Now that you guys have seen a peek of my new studio space from the video I posted on Friday, today I want to share photos of all the areas of the space, as well as where everything can be bought or made. Emily has also coined this week “Oh Joy Week” over on her blog, and she’ll be sharing her behind-the-scenes designer tips and tricks and more detailed DIY steps for the things that were custom made.

But first a little back story: After eight years of running my business from home, it came time to have a separate space to call the Oh Joy studio. I used to do mostly graphic design work, so I didn’t need much space other than a desk and computer, but now that I am creating more Oh Joy products as well as content for my blog that requires photo shoots and video shoots, I need more space. Plus, with three employees, I wanted a place for us to all be able to work and be creative together. My studio is located in Hollywood, about 10 minutes from where I live in Silver Lake, which makes for a great, no-stress commute. It’s 1,200 square feet with tall ceilings, wooden beams, brick walls, and great light. But when I found it, it looked like this…

I saw lots of potential in the space, but knew we had a lot of work to do.

That’s where Emily Henderson came in. Emily and I first worked together when she designed my living room for her show on HGTV. We became fast friends, and a couple years later, she helped us baby-proof it after Ruby started walking. Even though I am a graphic designer and feel pretty confident in picking colors and knowing what I like, Emily’s eye for interiors is unmatched. She has a way of bringing spaces together that I don’t. Emily knows how to take my love of color and pattern and make it work into one cohesive space. I told her I wanted white, wood, and gold with lots of pops of color—pretty much a grown-up Candyland. We started a joint Pinterest board and bounced ideas back and forth. And then she and her designer, Samantha Gluck, came up with a master plan.

Take a look at how Emily and her team transformed the space…

We needed a lot of storage in the studio, so Emily suggested we get these giant Pax units from Ikea, and we customized the handles with gold ones. Originally, Emily planned to use contact paper to add pattern to the doors. But since there’s so much color in the rest of the space, we decided to let the white shine and use the contact paper and masking tape to create a fun toe kick at the bottom.

Left to right: West Elm dining table, Industry West chairs, Ikea Pax cabinets with Anthropologie hooks, Casa de Perrin vintage rug, Target pouf, Jonathan Adler for JCP side table, Eric Trine chairs, Lab Boutique striped pillows. Bottom detail made with gold contact paper from Design Your Wall with assorted masking tape (DIY on Emily’s blog).

We don’t have an actual kitchen in the space, so Emily created a kitchen area by adding in this Ikea cabinet (customized like the other storage unit with new handles and a fun toe kick). In the mornings, I make myself a cup of tea and a snack and off to work I go!

Left to right: Design Within Reach coat hook, Target stools, Ikea cabinet with Anthropologie knobs, Ikea shelves with Signature Hardware brass anchors, FEED for Target ceramic/wood canisters, DIY painted mason jars, Wind & Willow Home wood bowl, Joel Penkman Krispy Kreme print, vintage Beatles print, Smeg fridge from West Elm, World Market dustpan, SimpleHuman trash bin. DIY on cabinet toe kick made with gold contact paper from Design Your Wall and assorted masking and washi tape.

Between the kitchen and storage areas, we have a dining room/meeting area that’s used for staff meetings, client meetings, tabletop shoots, and, of course, eating. The open shelving has a fully stocked set of prop shelves for when we’re shooting recipes, editorials, or other fun food content for the blog. All of the cups, vases, and napkins that I’ve collected over the past few years finally have a place to live!

With our tall ceilings, we wanted something cool to hang from the beams and worked with Jessica from Bramble Workshop to create this custom lucite and wood mobile to complement some of the other materials and colors being used in the space. In person, the lucite pieces look like they are glowing—it’s gorgeous!

Left to right: Gold clip lamps by Land of Nod, Ikea shelving, hanging mobile/installation by Bramble Workshop, West Elm dining table, Industry West chairs. Shelves were painted with various Benjamin Moore colors, including Super White, Razzle Dazzle, Americana, Hannity Green, Once Upon a Time, and Cheerful (see the full shelf DIY on Emily’s blog).

