Damian Corney’s home office was “a white uninspiring box” before he made it over with wallpaper, texture and personal touches.
While his Melbourne home is a new build, it has a few nods to Modernism throughout and, this being one of Damian’s favourite eras of design, he set out to recreate a formal work from home space in this style.
“That meant employing walnut timbers, grasscloth textures and of course a wall mural as a feature,” says the boss of Grafico, the wallpaper and mural brand often seen on The Block. “It needed to be warm and inviting enough to be inspired to be sitting in there for sometimes many hours! I chose a travel theme as what’s more inspiring when you’re sitting at a desk working than remembering your favourite family travels?”
The large wall map wallpaper mural is of course the hero of the room as you walk in. “It’s been so great being able to use it to educate the kids about geography and map where we’ve travelled together, plus it doubles up as a stunning backdrop for zoom calls. We stick on small gold dots to highlight the places we’ve travelled as a family and even a few dots for pre-kid holidays! I also used some flexible real timber panelling on one feature wall to not only frame the world map mural, but also add in some additional texture and warmth.”
When sitting at the desk, Damian wanted to look out at family photos, so he designed a gallery wall of black and white framed images in walnut frames.
“Coupled with the background of the Grafico grasscloth wallpaper, I custom printed this in a warm flecked colour. I think it’s a match made in heaven! I’ve used a new grasscloth textured wallpaper which isn’t made from grasscloth fibre, so it’s a very durable commercial grade that looks just like grasscloth without the durability and installation issues that traditional grasscloth brings. It’s also very textured just like the real deal. The last thing I wanted was to be scared of the kids coming in and touching the walls!”
Running a small business that operates around Australia and has suppliers overseas, sometimes demands long hours so while he’s usually at Grafico’s office 9-to-5, there’s often nights when he and wife Adele, who also works in the business, need to work from home around their family.
“We like to ensure we can dedicate time to the kids when they’re up and about so if that means working nights when they’re asleep, then so be it. I’ve been working this way over 20 years, even before kids, so I don’t see myself changing now. I think working as a designer in such a creative industry, all of the ‘work’ is exciting and creative so I don’t find it a chore, I find it exciting! With our two young girls running around the house and all that a busy family life brings, we find it integral to have a dedicated (and closed off) space to work in.”
Damian says he does a lot of his best creative and conceptual work at home when the kids are in bed and the phone isn’t ringing. “A quiet, tranquil workspace is really important for many creatives and this room has delivered that brief. Plus it gets a big tick from my wife and the kids love the map so the whole family is happy.”
The before
