When we first toured our apartment, one of the big draws was that there was space for both of us to have a home office. We both work from home a lot, and we were sick and tired of living amongst screens and work calls in the middle of our living area. The home office I claimed for myself was the smaller of the two spaces, with a small, narrow window facing an indoor ventilation shaft. Previously it had a built-in floor-to-ceiling wardrobe, so I suppose it acted as a storage room for what was a large family (of 7!) living here. Imagine how small the room is, if a family with five children chose to use a room with a door as a storage room instead of another bedroom for their kids – a bed simply doesn’t fit.
But the small dimensions didn’t deter me at all. I’ve been living in an apartment for over 10 years now, and my small-space tolerance reset from its earlier American levels. The space fit a desk, chair, bookcase, and my dog’s bed. That’s all I need.
After finishing the original renovation to the apartment, we moved in and starting living and using the space. We hadn’t done anything to my office except put in the new flooring we put in the rest of the flat, and gave it a fresh coat of white paint. I worked in that white box for a year. One whole year was what I needed for me to realize that I absolutely hated working in that sterile, cold white space.
So when I decided to redesign my office, I decided to swing my pendulum to the other extreme. Who said small spaces always should be white? I did white, and found it pretty terrible. So what if I painted my tiny office dark?
It was around this time that the Dark Academia trend was making the rounds on social media. I’m a dreamer, and love to get lost in books. So of course I loved the Dark Academia vibe. But what most attracted me to it was its fearless use of dark colors on walls. The age-old practice of keeping things light and bright and cheery was blown away by a cloak of dark, rich walls, cozy furnishings, small warm lamps, and whimsical, vintage paintings in ornate frames.
Dark Academia for a home office seems a natural fit, but I was unsure whether I could pull off the dark walls in such a small space. But I’m not afraid to try new things, so I held my breath and plunged in head-first. After many months of waffling about trying to find the perfect, comforting shade of blue (if you followed along on my TikTok, you know), I finally settled on Selvedge, by Farrow & Ball. I installed foam cornices, and for a moment considered leaving them white along with the ceiling. But buoyed by the support I received online, I decided to go all-in and painted the cornices and ceiling blue as well. A full color soak.
And to my utter amazement, it looked incredible. A dark color on all 5 walls in a tiny space… it was a bold move, but the right one. Instead of feeling boxed-in, I felt enveloped. A cozy space, containing exactly what I needed to work, write, be inspired… I created my own safe space.