Items on the shelves include Design Within Reach globe, Wind and Willow bowls, Happy Chic by Jonathan Adler at jcpenny vases, and Land of Nod woven storage bins.

Left to right, top to bottom: Yellow candleholders from A + R, vintage hanging mugs, tap water bottle by Facet Face, Overstock gold/blue/red Moroccan tea glasses, vintage floral mugs, Kate Spade Saturday mugs, Leif spotted ceramic dishes, Design Within Reach gold-dipped carafe, vintage plates.

Even though the space is pretty big, Emily decided that we’d still make designated areas for everything to create flow, and keep all of our desks in one main “office” area. We painted the whole floor in a striped pattern of gray and white, with the back area in solid gray. It helps to divide the space and also bring interest to the floor. The desk chairs are vintage and reupholstered in two different fabrics on the front and back.

Left to right: CB2 shelving unit, Blu Dot desks, CB2 file cabinets, vintage chairs from Sunbeam Vintage with custom upholstery, Design by Conran at jcpenny desk lamps, Far & Wide Collective striped waste baskets, Kate Spade Saturday desk storage containers. Floor paint: Smoke Embers and Super White by Benjamin Moore.

This giant inspiration wall makes me so happy. It was initially created for a backdrop for photo shoots, but we decided to turn one side into a giant cork wall. The ribbon installation in the corners was made by Emily and her team. It’s such a fun way to draw interest to the space above our heads.

Left to right: Land of Nod woven storage basket, Happy Chic by Jonathan Adler at jcpenny ceramic stool, Eric Trine chairs, Blu Dot coat rack, vintage rug from Casa de Perrin, custom ribbon installation (see Emily’s blog for full DIY), custom inspiration wall/photo shoot backdrop. Custom mood board made using leftover cork from the inspiration wall and paint from the shelving (see Emily’s blog forthe full DIY), CB2 console table, Ikea file cabinets, vintage pink chair, Anthropologie throw pillow, vintage lamp/side table.

Finally, near the entrance to the studio, you’re greeted with our little living room and a ton of art on the wall. I have so many talented friends and acquaintances that I’ve come to know over the years, and I wanted to fill a wall with art of people whose work I love and respect. I asked a few friends to commission their photography for custom prints, and we filled in the rest with a mix of paintings and prints that I found online. I handed over all of the art over to Emily, and she had them framed in a mix of colors and sizes and put them together into one big and beautiful gallery wall.

Furniture, left to right: Vintage hot pink chairs, Anthropologie yellow velvet pillow, vintage black standing lamp/side table, Room & Board sofa, vintage coffee table, Happy Chic by Jonathan Adler for jcpenny striped vase, Anthropologie throw pillows, Marimekko custom-made pillow cover, Target lamp, Design Within Reach Saarinen side table, blue velvet pillow and vintage rug from the flea market.

Prints, left to right: Ashley Percival panda print, Studio Legohead cat print, Bonnie Tsang custom print, Animal Print Shop baby giraffe print, Jen Gotch paper cups print, Jenny Vorwaller abstract painting, Ruby sketch by Casey Brodley, Lulie Wallace floral painting, Bonnie Tsang custom pool print, Paul Octavious kite hill print, Jen Gotch glasses custom print, Cali print by Rocket Ink, Joel Penkman popsicle print, Jenny Vorwaller abstract painting, Geronimo x Jennifer Young custom Ruby photo, Ruby oil painting by Casey Brodley, Max Wanger custom print, Ashley Percival cool deer print, Studio Legohead floral print, Marion Barraud fish print. Framing by Curve Line Space.

I hope you enjoyed this tour of my new studio! I have to say that it’s been an amazing feeling to get to this point and feel like I finally have a place to call the home for Oh Joy. Thanks for following along and for all your support along the way. Without you guys, this job wouldn’t be nearly as fun!

And huge thanks to Emily and her team for their talent, time, and lots of heavy lifting and DIY-ing!

CREDITS
Studio designed and styled by Emily Henderson
Sr. designer/project manager: Samantha Gluck
With lots of help by Orlando Soria, Abby Pendergrast, and Casey Brodley
Photography by Zeke Ruelas