The Dallas Mayor’s office is finished! This was an interesting challenge as there was absolutely no budget. Everyone wanted the Mayor to have a nice office space, after all, his office is a reflection of our city. Often it is the first impression a foreign visitor or dignitary have when they arrive in Dallas. The furniture was circa 1970’s and had a lot of wear and tear.

How would we manage to spend no money ( or very very little) and completely overhaul the room? The first “shopping trip” was around city hall to scour every nook and cranny for potentially suitable items. No luck, although now I can find my way around the labyrinth of this amazing I.M Pei designed building! 

The next field trip was to the Mayor’s former offices at Turner Construction where we were able to score his “old” office furnishings.

The paint color was challenging as the building is made of concrete and stone. We were replacing a pretty nasty looking shade I can only describe as “flesh”. Really horrible! I settled on one for the office and another for the conference with a bold request to have the exterior doors of the conference room painted cobalt blue. Amazingly enough no one had a negative reaction and the “portal” to the conference room is now a regal and dramatic blue. It serves double duty as it provides a terrific backdrop for photo opportunities.

Artwork was another challenge. Fortunately the city has a terrific photographer Miguel Casanova.  We took existing images and cropped in, enlarged and Voila we had our very graphic images of Dallas that are perfect for the setting.

New plants, with a bit more dramatic flair, were installed and we were done. The office now has a more dignified, organized, uncluttered look and better reflects the city as well as the Mayor.

The original positioning of the desk was on an angle and it made for difficult maneuvering between desk and computer, not to mention all the furniture was crammed into the corner!  The city skyline was divided into three distinct pieces to add an air of modernity and provide a focal point. The personal photos and memorabilia were neatly stored in the glass fronted credenza.

Not your typical staging job but the same basic staging principals were utilized, to make the room more universally appealing! Bottom line, the client was happy!