Office Fancy-Up: A (part of a) Room of One's Own

I am extremely fortunate to work from home a significant amount of time in my real life job, so I really need a desk/work area that is separate from the general use computer/bill paying/etc. world.  Due to space limitations, I have part of the lower level room to claim as my own.

So, as with everything else in this house, after a bunch of false starts, I think we've settled on a great 'just-for-work' space.

After years of working in my own office, I know I need

• an inspiring view
• a big, comfy, thinking chair
• a good ergonomic desk chair
• a big flat spot to spread out papers
• pretty, soothing colors and art
• hidden organization to hide my messes until I'm ready to address them

I started here, checking everything off the list:

check, check, check...

Bold rug to help define the space

Needs editing

 After a few tweaks, I'm pretty happy with it.

Much better

The Bermuda print is from Poppy and Pinecone's Etsy shop.  I love it (and it shipped SO FAST).  The Mr. and I honeymooned in Bermuda a million years ago, and it just makes me feel happy.

Big Comfy Thinking Chair needs a new cover...

My Tiki keeps my calendar running smoothly

Soothing (soon-to-be) lush backyard views

 The desk and support bookshelf are both Ikea's Expedit.  Of course, Ikea is discontinuing that line.   I scored the desk on Craigslist, and then ran up to Ikea for whatever bookshelves they had still in stock.  Unluckily, the birch Expedit was out of stock.  The Kallax (the heir to Expedit) has a slightly different "birch" color, and looked less substantial, anyway.  So we went with the white, and I think the contrast is really visually interesting.

Of course, some of the desk hardware was missing (and Ikea shipped us half of the brackets we needed when we ordered them).  In the interest of FINALLY getting this desk up and running, I grabbed these guys from Lowe's.  They seem sturdy enough so far.

It still needs some lighting above the comfy chair, and I've got my eye on some display-worthy office supplies for the empty cubbies. But, it's a vast improvement.


I'm not the only one enjoying the new space.

Fuzzy Assistant.

Superhero Bathroom, revisited

I finally had enough of staring at my pathetic attempt at superhero art while I helped the Kiddo get ready every day.  It made me think of the terrible art on (now defunct) Regretsy.com.  It had to go.

The canvases also started to warp from the moisture.  Plus, seriously not great to look at.

Some things, I should emphatically NOT DIY, apparently.

Fortunately, Greg Guillemin over at Society6.com is way, way better at this super hero art than I am.

SO. MUCH. BETTER.

Hey, let's talk about chairs some more.

Seriously, what is it with me and chair-related projects?  Apologies, chair-fatigued readers, I'm about to embark on another one...

Our living room seating configuration currently looks something like this (give or take a few superheroes, and an updated desk chair and tv stand):

Because of where the stairs let out, it isn't ideal.

Also, the big L shaped couch suffers from being not really very comfortable to anyone but the dog.

As you can see, he really appreciates the dog bed we bought.

So, we shunted it off (the couch, not the dog), and picked up some new cozy seating via Craigslist.

They need a fair bit of upholstery work, but the are SO COMFORTABLE.

And yes, the sneaky dog fits on them just fine.



I'll be documenting my first ever attempt at upholstery fixing these babies up.  After that, the intent is to move the lighter couch to where the L-shape was, and put these chairs in its place.  Of course, given my track record with this room, it may rearrange entirely.