I Have a Real Office!

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Usually, I am very resistent to change. Habit is comfortable, and I like being comfortable. Ha! However, as my children became adults and my nest began to empty, I started contemplating the possibility of a fairly significant change – a home office.

For the majority of my writing career, this is how I wrote:

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On my bed with a simple lap desk. It worked, but I dreamed of having a real office.

Last year, that dream started to come true. First, we purchased new carpet. And since we had people in the house moving furniture, we asked them to move one of two twin beds out of my boys’ room and move my youngest son’s large desk and a hand-me-down bookshelf in. This worked for several months, but this was a bedroom for little boys and the paint was in bad shape and there were sports pictures and hat hooks fastened to the walls. More change was needed.

I went to a paint store and grabbed samples of neutral colors I could add to the walls and got my artistic daughter-in-law to help me choose. We decided on a lovely soft shade of green called Contented. Isn’t that a wonderful name? Hopefully, it will be prophetic. Then I took the plunge and bought paint. This was in December. Over spring break last month, I finally found the time to put the paint on the walls. We redid the trim and doors as well, and my hubby even updated our outlets and switches.

Wes likes finding unique knobs for our cabinets and doors, and he surprised me last Christmas with some closet door handles in the shape of a pair of cowboy boots and a saddle. They are so fun!

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Having a day job duing the week and writing all weekend makes it hard to find time for home improvement projects. So over the next couple weeks, I did touch ups to the paint and then finally moved the furniture back. Well, most of the furntiture. The hand-me-down bookshelf didn’t survive. So, I ordered a new one. It came in last week, and I put it together while listening to a vitual writing conference on my computer. Two birds, one stone. It took most of the day since I stopped frequently to take notes during the conference sessions, but I was quite proud that I built this all my myself. Woot!

Then came the fun part – decorating! The old shelf held mostly promo materials like stacks of bookmarks, postcards, and other random items. But the new shelf I selected had doors that closed at the bottom, so I tried to put most of the promo things down there and then used books and other fun items for the rest of the shelves. The paper roses are from my niece’s wedding, sentimental and beautiful!

The small table in the corner is my tea table. I drink a lot of tea while I write, and I love teapots and books, so this is where I keep all of my bookish mugs. I also found a wonderful teapot from the Bronte sisters museum in England that has a quote from Jane Eyre, my favorite classic novel. The teapot reads, “I ask you to pass through life at my side – to be my second self, and best earthly companion.” And the tea cup says, “Reader, I married him.” So perfect for a historical romance writer, don’t you think? The teapot sits on an 1848 copy of Jane Eyre as well as an antique copy of Pride and Prejudice. My daughter cross-stitched the boots and sunflowers for me last Christmas as well.

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There is a lot of empty wall space above my desk that I will eventually fill with a cross-stitch pattern that I am working on. I had to set it aside to work on a project for my youngest son’s upcoming wedding, but maybe next year I’ll have it framed and on the wall as the final piece of the puzzle.

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The other half of the room still has a twin bed and dresser in place in case we need the extra bedroom for visitors, but I’m thrilled to have a space all my own to write.

Do you have any home projects you are working on?
Or any projects you’d like to do?

My next project is to install built-in shelves in our front room to create a home library. At the pace I’m going, we might have that done by 2026. Ha!