the side job – corporate office decorating – the befores

Let me tell you something about myself, you may already know. I tend to take on more than I should and I have a really hard time telling people no. That will explain the craziness I embarked on last year at my day job. Our office was relatively new and completely white. Not an ounce of personality, nothing to make it ours. Considering our culture, the office didn’t fit. Our execs were considering paying some over-priced and out of touch designers to give the space some life (I’m not saying all designer are over-priced but if you would have heard the ideas that were walking through our space without understanding who we are, you would agree). I decided to open my big mouth and take on the task of decorating our space. Because of course, just leading the marketing and creative teams would have not been enough, I needed to add corporate office decorating to my to do list 😉

I have had a board on Pinterest since then, collecting ideas for quotes, furniture and more.

The renovation actually  started in September/October of last year, but there is still a way to go. I wanted to give you a before tour so you know what the overall space feels like.  I’m missing a few shots for a full tour but those will come with the afters. We have a nice white, open space. Beautiful, except that everything is white! According to many, it starts bordering on feeling like a sanitarium with all the white.

The double door in the corner here leads to the lunchroom, which has major updates coming to it. So does that wall with our team picture. Imagine a collaborative recognition wall instead.

These two walls are going to get some major accent wall treatments. Think bold colors, patterns or maybe a word wall. 

White, white and more white. We are a FUN office. This spaces is so desperate for some fun…and color. 

More color needed and a library for ever-growing book collection are the plans for this space. Yes, there is writing on the walls. Our walls are white boards in many spaces. Each office has a Wink wall and some common areas like this one have them too. The drawings on this one are courtesy of “Bring your child to work day”.

Our bar is going to be getting more seating, an accent wall, and something to conceal that kegerator. And yes, we have a kegerator in the office. How else would happy hour starts at 4:30 – 5:00 pm every Friday?! We also have wine for the non-beer drinkers like me 🙂

When the office space was built out, the furniture company they used suggested all these collaboration areas for the team. Great idea, except the furniture is the most uncomfortable stuff ever. No one ever uses them so I’ve replaced the funky stuff with a large, gray leather sectional. So much better for chatting while watching ping pong, working from your laptop or having a drink on Friday. Yes, there is a ping pong table right there 😉

Now, the desks and some of the office furniture, window coverings, flooring, etc are non-negotiable in this project. What I have done is a lot of paint, a lot of artwork, additional furniture, and more fun.

Here is a teaser of some of the colors based off our brand colors. As a marketer/brander I had to stick with our palette for personalizing our space. We haven’t used the hot pink on any walls but it has shown up in the artwork and some accents. The grays, yellows and blues have all made a major impact on the space. There is a also glimpse of our floor plan.

While it is stressful because I don’t have time to be doing something like this (remember what my house looks like), it is still so much fun. The team is liking the changes so that is reassuring. Reveal photos coming soon. Honestly, looking at Pinterest and other places for corporate office decorating ideas was so much fun. It would be great full time job if I got paid for it 😉