Computer room makeover

I used to have a dedicated computer room. Then along came two great-grandchildren who now call it their toy room. I would like my computer room back!

Design by Steinhafels

• Budget: $6,000-$7,000

The room appears on the small side and the owner has a lot of stuff to store and/or display, so I used a number of storage pieces. A peninsula desk situated on the focal wall would be used with three lateral cabinets. These cabinets can be fully open with exposed shelves, or can have closed storage on the bottom, top or both. The center bookcase can be used with a TV monitor or large computer monitor for the owner to view from any chair in the room. This center piece would be the same height as the two on either side.

I would recommend the owner replace her current carpeting with a lighter, more neutral carpet and repaint the walls also in a lighter color to balance the darker finished pieces chosen for this redesign.

A credenza would be used as another storage piece on the adjacent wall and would provide the necessary balance of weight against the row of bookcases. A large piece of art or a gallery of family photos could be hung above.

Instead of adding more storage options that would take up valuable floor space, I used floating wall shelves hung at various heights for more interest. These would be in varying widths.

On the door wall, a leather chair and ottoman could be used as a reading area, complete with a floor lamp situated behind the chair for task lighting. A trio of mirrors on this wall would reflect the light from the adjacent window and visually create a larger space.