Home Working: Choosing Colours For Your Home Study
For many, home offices have become an essential part of the modern home. With people working from home now more than ever before, study spaces have become places we tend to spend most of our time in. With that in mind, they should inspire and delight - or help to create a sense of order and calm. Working from home means creating a workspace that is functional but also aesthetically suited to the style of your home. Whether you are decorating a designated room for your office or simply converting a corner of your living space, our paint and wallpapers will help to separate your home working area.
All in Order: Using Neutrals in Small Study Rooms
Neutral schemes bring calm to a study area. Soft neutrals help to open up smaller spaces, by reflecting natural light. Create a relaxing, tonal scheme, paint panelling and woodwork using a family of colours. If you can, face your desk towards a view to inspire you and frame with the neutral ‘Slaked Lime’. The lines formed by painted panelling, or subtly undulating striped wallpaper gives an instant sense of tidiness and order in a small home office space. The French Grey Colour Scales can be used in combination on walls and woodwork for a harmonious finish.
Lower Panelling: French Grey – Dark
Middle Panelling: French Grey
Upper Panelling: French Grey – Mid
Wall: French Grey – Pale
Vase: Marigold
Discover more ideas for neutral study spacesGrey: Calming Study Spaces
If creating a calm, ordered space is your main aim, consider using grey tones. Easily integrated into the modern and traditional home, grey is a colour that expands the feeling of space and can be used tonally to create interest in a featureless room. For instance, the back of this bookcase is painted from dark to light to give a sense of grandeur and height to the shelving.
Shelving: (Top to bottom) Down, Rubine Ashes, Dash of Soot, Perennial Grey, Dolphin, Knightsbridge, Chimney Brick
Bookcase: Loft White
Be Bold: Bright Colours to Transform Your Study
In contrast, if you need your working space to motivate and inspire creative thoughts, use an invigorating colour or a mural wallpaper design for impact. A vibrant green, like ‘Phthalo Green’ is the perfect paint choice to encourage contemplation and invigorate the thought process. Pair with white to keep the look fresh and uplifting.
Wallpaper: Upper Brook Street – Minuit
Skirting: Jack Black
Floor: French Grey – Pale
Door edge: Citrine
Escapism: Home Study Ideas Inspired by Nature
Whether your home office is a dedicated room or a corner of your living space, it will benefit from the positivity and wellbeing created by considering aspects of biophilic design. Surround yourself with natural materials and textures, lush greenery and natural light.
Botanical wallpaper designs bring the outdoors in and their rhythmical, trailing patterns allow for the imagination to flow. Study room designs like these are homely and best-studied up close, so what better idea than to place an intricate wallpaper design behind your desk and team with coordinating paint colours. ‘Bedford Square in Acorn’ looks fresh alongside the mysterious ‘Puck’ with woodwork painted in coordinating ‘Acorn’.
Zone your workspace and add character to your space with two tones - the dramatic, deep ‘Obsidian Green’ and the complex grey ‘Scree’. Adding an abundance of houseplants will bring the outdoors in, delivering a sense of connection and positivity.
Wall: Bedford Square - Acorn
Window frame woodwork & Skirting: Acorn
Right door frame: Puck
Beguiling parrots perch on branches in the ‘Great Ormond St.’ design, teamed here with coordinating paints, ‘Hammock’ and ‘Marine Blue’ for a cohesive look.
Wall: Great Ormond St. - Parchment
Dresser: Hammock and Marine Blue
Darker Wallpapers: Opulent Study Design Ideas
To create the look of an elegant library, team dark wallpapers with sumptuous hues and textural elements. ‘Bayham Abbey’ is printed on an earthy red ground to add an element of opulence to any home study or reading room. Paint fireplaces and woodwork in ‘Córdoba’ for an impeccable space in which to gather your thoughts.
Main wall: Bayham Abbey – Monarch
Left wall: Córdoba
Pink: Multifunctional Study Spaces
Here, Lower George St in the joyful Carousel colourway is hung above a painted lower wall in Ambleside and shelves painted in 'Blush'. Alternatively, opt for ‘Wrest Trail’ in Plaster Pink and ground the scheme with 'Lamp Black' on woodwork and 'Perennial Grey' below the dado rail. This is an ideal look for offices in guest bedrooms with a small desk as it won’t overwhelm a multifunctional space. For an all-around encompassing shade, paint a whole room in 'Pink Slip' with contrasting woodwork in 'China Clay'.
Upper wall: Lower George St – Carousel
Lower wall: Ambleside
Shelves: Blush
Zoning Spaces: Modern Study
For home office ideas that work when incorporating your home office into an existing room or corner, use paint to zone the area. This will create visual boundaries between home and work and help you to switch off when your work is completed.
Apply horizontal blocks of colour to create colour contrasts and accents in otherwise monochromatic schemes. Paint horizontal stripes across a wall in wide bands with the darker colour on the lower thirds of the wall and the lighter colour above. ‘Dock Blue’ and ‘Celestial White’ are a smart combination.
Top Wall: Celestial White
Bottom wall, desktop and skirting: Dock Blue
For a softer look, use colours from the Portland Stone family. Combining these natural stone colours creates a coordinated finish. Try an accent of 'Córdoba' for a colour highlight. In alcoves, accentuate the shadows with a dramatic, dark paint colour like ‘Knightsbridge’ and walls in the almost white ‘Down’.
Skirting: Córdoba
Lower Detail Stripe: Portland Stone – Dark
Middle Detail Stripe: Portland Stone
Upper Detail Stripe: Portland Stone – Pale
Explore more Inspiring Study Spaces or visit our Inspiration Gallery for more ways to create a home working space that inspires you.