Our House Beautiful Home Office and Gym... Behind The Scenes
House Beautiful 125th Anniversary Issue, Oct/Nov 2021 | Photography: Stephen Karlisch
We are so excited to share a closer look at our House Beautiful cover story… a dual functioning home office space and gym! We’re sharing details about everything from the creative collaborations that brought this room to life to the local makers and vendors that are featured in this space.
PS – if you don’t already follow us on Instagram, check out our feed + stories, where we have been posting many behind the scenes clips and photos of our home office and gym.
Our House Beautiful Whole Home Mood Board for our dual home office and gym space.
When we began our research and sourcing for our room in March, we realized that we really wanted to incorporate biophilic design into the space. One of our favorite resources was Matt Morley, an expert in biophilic design and founder of Biofilico. We had the chance to speak with Matt about all things biophilic and learn a bit more about his expertise. You can check out our conversation in a previous blog post here, or check out our video interview via Instagram here where we break down what biophilic design entails and how we were going to incorporate it into our space.
With the concepts of biophilic design outlined, we were excited to begin working these larger ideas into our room’s design through natural textures, soft and earthy tones, and movement around the space. Our room combines the concepts of biophilic design with the fittings of a home office and gym, centered around health, wellness and productivity.
The custom desk we designed, built by Grothouse, and shown here broken down into separate blocks for exercise, aerobics, etc. | Photography: Stephen Karlisch
One of our favorite parts of the space is the custom desk we designed in partnership with Grothouse. We designed this desk to not only be beautiful in the space, but also break down into “workout blocks” that can be used for various exercises, such as step-aerobics, incline planks, etc. Built from ash, the natural wood connects back to nature, pulling from the surrounding views just outside the windows.
The Soul Seat by Ikaria Design Co. - a piece centered around comfort and wellness, perfect for our home office and gym
Our Soul Seat by Ikaria Design Co. was the perfect addition to our space, especially since their designs are meant to add a little more movement to your day and encourage better posture. The Soul Seat perfectly incorporates wellness into your workday, whether that be through stretching, deep breathing or a simply little more movement.
Throughout the room you’ll see various locally made works of art and handmade pieces. This has always been an important element in our design projects – the quality of handmade pieces and incorporation of local artwork. For example, local Maryland ceramic artist, Michelle Kim, created custom pillar candle holders for us, which we styled along the upper edge of our bookshelf. Organic and natural in form, they are stackable and tie into the soft hues of the space. (PS – we sell a variety of Michelle’s pieces in our shop, Domain!)
An overview of the space…We love how the greenery just outside the windows ties into the plants scattered around our room | Photography: Stephen Karlisch
A special shelfie moment - many of the styling items we included are available to shop via Domain | Photography: Stephen Karlisch
Several other Maryland-based artists and makers are featured in this space as well, such as the Cross Tea Candle Holder by Sixty Forty Design, hand-painted watercolor illustrations by our very own Junior Designer and artist, Madeline Moritz, and hand-rendered architectural and botanical drawings by Alyssa Dennis. Given our love for supporting small + local artists, the collaboration and variety of locally handmade goods that are included in our room truly makes it that much more special.
An up-close view of our desk accessories, a blend of vintage and new decor from Domain.
Overall, our goal with our home office and gym was to create a space that truly felt welcoming, relaxing, and connected to nature. With so many people spending much more time at home, we hope that this space inspires you to create your own at-home workspace or gym (or a hybrid of the two, like we did!)
Throughout this project, we loved having the opportunity to work with and be supported by a number of amazing vendors, such as Shelfology (custom metal shelves), The Shade Store (custom Roman shade), Circa Lighting (chandelier, sconces and lamp), Fabricut (throw pillow and bench cushion fabrics), Bloomscape (plants), Fibreworks (custom area rug), Phillip Jeffries (grasscloth wallpaper), and Architectural Grille (custom designed drawer front inserts). Also a huge thank you to the House Beautiful Whole Home team that made this process so special and fun!
If you’re feeling inspired, check out our Pinterest, where we have been saving all sorts of home inspiration and photos from our own design projects. Also be sure to check out Blank Slate by House Beautiful, a series that shows a closer BTS look at the design process for each of the Whole Home Designers.
Now that you know more about the design process of our House Beautiful Whole Home home office and gym, we would love to know what you think – what was your favorite part about the room?
xx. Laura + the LHS team