My office is a very important space for me. I spend a lot of time there so I have to LOVE it and feel happy in it. We took a long time finding our current office- it had to be just right. Our current space is in downtown Berkeley and is in a historic building called the Heywood Building
We’re on the top floor of a white terra cotta gothic façade building designed by James Plachek in 1919. He was a well-known architect at the time and designed many buildings in the area, and his office was in the very space we’re in now! It’s a very open, 2,000 square foot space with gorgeous moldings and high ceilings. I love the three big arched windows in the front, which is where my desk is. It’s always light-filled, which is great.
I have a huge bulletin board (it’s taller than me!) next to my desk which is where I stick the most beautiful things I come across- magazine clippings, vintage finds, antique labels, favorite thank you notes, millinery flowers, random flea market finds, and of course my calendar. (Which is a Tim Walker calendar- love it!) I’m thinking about getting another one actually- to put right next to it. Since our space is so clean and spare, my inspiration board really adds a nice punch of color and girliness.
My desk feels like it’s being overrun with boxes lately- I have a red lacquer box, white lacquer box, zebra-print haircalf box, offcuts box and a box of Mrs. John L.Strong stationery. (They come in handy as my desk only has two very shallow drawers.) Oh, and that hand you see on top of the white box was something silly that I picked up at John Derian, one of my favorite NY shops of all time.My mirrored tissue box from Williams-Sonoma Home (don’t they have the chicest home accessories?) was an office-warming gift from a dear friend and I think of her each time I look at it. I love the items on my desk, but I think my favorite desktop item is my iomoi desk pad with the “Ling the Elephant” print which is housed in a chic lucite holder. Even a tape dispenser and stapler should be good-looking, right? Mine are lucite and I ordered them for everyone else in the office too.
I love stationery and seem to always be writing thank you notes (call me old-fashioned!), so I keep a white lacquer stationery box on my desk which is filled with beautiful papers from iomoi and other favorites. I always use a blank book for my daily to-do’s, and the one I’m using right now is a hot pink with gold embroidered Indian notebook that I picked up somewhere.Of course, since we have an amazing floral design client- Rosenow Floral - I am lucky to always have fresh flowers on my desk. This week it’s white ranunculus, which I love, love, love. And Diptyque’s Geranium Rosa candle has become of the official scent of the office - it’s so fresh, it really invigorates!
*for full size photos of melissa's gorgeous office, check out the flickr album for style (e)scape week!
