By Mi-Ling Stone Poole –

DEAR MI-LING: My husband retired from the State Chamber of Commerce last week. We’re creating an upstairs home office for him, embracing years of economic development and nonprofit accomplishments.

The challenge is finding an attractive way to display wonderful awards, plaques and artwork he’s received over the years — still making a professional place where he can work, but homey.

Kris

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.

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.

Utilize the wall space, but also buy your furniture wisely. Look for floating shelves and cabinets that will keep the space flowing.

Ask your husband to go through his collection and edit out pieces that you can place in leather-bound books or scrapbooks.

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.

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.

To avoid creating a “memorial,” use whimsical accessories, family photos and comfortable furniture in the design.  Pile on the layers of his personality.

What do you think?