A New Window on My World (Literally!)

“A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.”

–Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

It’s a good thing I hadn’t read the above quote by Virginia Woolf before I wrote my first ten novels. Because I did not have a room of my own (or much money) back then. It wasn’t until our kids started leaving for college that I finally got a dedicated office. Even though I’ll probably always write in various locations around the house, I do love my office. And four years after moving to Missouri, I have a “new” one!

If you follow me on social media, you know that we recently did a “switcheroo” at our house, turning my old office into a guest room and a guest room into my new office at the end of the hallway.

Here is a before and after of the side-by-side rooms.

We painted both rooms and the hallway and changed out a ceiling fan, but the biggest change by far was the addition of a window in my new office. There were no west-facing windows on the upper level of our home that overlooks a shady wooded area, and we’ve always said how nice it would be to get more light into that end of the house. But oh, what a mess it was for a while. Cutting a hole in the side of the house is a big production!

But what a difference it made! I am absolutely loving my new office, and my views into the woods are so inspiring!

I’m on deadline with a new book so I’ve spent a lot of time in that chair by the window. Because this room is 20+ feet up in the air, I feel like I’m sitting in a tree house—or a deer stand, since deer stroll through the side yard daily. One of my first views was this sweet new fawn!

I did a lot of paring down while we moved everything out of both rooms for painting. With the exception of my great-grandmother’s daybed, which my sister is going to take, all the furniture from my old office moved over, but everything feels so cozy and new in this arrangement!

I’m so pleased with how well this $75 garage-sale rug we bought in Wichita fits into the room. It doesn’t show up well in photos, but the color we painted the walls—Sherwin Williams Rainwashed—is prominent in the carpet design.

I’m also happy with how the wall behind my desk turned out. The Paris map was a garage sale find a couple of weeks ago and it anchors a small collection of prints and paintings that I gathered from other parts of the house to create this gallery wall that will eventually be a “souvenir wall” since, Lord willing, Ken and I are going to be visiting some of the places depicted later this year! More on that soon!

This library cart holding my reference library and books on the craft of writing is handy to the left of my chair and that narrow aqua rolling cart was another garage sale treasure I found the week after my office was finished.

I know it sounds strange that this gal—who wrote my first few books at our kitchen table and in a cramped corner of the living room with four kids swarming ’round—now cherishes a private, dedicated office so, but I do!

I love having some pretty light-catchers on the windowsill, but I don’t want to block the ever-changing view. Once in a while we see peeks of the sunset through the trees. And I can’t wait to watch the leaves turn orange and gold this fall, and later see snowflakes float down outside the window. But I think these spring and summer views will always be my favorite of all.