mackenzie pages: A Friday Treat....Guest Post from Elizabeth of Elizabeth Olliver!

photog courtesy of elizabetholliver.com

Countdown to NYC: 6 days.

For this part of our series, I've asked my friend Elizabeth (the designer of the FABULOUS Elizabeth Olliver Line) to guest post about a room in her home she'd like to change and her design ideas for it. She has amazing taste in fashion, and her home design style is no different.

Enjoy!

If I could change any room in my house it would definitely be my home office. Although I should give myself a break since we just moved into our precious new house last year, my office drives me crazy! Personally, I can’t work in clutter like this. I just find it to hard to be able to concentrate in a space that’s not perfectly decorated…it’s so uninspiring.

Since I spend half my time in New York my home office has gotten neglected. I plan on redecorating after fashion week and below are a few of my ideas. My taste tends to gravitate towards beautiful antiques mixed with Hollywood regency style, and I love splashes of color!

Here’s some of my inspiration:

{All photos via houzz.com}

For a desk I’ve always wanted an old farm table. Long and skinny so that I can spread out all my designs and look at them in one place all together. This one is perfect! It’s currently residing in Denmark at Fils de Fer (this store is basically the entire reason I am dying to go to Denmark!)

I would then flank both sides with two of clear Glass Bottleneck lamps from Layla Grace.

{Photo courtesy of Layla Grace)

For a desk chair I would love to sit in the Louis Arm Chair from Jonathan Adler. I love the linen fabric in a dark color!

{Photo via Jonathanadler.com}

For guest chairs I want to place two of the Curved Upholstered Chairs from West Elm across from my desk.

{Picture via West Elm)

…but reupholstered so they don’t look like my grandmother’s house in this beautiful Istanbul Sunset pattern from Calico Corners.

For a rug I would love to put down a beautiful off- white cowhides. This one’s too expensive, but you get the idea.

{Photo via neimanmarcus.com}

Since I’m always in need of a full size mirror for fittings and stylings, I’m going to need a full-length mirror. I’ve always dreamed of owning a huge mirror that leans against the wall, but since my office height isn’t that big I’ll settle for something smaller. I love this antiqued brass mirror from Restoration Hardware.

{Photo via restorationhardware.com}

I’m currently obsessed with beautiful wallpaper! I think Schumacher makes some of the most beautiful designs, and on the back wall of my office above my built-in bookcases I want to put this Imperial Trellis print in Citrine. My flutters a little every time I visit it online!

{Photo via fschumacher.com}

I’m currently growing my inspiration library. So I’m in desperate need of some bookshelves. (Side note, my latest installation into my library was a fabulous purchase from etsy…the 16 volume series from the 70’s called The Art of Sewing! It has some of the most inspiring pictures and how-to details!) Back to shelving…to help cut my costs a little I would purchase these Expedit shelves from Ikea. They are finished on all sides so you can lay them vertically or horizontally. I would lay them horizontally.

{Photo via Ikea.com}

Last but not least I am going to need a cabinet to hold all my fabric swatches and samples. I am OBSESSED with red lacquer anything, and when I came across this blog post on the blog Little Green Notebook written by Jenny Komenda I knew I had found my dream cabinet. (I love her blog, it always has the best DIY projects!)

She spray painted an old cabinet she bought for $45 with this gorgeous color from RustOleum. A little polishing on the original hardware and she had a beautiful new piece! This will be my DIY project for the office; I plan on recreating Jenny’s beautiful piece using an old cabinet from a flea market.