Masculine Office Inspiration
It’s inevitably harder for me to come up with ideas for a masculine office inspiration than anywhere else in the house. The default is dark, heavy furniture and oversized leather recliners. Which I can’t stand.
Well, honestly, I don’t mind some heavy furniture if the space is grand enough, but leather recliners kill me. They are an eyesore. But, we can move past that.
You can have a seamlessly designed room that’s comfortable without the stuffed recliner. So that’s good news! Specifically, for this inspiration board, I’m going to be talking about offices.
Offices function a little bit differently than say a bedroom, so there will be specific areas to work out like seating, storage, and the worktop.
Are you ready to work out some of the elements that go into making a masculine office? Let’s get down to it. Here’s what we are going to cover:
- Color
- Workspace
- Seating
- Storage
- Finishes/Accessories
MASCULINE OFFICES & COLOR
There are a few ways to approach a masculine office and how to shed light on your masculine office inspiration so that it isn’t drab. Neutral or color saturated. Neutral can include white, black, off-whites, linen/tans and blues.
Call me crazy, but blue is the new neutral. In fact when clients choose color for a room, blue is the number one choice, according to manufacturers. And that’s because it is a safe color and it goes relatively well with just about anything. I’m talking about wall color, fabric sales, and wallpaper. It crosses all mediums for design components.
So, if you are looking to design a masculine office (or any space) and you want to branch out with color, start with blue.
PAINT
When choosing paint, you should consider undertones. If you are working with cool blues, choose cool tones for the rest of your project. If it has warm undertones, you’ll want to work with slightly warm furniture and complementary colors.
- The best way to choose the right color (there can be more than one) is to check out paint swatches.
- Choose 4-5 that you like and have sample pots made.
- Go to the room you will be painting and paint a big square on the wall of each color sample.
- Label them with painters tape.
- Use the remaining paint to paint pasteboard and tape it on another wall in the room that is hit with different light.
- Allow paint to dry.
- Look at the paint colors at different times of the day with natural light and overhead light (especially if in an office with fluorescent light and no windows).
Have you picked a favorite? One or two will usually be an instant NO and you’ll likely have narrowed it down to 2 or three. If you keep observing them throughout the day, you should be able to come to a decision.
Do you hate all of the choices? I once painted 5 gray/beige samples in my eat in kitchen. And I hated all of them. Turns out, I don’t like brown or beige and these colors all had (orange & gold) /beige/brown undertones. The paint choices were too warm for my taste.
So, to correct poor color choices, start from square one. Go back to the paint store and take an undertone sample wheel to help you avoid those colors in the first place.
There is no shame in starting over. I promise you’ll much rather start over and paint samples on the wall than paint the entire room and dislike it.
WORKSPACE
The main function of an office is to do work, so you’ll want to consider your needs for your masculine office inspiration and makeover.
Do you spend time on the computer, writing on pen and paper, drafting, drawing, painting, reading, researching, or physical using client files?
The main workspace will be the desk. Choose a desk that works for your space needs. Here an executive desk is large enough to hold the computer screen and files that are in use, as well as an inbox and outbox. Other file storage will be needed as well, and we will use a console table for the printer and additional files.
SEATING
In addition to your own chair, you may need 1-2 client seats. Wayfair and Overstock are great places to get inexpensive client seating. Choose “commercial use” for chairs that will hold up better over time despite the affordable price tag.
If you’ve chosen a neutral wall color, chairs are a great way to add color and pattern. Conversely, if you went with a bold wall color, brown leather chairs with clean lines are always a great addition to the masculine office space.
STORAGE
In addition to the desk, you may need additional storage for files and books. The storage you choose should be dependent on the space you have. If you have high ceilings and a large footprint, you can opt for large bookcases, file cabinets, and a console table.
If you’re working with a smaller space, wall mounted shelves with decorative book ends make a great storage system for tons of books and supplies. IKEA has great wall mounted storage, along with boxes to hide paper and supplies.
If you have a lot of cords, I suggest putting a decorative box on a console near the outlet and running all of the cords along the console and down into the box. This is a great way to hide the cords from your immediate sightline.
Don’t forget to have a place for your printer, whether that’s in pull out drawer or on a side table, you’ll want to keep it handy if you do a lot of printing.
FINISHES
Lastly, no room is complete without the finishing touches. Lighting, artwork, a rug, and accessories, even in a man cave, make the room look collected not sterile.
You can use these finishes for practice purposes as well, such as pen holder, paper inboxes, standing file holders and desk lamps.
My favorites accessories are:
- A large rug to anchor the room and add color
- plants
- handmade pottery pen holder
- leather sling file holder
- bookends
- shagreen or lacquered inboxes
- catch all basket or tray
- desk lamps
- natural colored pottery/vases
- clock
- decorative hard sided boxes
Masculine Office Inspiration SOURCES
Paint: Benjamin Moore Santa Monica Blue
Rug: Overstock
Desk & Sideboard: Ebay
Standing Desk: Amazon
Bookcases: Ballard Designs
Chairs: Wayfair
Accent Rug: World Market
Desk Accessories/lamp: Home Goods
Gallery Wall: gallery wall prints from Etsy