nine-to-five' and more 'fancy-free'.

Colours
Colours are a good starting point as we all know what colours we like and that they have a distinct effect on mood - not just your mood either, everyone's.

If you are always drained by work perhaps you could pick bright cheery colours, or if (like my friend) you work in a high-flying office with a lot of go-go-go in it, perhaps you'd want some soothing mint colour to pull your stress levels down to basics.

Be careful when picking out your colours - as much as you might not like to think it - the rest of the office will still be there, and you can't cover it all completely.

So if your walls are an odd shade of brown take this in to consideration when picking your colours.

If you're stuck perhaps take a wander down to a house paint store and pick up some colour scheme charts that appeal to you.
Take as many as you like, never mind the confused sales clerk. Pick up the free samples of wallpaper borders while you are there: don't you think they'd look nice running along a shelf edge or lining a draw?

Image from Flickr

Themes

Instead of colour you could go more for a theme. Another friend of mine would dearly love the 'garden' to the right, where as I seem to have a more foresty overtone to the rooms I inhabit and tend to decorate with feathers and such.

The easiest way I can think of finding a theme you like is to look at the artwork you enjoy. Find something quirky (but work appropriate) and run with it.

Image from Flickr Here

Moderation

Perhaps your boss is easy going, perhaps not...if you introduce a bit at a time you will not only avoid finding out how loud they can exclaim profanities but it will also avoid the impression that you have too much time on your hands during work hours.

More importantly, you do not want to overwhelm yourself with your changes and decide you are not happy with the look, having to start all over again.

Start with specific things (perhaps) a pencil tin, a few photo frames and noteboard and see what you think. Then when that suits try a vase. You'll know when to stop, the trick is to buy things you know you've got a use and need for otherwise you risk loosing too much desk space.

Be careful not to try and personalise every inch - change bits at a time to alter the feel of the space.


Lighting

What do you have? Fluro lights? Are you tucked in a dim corner? Would a new lampshade help? Fairy lights? Lava lamp? Sun catchers?


Price

Unfortunately buying lots of little things can add up.
One of my favorite things to do is to use printed 'scrapbooking' paper as a backing/sheet or frame to paper I need to keep for reference.
For example if you have a list of phone numbers pinned to your wall try backing it with a simple 20cent piece of paper to form a frame around it or even printing it on the piece of paper in a pretty font or caligraphy.

Table runners or material can be an easy and quick cover up for ugly shelves or computers.


I have a shelf in my work room that is a carved backboard from an old piece of furniture attached with brackets. While nailing items to the wall in your office may not be possible I am sure my point was not lost.

Unique and attractive does not always cost, and recycling is good for the enviroment.

Image from Flickr

Living

I love living things anywhere you spend a lot of time but do take in to consideration the living conditions your plant/fish/whatever will be living in.

Will it have enough light? Will it be in danger of being knocked off your desk?
If your workplace does not suit a kept living thing perhaps you are best to just leave out some sugar water on occasion for shadowlings or bring in fresh flowers occasionally.


Photos and Artwork

Photos and artwork remind us who we are, what we love and what our dreams are. Find beautiful frames, hooks, pegs and string or any other way of displaying them and do so. Pick pieces that make you happy or that match your theme.

Inspiration boards would be lovely in a workplace. A small collection of pictures of things that inspire you.


Twilight Design

For people with the same asthetic taste as I, I've got a few dot points to jump-start some ideas.

* Find some peacock feathers, dried flowers, shells or vines and display them.

*Hang up some ribbon or wire and peg trinkets, photos and pictures from them.

* Make your own shelves, even two bricks and a beautiful piece of wood can be both functional and useful.

*Hang something from the ceiling, small paper cranes on fishing wire perhaps?

*Ivy in a pot would look lovely climbing over those desk dividers.

* Candles may be a fire hazard, but small lamps with warm-toned lampshades should be fine.

Feel free to add your own ideas in the comments for any of the above catogories. I'd love to have more advice to pass on to my friend.