Home offices get stylish

Home and Garden

Jazzing up work life at home -- home offices

Home offices like this one for an antique book collector are becoming as essential as guest bedrooms in high-end custom homes. "It is unusual for us to work on a home that doesn't have some kind of home office space,' said Mike Minutelli, owner of the Macallan Group.

Some homeowners prefer an office that is less private and more connected to the flow of their house, as with this office for a fashion designer and mother in a 1930s Garden Hills home created from a screened-in porch off of the living room/dining room. A fold-down desk built into the bookcases means the work space can be hidden away when not in use.

Karen Comer Lowe shows off some artwork she has displayed in her home. Lowe, director of Chastain Arts Center, recently included an office in a $25,000 basement remodel of her Smyrna home.

This home office is designed for the mother who spends as much time on laundry duty as she does at her desk.

Home offices don't have to be about only drab functionality. Interior designer Erika Ward recommends color, personal mementos and stylish office supplies to lend personality to your space.

"I wanted a space where I could focus and not be distracted by what was happening in the house," Lowe says of her home office.

A second story addition to a Decatur bungalow included this bright and open home office. Fred Summers, owner of Summers and Sons, recommends homeowners include a closet in their office conversions so that when it comes time for resale, they can market the room as an additional bedroom, not just a bonus room.

A College Park home office that keeps clutter to a minimum with an Ikea Expedit bookshelf filled with organizing boxes and magazine files from the Atlantic Station retailer.

Lowe, director of the Chastain Arts Center, recently included an office in a $25,000 basement remodel of her Smyrna home.

Built-in bookcases and a fold-down desk are some of the options for a home office remodel in this Marietta home. People are working more from their homes even if they have a corporate job, said Tom Dwyer, owner of Harbour Towne Construction.

Function and beauty combine in this home office that is meant to blend with the design of the rest of the home and that emphasizes a subdued color palette with occasional pops of color.

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Home offices like this one for an antique book collector are becoming as essential as guest bedrooms in high-end custom homes. "It is unusual for us to work on a home that doesn't have some kind of home office space,' said Mike Minutelli, owner of the Macallan Group.

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