For the first six months we owned our house I was self-employed and worked from home. Now that I’m back to work I am only in the office three days a week so we still need a home office for me.

For reference this is the bedroom we started with:

 A basic white room with old blue carpet, sliding closet doors…

First things first: Dale tore up the carpets and refinished them with his friend Mike.

Once the floors were completed and we moved in, painting commenced! I had it in my head that I needed to paint the ceiling pink–and I love it! And I wanted gray walls. This was the first gray I selected and it was all wrong for me. The pink and the daylight mixed together to create a pale blue tint that I really didn’t like at all! So it was back to the drawing board–and Sherwin-Williams–to try again. Ugh. I hate repainting.

This is not the best image but it gives you an idea of how much darker I decided to go. 

And this is what I ended up with! It looks darker than it is in this picture because the paint was still wet and the daylight was fading…

The next step was converting the old sliding door closet into a shelving area for office supplies and other goodies. It has added scads of much-needed storage (mostly because I’m a pack rat of craft supplies, paper products, and view-master reels).

And here’s the finished product–filled to the brim and not as tidy as it could be, I know. But it’s a start. This holds all of my clippings from my editorial career, all of my favorite books, some craft supplies, all of my scrapbooks, all of my old journals, and an entire shelf of View-Master reels and viewers. 

I love it! I got the desk at Ikea and it was just what I wanted. Soft lines, not too big so it doesn’t dominate the space and not in the corner like I’m stuck in a cubicle. The chair is a lovely white leather knock-off of the famed Eames Management Chair. I LOVE it. Behind the desk is an ugly, cheap old book case that is filled with reference books. I’m sure it will make its way to the garbage eventually! And, in the corner, is an old View-Master projector table that holds a few trinkets and camera supplies.

I got a dresser from Ikea that matches the desk (in terms of finish). Clearly, I haven’t put anything up on the walls yet because I’m still debating art and placement. Dale also put up some hooks for purses and laptop bags to be organized.

The view from my desk–I have a window and frilly white curtains.

I also plan to get a cushy chair to put up next to the window so I can read and relax in this room as well as work. As of right now I love how my office is coming together (though I do fear that I’ll consider it a Pinterest Hellscape in 2015).