Office Makeover

One of the ways I have been spoiled as a homeowner is that I have always had an office. A whole room for my desk and my junk. They say you spread to fill the space and it couldn't be more true for me than with my office. I have often wondered what I would do if we actually needed the extra bedroom. Where on earth would I keep my desk, computer, file cabinet, bills, software boxes, craft supplies, etc. if I didn't have a whole room to house them. I am spoiled.

However, I have never had a pretty office. I don't have a fancy desk. I am currently on my 5th desk, none of which were new, all of which were given to us at some point or another. My file cabinet is 20 years old and was bought cheap because it already had a dent. I try to put nice things on the wall but it is a hodgepodge of whatever I happen to have on hand. I dream of feminine coordinated offices with nice wall color and accessories. Those fancy file folders the bookstores are carrying now would make filing my bank statement feel a little more glamorous.

Since moving into this house I have had several variations of desk spaces.

Number one: This desk came from a company John used to work for. They upgraded and gave it to him. It was in his office at the old house and I got it when we moved here. It was actually hand made by the father of previous employer. It has not moved but Jake moved into my office a few years ago and it now belongs to him. This photo is about a year old and reflects how I would like him to keep it and not how he actually keeps it.



Number Two: I then got a smaller desk but used an old door to expand the top. For a while I think I had 2 small desks under it but this picture was taken after I had downsized to just the one small desk. I think the idea of this location was that the sun would shine on my face and not the computer but it turns out the window leaks and I practically needed gloves on to use the computer in the winter.



Finally I decided that since most of my life was now on the computer I really didn't need alot of space and could get rid of the door and just have a small desk. I moved it to my current location and tried to keep it looking clean and organized even if it was a bit dull.



This Christmas a girlfriend gave me a dark brown wall frame. Not something I would have normally picked up for myself but I loved it. I decided to hang it next to my bulletin board and have ordered some pictures to go in it. I also got some cute ceramic hanging things in a pretty shade of blue which I hung on the other side of my bulletin board. They were all nice but not really speaking to me. I was dreaming of coordination, feminine beauty. Then it came to me. Blue and brown. I love the colors together. I have been wanting to paint a blue square somewhere in my house and hang a dark colored something inside, this is it. But I still didn't want to spend money.

As luck would have it our bathroom is dark brown so I used the extra paint to paint the cork board brown. I was going to try to find some blue paint in Home Depots reject pile but John called me one day and said he had 2 blues for me to choose from or I could mix them together for another blue. He was at a friends shop who had left over paint he donated to my project. Although neither blue is exactly what I would have chosen I felt they would work. I taped off a big rectangle over my desk and went to work. Afterward I realized my blue hanging things didn't look right on the blue background so I painted a small brown rectangle inside my blue one and voila perfection.



It makes me very happy and I think there just might be hope for the rest of the room someday. Now that I am on a roll who knows what I will do next. Of course I have to avoid turning around and looking at this:



I tried to convince Jake to let me put some blue and brown stuff around his desk but apparently he isn't dreaming of a feminine office. But maybe in Isabelle's corner...