Home Office Winner
Designed by Joyce Buxton, Buxton Kubik Dodd Creative
Residence: Phil and Joyce Buxton
Phil and Joyce Buxton loved their home—its location, the yard, their neighbors and its many happy memories—but they realized that they weren’t using the floor plan efficiently. “Ironically, as big as our house was, we were living in the kitchen and hearth room, so all of our functions were crowded into one little space when we had miles of other space that were underutilized,” says Joyce, who designed the space.
One such underutilized room was the first-floor library, which Joyce realized could become an office. To make that shift, Joyce ordered a custom-designed desk armoire with doors that can be closed as needed, a useful feature given the room’s proximity to the home’s entry area. She also had additional lighting—a bold new fixture creatively concealing a ceiling fan—installed, which required running wiring through the floor of an upstairs room.
Additional furniture came from other parts of the house, including a round breakfast table, allowing the space to also be used as an informal dining area, and a 30-year-old sectional that was reupholstered with a rich eggplant boucle fabric. The latter piece now forms a nearly wall-to-wall banquette above which hangs an eye-catching oil painting by Allie Shackelford Abella, the daughter of a close family friend.
One of the most impactful changes—painting the existing wood paneling and moldings with a taupe high-gloss enamel paint—was nerve-wracking for Joyce but paid big design dividends and gave the room new life. “It’s kind of a no-turning-back decision, and I’m really happy that I did it,” she says.
Home Office Resources
Desk: Alpine Wood Products
Light Fixture: The Light House Gallery
Paint: Sherwin-Williams
Window Treatments: Linda's Professional Drapery & Upholstery, 417-833-2292