A Busy Real Estate Office Reimagined

A month before Covid really hit, I got a call from a manager of a busy real estate office in Newton Center, Massachusetts. She said she had been following me on Instagram for some time and loved my aesthetic in my home and my other clients’ homes and asked if I’d be interested in redesigning her real estate office. I’d never taken on a project like this, but without hesitation said yes!

The office is in a great location in a very affluent part of Massachusetts, right in their city center with large front windows that look out to all the foot traffic. Inside, the space we were working with was the main waiting area for clients, and a side office space. It just needed a refresh, something more inviting, something more up to date, something that really would appeal to the broad range of people that come in and out of that office every day.

The office before the redesign:

Front entry console table

The office redesign~

The entry console table

Front entry hallway. Since this goes directly out to the street, we didn’t want this space to be too crowded.

{The Design}

The design I went with had to take into account something very special about this space. That it’s an office but an office that had to evoke a feeling of home. When clients come into this office, they’re focused on selling their home and finding a new place to call home, so why not make them feel as if they’re walking into a cozy house that is perhaps an inspiration of what they’re looking to find for themselves? Because the clientele comes from all walks of life, with different tastes and styles, the design also had to be neutral as far as not going too far into the modern or traditional direction, but stay as close to the middle as possible. The color palette was soft beiges and calming blues. The textures were cozy tweeds in the chairs and sofa and natural elements like the live edge wood side table, wooden coffee table and plant pot, and of course the gorgeous wood entry console table.

I started the project before Covid and only had a few finishing touches to add before the world shut down. It was so strange to have to leave a project before it was fully complete, but it was actually kind of cool to return to it in late May, 3 months after starting it. It sort of gave me a fresh look at the space, an absence to really make me see the work I did in a new light and I loved it! What I really loved hearing from the real estate brokers who work there are that after the space was mostly redone (before Covid), that although the space was truly intended to be the waiting area for clients, they used it as a work space instead. They said it was so warm and inviting, so fresh and bright, that they actually conducted in-office and client meetings there instead of the intended office spaces. What a joy to hear that! Thankful for this opportunity and how fun it was to work with my client on revamping her office.

I’d love to hear from you! How do you think it turned out? I’d love to answer any questions on the project or the products used. DM me on Instagram or leave a message here.

~Alisa