At the Intersection of Art, Architecture & Design

I heard more from my reader in Reston, VA who has a home office without sufficient privacy.  It turns out that she does personal coaching and a sense of privacy would be a big plus for clients learning to handle new challenges.

She lives in a largely open plan home with high ceilings and arched doorways.  Her office is right off the foyer and across from the dining room.  The doorway is 48” and the top of the arch is at 95” (see image at bottom of article).

A separate interior doorway with glass doors creates a sense of privacy and seperation

In the solution, rendered above, (as in the previous article) I suggest building a separate doorway inside the office to create an elegant sense of separation that’s badly missing in the existing plan.  See the floor plan, below.  The red/orange walls are the new walls built to give the office a sense of separation and privacy from the rest of the house.  From the image, above, you can see, that when the doors are open, the sense of openness remains.   While, my client will need to re-arrange furniture she will gain a valuable grace and presence. 

Lowering the ceiling in the new alcove and painting the alcove a deep color enhances the sense of separation.  The additional air space and distance decreases the sounds of conversation and increases the sense of privacy.  Using stained glass, does the same while still allowing light to flood into the foyer. 

Floor Plan - Red/orange walls are new

An alternate possibility is to just add a stained glass doorway and arch top window to the existing opening – like in the rendering below.  While it preserves the full space in the office, I don’t think that it creates the same sense of separation and privacy as does the option, above.

Stained Glass Door & Arch Transom Adds Privacy to Arched Doorway

 
Here’s an image taken by my reader of the existing doorway. 

Existing Arched Doorway Into Office

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