Color Lab

"I WAS A LITTLE APPREHENSIVE ABOUT MY NEW HOME OFFICE, because I had never worked from home," says Joan Brooks, a molecular biologist with several patents to her name. She recently launched a new enterprise with husband Jim Garrels called Garbrook Associates, which pioneers information services for the scientific community. "Before this, I had a big, beautiful office in Beverly's Cummings Center. I'd take work home in the evenings but had never designed working space for myself."

Two years ago, she and Garrels hired interior designer Lisa Bonneville of Manchester-by-the-Sea to help with renovation on their early-20th-century house in Beverly. "When she asked what I wanted in a home office," Brooks recalls, "I said, `How can I design something when I don't even know what I'll be doing?'"

But her design process, in fact, did not begin by focusing on specific projects; Brooks was more interested in the way she works and the things she loves. One of those things, it turned out, is color.

Before Brooks could discuss color schemes with Bonneville, though, she and Garrels had to decide how their work spaces would interface with their living space.

"At first we thought we'd share this room, but we quickly abandoned that idea," Brooks says with a laugh. "Then we thought that we'd divide it in half, but it was a shame to lose all this lovely light." The large attic room, intersected by window dormers and slanting walls, had served as an artist's studio for a previous occupant. "Then Jim, who likes to get up from his desk to go for a quick walk, realized that he'd be better able to do that if he was on a lower level," says Brooks. "So I got this great room by default. I loved that it had windows all around and that it was big; I'd become accustomed to the luxury of a large office."

But, says Bonneville, "it was all white, too harsh. In New England, a room needs color in the winter to feel warm and inviting. I asked Joan to choose a picture that represented her aesthetic. She showed me a photo of New England autumn leaves. So we had our color scheme."

The walls are painted in blocks of a creamy golden yellow and a saturated and warm pinkish orange; the ceiling is a pale gold. "Exactly the colors of the fall leaves Joan loves," Bonneville says. But when the paint first went on the walls, Brooks was horrified. "I came home from a business trip to this huge, freshly painted empty room and said, 'I can't do serious work in here, among these clown colors!'"

"It was a typical scenario of putting the backdrop into a room, but until all the other elements are in it, you don't see it as a backdrop," Bonneville says. "I told Joan that the colors would look very different when they were cooled off with green on the countertops and on the floor. Also, during the day, the room is flooded with natural light, which washes out colors."

Brooks agrees. "What was a huge expanse of brightness is now a beautiful, rich, warm, and energizing room. I knew I wanted my office to be different from the rest of the house; I didn't want to feel too laid-back in here," she says. "I wanted energy and drama. People in biotech have a creative spirit. The worst kind of office for me would have been the equivalent of a banker's gray-flannel suit."

Bonneville introduced whimsy with boldly patterned fabrics in shades of orange-red and gold, laminate counters with images of cut grass, and black-metal cabinet pulls shaped like human bodies in motion. One appears to scale the sheer face of a cabinet door, two others seem to be playing ball with a piece of hardware.

The room is generally divided between Brooks's desk, a satellite workstation, and convertible conference areas. "You don't have to have a big, bulky table in the middle of the room," Bonneville says, "especially if you don't use it all the time. With the exception of Joan's desk, all the elements in this room are modular and mobile and can be rolled around as they are needed." That includes a folding white board and tables that serve as smaller work areas until, pushed together, they become one large conference table. File cabinets are tucked under the eaves. "The usual scenario is me working alone in here," Brooks says, "but we do have meetings where eight of us sit around the table."

She says she is enamored of everything in her office. "I love the window seats for taking little naps during the afternoon and the kitchen for making a quick cup of tea. And my husband loves it - I have to remind him that it's mine!"

Homework Tips

Have Fun: One advantage of working at home is that you can make your office all about you. Forget corporate beige. Here's a chance to use an edgy color, hang your favorite photographs, and take design chances that the rest of your family might not like in the rest of the house.

Give Yourself a View: This may require some effort, but a window that allows a peek at the changing weather, a bird on the wing, or even the FedEx truck will give eyes and spirit a lift.

Regina Cole is a freelance writer. She can be reached at coleregina@mac.com.