I guess I'm a professional decorator now! ;) Dad's Office

Dad's New Office!

My dad is a physician who works out of Mountain View Hospital in Payson, Utah.  For the last decade or so, he has been in practice with 1-2 other doctors, who have shared an office, and taken turns having time off, etc.  About a year ago, he found himself the only doctor left in the office, due to retirement & a move.  It was an enormous office with lots of exam rooms, a huge nurses station, reception area, and break room.  Although he hopes to retire in the not-to-distant future, he didn't want to continue paying through the nose for a huge office that he didn't need anymore.  However, there aren't a lot of options in Payson for offices, so it was with trepidation that he decided to rent an older, run-down office on the other side of the hospital.

Now, I'm not really a professional decorator, but I do love to do projects around my home.  And having seen many of them, my dad decided to go out on a limb & ask me to decorate the new office for him, in hopes of getting it to a point where he could stand to work there every day!  Although I was hesitant to take on the project, I was also excited as I anticipated doing something with an actual budget, unlike the things I do around my home!  ;)  When I first toured the "new" office, it had been sitting empty for quite some time, and was not only extremely dated (think late 70s early 80s!), it was filthy & full of bugs & cobwebs.  But I could see that it had a lot of potential!  

My dad was quite busy, so he really didn't get involved in the decorating other than offering a few suggestions.  And luckily, I didn't have to do all the "bones" work, like painting walls, adding molding, enlarging the bathroom, and making repairs.  The landlord's son-in-law Trevor did all of that, and he was great to work with!  My niece Maddie was also a huge help in getting all the finishing touches put together: putting trees on walls, hanging pictures, ironing drapes, etc! 

Unfortunately I'm not a great photographer, and because the rooms in the office are quite small, it was hard to get pictures that have a good perspective.  But I'll post my before & after pictures & explain a bit what I did!

And, the reason I say I guess I'm a professional decorator now is because I've gotten paid to decorate! 

Before: the view of the front door, as seen from the reception desk

 I know drapes aren't standard fare in a doctor's office, but I added them in almost every room anyway.  As I thought of what I wanted to do, I asked myself, "If I was going to spend 8-9 hours every day working in this office, what would I want to look at?  How would I want it to make me feel?"  I also tried to keep in mind that the patients visiting here weren't having the time of their lives, and that if they have to go through some uncomfortable situations (ever had a rectal exam!?), it would be nicer to be in a place that felt comfortable and homey rather than sterile.  I felt like the drapes were a great way to add a pop of color or variety to doors and windows that might otherwise lack character.

After: View of the front door

After: outside the office

As you can see from the "before" picture above, the entry to the office is through an enclosed courtyard.  I decided to extend the decor of the office into the atrium with the bench out front, adding pillows that mirror the colors used inside. 

Before: the reception desk

The prominent feature upon entering this office is the massive wooden reception desk.  While we would have preferred to remove this completely, the landlord was insistent that it stay, but was finally convinced to let me paint it.  My dad & I had decided to paint the entire office gray with white trim, then decorate each room in different accent colors.  So I decided to paint the wooden reception desk in the neutral gray & white to match the other background colors.  I then used the drapes, carpets, paintings, and birds to bring turquoise into the room.  My dad had the idea to put the trees on the wall, so I was able to custom order them with the colors I wanted.  If you look carefully, you will find one of the birds has wandered from the trees!  The wooden reception desk had a little nook in the upper right hand corner, and I although I don't have a great picture of it, I found a birdhouse painted blue that fit just perfectly!

After: the reception desk

After: the reception area, as seen from the front door

After: another angle of the reception area

Before:  Exam room 1

 One of the first things I decided to do when I viewed the "before" office was to paint the cabinets!  My dad did not want to put the money into replacing them for the time he will be here, but they really reeked of early 80s, and would have tainted anything else we did to the exam rooms!   Also, an office like this is the perfect place to experiment with colors!  I wouldn't necessarily have the nerve to do an entire kitchen in a color like this, but for a small set of cabinets in one room, it wasn't too overwhelming.  The office staff now refers to each exam room by the color of its cabinets ("Mr. Smith is in the blue room!"), which is exactly what I'd hoped!

Another reason for adding drapes in the exam rooms is because the honeycomb shades, and even the doors themselves, are totally worn and rotting!  Eventually they will need to be replaced, but in the meantime, no patients will have to sit staring at them and wondering!  

The doors in this room and the green room, as well as doors in the doctors office/break room open to a darling little patio surrounded by mature trees & filled with shrubs and flowers.  It was pouring rain the day I took these pictures, but if I make it out on a sunny day, I'll have to get views of the courtyard!  The office staff will enjoy it on warm days for lunch or breaks, but unfortunately the exam rooms won't likely open to it often.  It would be a bit awkward to be having that rectal exam with an open window!

After: Exam Room 1

Before: Reception desk

 Ideally I would have taken pictures of the entire office after I finished decorating and before all the "office" stuff was moved in, but reality was that they overlapped quite a bit, so I never had the chance.  The "before" picture captures the essence of the receptionist's desk as seen from her side: brown and boring!  Because this area contained the largest number of cabinets, I decided to stick with white so as not to overwhelm with color.  And seeing the area now with all of the office equipment in it, I can tell it was a good decision.  A bright color on these cabinets would have given the poor receptionist a headache!  I replaced all the faux-brass cabinet pulls with oil-rubbed bronze, with the Nantucket cup style on drawers, knobs in the exam rooms, and pulls on the reception cupboards.  

After: Reception desk

After: Nurses station (sorry, no before!)

Before: Exam room 2

 When I took pictures at the office, a patient was being seen in this room!  I wasn't able to take my "after" shot with the good camera, so I took this with my cell phone.  Hence the poor resolution and crazy red color!  I'll replace this pic when I can, as the red is really not that bright!  This ended up being the patriotic room, with the pictures of war memorials from the old office hung in here.

I didn't take my "before" picture until after I had removed the cabinet fronts to refinish them, but you can get the idea of the wood color and groovy cabinet pulls from the "before" picture of Exam room 1!  This room is apparently a favorite of the staff!

After: Exam room 2

 I didn't get any before pics of the 3rd exam room, but since it was pretty much identical to the others, you get the idea!  And I REALLY wished I could have taken these pictures sans medical equipment (NO ONE wants to see stirrups!!), but such is life!  I wasn't so sure at first about this green with gray, but in the end, I have to say I quite love it!  There were quite a few green-tinged decorations from the old office (not all pictured), and this was the perfect place to tie it all together.  And because this room has both a large window AND opens to the patio, it is a bright, cheery place on a sunny day, even with all the blinds closed.  May as well have a serene setting when you're in the stirrups!

After: Exam room 3

After: Exam room 3

I didn't take "before" pictures of the hallway or bathroom, but thought I'd include the "afters" anyway!  All of the doors in the office were the same oak colored wood as the cabinets, so painting them white seemed to widen the hall.  In fact, another tenant in the building, who was familiar with the "before" office, thought we must have widened the hallway by a foot or two!  And as elsewhere, a small rug in a fun color & pattern goes a long way in adding some pizzazz to an otherwise dull area!

After: Bathroom

After: hallway viewed from reception area

After: hallway viewed from the back of the office

 

It was an absolutely INSANE two weeks (the time I had to get it all together!), especially considering the number of cabinets I had to refinish!  But it was all worth it the day the staff began moving in the furniture & equipment, seeing their reactions to the "new" office, after having faced the move with such trepidation!  I truly hope it will be a happy place where my dad and his awesome staff will love going to work!