What's Your Happy Place? Plus a #Contest!

Hello Lovelies,

I just recently completed decorating and organizing my home office. After months of procrastination and laziness I finally got around to painting my last shelf and tacking on the last bit of trim. My office is now my favorite room in the house. 

In honor of this I've decided to throw a little contest. Post a picture or comment below describing your favorite place in your home. Let me know what about it makes you happy. 

In two weeks, Monday February 10th 2014, I'll choose a winner and they'll get a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate. Remember to leave your name and email address!


Please format your response as follows:Name:Email: Place:Description or Picture:Why you love it:
Okay now for the PICTURES!!! Many of you already know that I'm an HGTV fiend! So when I moved into my new house last year I attacked almost every room with gusto. Unfortunately because, my office space is in the loft portion of my home, It became packed with boxes and just STUFF. A small path remained open for me to make it to my desk, but at one point I was back to working at the dining table because the mess in the room was just too distracting, and every spare moment I had I wanted to spend writing, not cleaning.

However, in December when I learned I'd be leaving my day job and moving to writing full time I had no choice but to get the chaos under control. Below is the final result (at least for now).

My Desk:
Made from MDF, a 2x5 sheet of acrylic and table legs from Home Depot. The whole thing was painted in a bright salmon pink. I spray painted one side of the acrylic sheet in gold and when it was dry placed it on top of the mdf.




My Book Shelves: Acquired over the years from multiple sources; Target, Walmart, Kmart. I painted them all one unifying color (turquise) and added trim (Home Depot) on the sides to make them look like one piece. I used the same pink paint from the desk to pain the inside backing of the shelves. On the center shelf I used wrapping paper found on sale at Home Goods as wallpaper to mix things up a bit. The shelves behind my desk are Closet Maid shelves in white I purchased a few years ago and were in varying rooms of the house before I placed them in the office for additional storage.

My Printing Nook: A dividing screen on sale at Pier One and an old folding typing desk. I hate seeing electronics liter my office. Since my desk doesn't have any cubbies, I placed my printer and recycle bin in a corner of the room and hid them from view using the screen. I purchased the screen a few years ago during one of Pier1's rare sales were prices are actually affordable and not laughable. It didn't really fit in with the decor of the new house so I re-purposed it. I'm still debating on whether I should paint the screen. But for now it remains in its original white.



My Unicorn: Uncommon Goods. Yes I have a unicorn ans I spray painted it pink with gold glitter. Why? Because my muse demanded it :) It hangs behind my desk and amuses me to no end.


Other Stuff: HomeGoods, Overstock.com, World Market, Life. Other things in my office have been gathered through out the years. My dry erase board has been around for a while, I just spray painted it to match the rest of the room. My desk lamp has been around since lord knows when and also got a healthy dose of pink paint and gold glitter. The ottoman is a World Market find, the rug an Overstock.com indulgence and my chair, lantern and foot stool are all HomeGoods finds. And the microscope behind my desk is a reminder of my days working in a science lab.




So I've obviously spent a lot of time working on this space, but the paint smudged arms, aching back were well worth it. My office in now the perfect place for me to sit down, focus, create and write. 


Okay so now it's your turn to share. What is your happy place? Provide a picture or description below in the comments. Let me know what the place is and why you love it. I'll choose one winner two weeks from today on Monday, February 10th 2014.
Prize: $25 Amazon Gift Certificate
Please format your response as follows:
Name:Email: Place:Description or Picture:Why you love it:
Talk to you soon, 
Laurel