How to create a mid-century modern home office

Inspired by post-war simplicity and the beauty of natural shapes and materials, mid-century modern is the perfect choice for serene 21st-century homes. Follow our five easy steps to create the same serene feel in your home office space - whatever you use the room for.

We've picked the furniture, accessories, room layout and colour scheme for the ultimate mid-century haven - which has a fresh and contempoary feel with classic accents. The result is a comfortable stylish space to work, with bags of storage and style.

1/6 1950s-inspired home office

Mid-century classic pieces are often found at antique fairs and secondhand shops, but if your budget doesn't quite stretch this far, look out for warm wood furniture and light accessories to lift your office space.

2/6 Use a cool contrasting colour

Team warm wood tones with a cooler contrast, like this dusky duck-egg colour, on the walls - it brings out the depth of the natural wood grain. When layering wood on wood keep it simple, this will have more impact than mixing in accessories in other colour finishes.

Farrow & Ball have a range of cool slate blue paints..

3/6 Mix tones of wood

When using wood don't worry about matching shades - mixing it up gives a relaxed feel. Aim to keep the main pieces of furniture in the same mid tone, then accessorise with all shades from light to dark, using these as accent hues.

Visit The Holding Company or John Lewis for wooden storage items.

4/6 Make your desk the star

If you have space, position your desk in the middle of your home office and define the area with a geometric patterned rug. A streamlined desk, with built-in shelves and drawers, is a practical and stylish choice.

The desk and rug were from John Lewis, and the chair from The Conran Shop.

5/6 Add sleek storage

This shelf unit has the round edges and clean lines that typify 1950s style. The pendant light, hung low over the desk, will illuminate your work area and draw attention to it.

Find 1950s-inspired shelving units at Heal's, and visit John Lewis for the pendant light.

6/6 Use wooden materials

Why stop at furniture? There are loads of great wooden home office accessories on the high street.

Paperchase sell a range of journals, notebooks and calculators.

For more home office ideas, visit our home office channel. Also, check out our guide to home office storage, and don't miss any of the latest features by following us on Twitter and Facebook.