By Mi-Ling Stone Poole –<\/p>\n
DEAR MI-LING: My husband retired from the State Chamber of Commerce last week. We\u2019re creating an upstairs home office for him, embracing years of economic development and nonprofit accomplishments.<\/p>\n
The challenge is finding an attractive way to display wonderful awards, plaques and artwork he\u2019s received over the years \u2014 still making a professional place where he can work, but homey.<\/p>\n
Kris<\/p>\n
DEAR KRIS: One of the most important things you can do for your hubby is to help him create a comfortable space to continue his legacy while transitioning into his new life.<\/p>\n
Your job will be to find out what direction he wants to go. Is he interested in writing, building a business, nonprofit work or a new hobby? His response will help you find a theme. Once you have a theme, use themed accessories to soften the room.<\/p>\n
Utilize the wall space, but also buy your furniture wisely. Look for floating shelves and cabinets that will keep the space flowing.<\/p>\n
Ask your husband to go through his collection and edit out pieces that you can place in leather-bound books or scrapbooks.<\/p>\n
Select the most important and meaningful items for framing and hanging on the wall. Space them evenly and use frames with similar colors and widths.<\/p>\n
One tip: Place everything on the floor and create your design. Cut old newspapers to size and tape them to the wall to get the desired look, then make a mark for the nails.<\/p>\n
To avoid creating a “memorial,\u201d use whimsical accessories, family photos and comfortable furniture in the design.\u00a0 Pile on the layers of his personality.<\/p>\n
What do you think?<\/p>\n
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