Space is important for a myriad of reasons; our well being, inspiration, comfort, and personal expression rely, in large part, on that what surrounds us. Not so surprisingly, function plays an equally hefty role. When cityhomeCOLLECTIVE was hired recently to create an office space for Pallet Bistro owners, Drew Eastman and Rocky Derrick, I prepared to put all of these aspects into play. Pallet is a bustling downtown restaurant with plenty to do behind the scenes, but this office will pull double-duty for Rocky's other business, Taylor-Derrick Capitol, as well. We needed to create a space to house efficiency, productivity, and multi-function. Let's break it down:

1. Create comfort amid chaos. It's easy to write-off an office space as just that -- the room where you work. We avoided this by creating a lounge area for comfortable, casual meetings for team or clients. The layout of the room is conducive to a bustling team. We tossed in a custom marker-board cabinet that can be closed to hide top-secret thoughts.

2. Set off similitude with contrast. The office space didn't need to be an exact replica of Pallet in terms of aesthetic, but a reference to that space was certainly important. We made sure to combine a bit of the rustic and industrial elements from the restaurant with my inspirations from masculine spaces like smoking lounges and old, English libraries. With plenty of dark, moody furniture, it was important that the walls be light in color so as to keep the office bright and vibrant.

3. Save the clutter for the gutter. The overall design is simple and restrained. This second-story Pierpont Ave. space was interesting enough with its old windows and original brick walls...no need to smother the surfaces with stuff. The head of a dead animal and some Courtney Derrick originals were quite enough to round out the space.