A chair, a lamp, a desk that faces the window and shelves of books you have actually read. How to build the one room in the house that is entirely yours.
The study is the oldest idea in domestic architecture that men still want and rarely get: a room, or a corner of a room, arranged for reading, thinking and the kind of work that does not need a meeting. It does not need to be large. It needs four things done properly, and it needs a door, or at least the understanding that when a man is in it, he is elsewhere.
The chair
Not the desk chair, the reading chair. A wing chair, a club chair or a good mid-century armchair, in leather or heavy wool, with arms at the right height for a book and a back that supports a long evening. This is the most important piece of furniture a man buys for himself and it should be bought once, tried for an hour in the shop, and kept for thirty years. €1,500 to €4,000 new; less for something old and reupholstered. Beside it, a small table for the glass and a lamp at shoulder height.
The desk
Facing the window or at right angles to it, never with the back to the door. Solid wood, at least 140 by 70 centimetres, with a drawer for the things that would otherwise be on the surface. Nothing on the desk except what is being used: the laptop, a notebook, a pen. The desk chair, in contrast to the reading chair, should be an honest task chair that supports your back for four hours; beauty here is secondary.
A study is not an office. An office is where work is done. A study is where a man goes to think, read and be left alone, and it should be furnished for that.
Light
Three layers. General light from a ceiling fitting or a wall wash, dimmed low. Task light from a desk lamp with a warm bulb, 2700 kelvin, aimed at the work and not at your eyes. And atmosphere: a lamp beside the reading chair, a picture light over the shelves, a candle if you are that kind of man. Turn the ceiling light off after dark. A room lit at eye level is a room that invites you to stay.
The shelves
Books you have read, arranged in a way you can find them, with room for the next fifty. Wood, floor to ceiling if the wall allows, deep enough for the large books at the bottom. Not decorated: no books bought by the metre, no coloured spines arranged by hue, no objects in front of the books. A shelf tells the truth about a man, and it should be allowed to.
What belongs and what does not
A rug that covers most of the floor and quiets the room. One good picture, chosen by you. The hi-fi, if it lives here, and the record shelf under it. A tray with a decanter and two glasses. A window you can open. What does not belong: a television, a treadmill, the printer, anything that belongs to someone else, and anything on the walls that came with a frame from the same shop. The study is the one room where taste is allowed to be entirely personal, which means it takes years to finish and is never quite done.
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Home BarWhat can you make tonight?Questions we get asked
I have no spare room. Can I still have a study?
A corner of a bedroom or a landing with a chair, a lamp, a small desk and a bookcase is a study. The door is a courtesy, not a requirement.
Leather or fabric for the chair?
Leather ages better and wipes clean; wool is warmer and quieter. A dark leather club chair or a wool wing chair, both work. Avoid anything that squeaks.
What about the screen?
A laptop that closes. A second monitor if you must, on an arm that swings away. The study should be able to become a room without a screen in it in ten seconds.
