I'm finally sharing the room in which I spend most of my time....well, the time when my eyes are open anyway.
Nope...it's not my laundry room or my kitchen...although there are more days than I'd care to admit when either one of those would be a logical (and accurate) guess. But today, I'm sharing my home office.
As you probably know by now, I work from home full time for a major computer firm so, when we built our home ten years ago, I carved out a space with southern exposure at the "quiet" end of the house.
Okay...who am I kidding? There's not really any quiet here...except maybe in the dead of night when every one's asleep....or at two in the afternoon...when it's sunny and Martha Stewart is curled up for a nap in the white chair in the sunshine.
The rest of the time, it's
Backpacks in the kitchen, gym bags in the mudroom...and you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way!
My office opens up to our living room on one side and to the kitchen and family room on the other via sets of French Doors that make it easy for me to keep an eye on the chaos that arrives daily at around 3:45 p.m while having a little privacy to finish a conference call, write a post or chat with a friend.
The printer and office equipment are hidden in cabinets and the window seat is actually five pull out drawers for files.This allows me to have the benefits of having a fully functional office without looking like I simply relocated a section of the cubicle farm from my former office to my home.
The space also doubles as a library of sorts and houses everything from a collection of old favorites from both my childhood and my sons' as well as baby books and all of my books on topics from Art History to Gardening to Weaving.
It's the one room in our home where the decorating is a bit more "girly" without offending masculine sensibilities the rest of the Refined household. However, it's still the eclectic same mix that makes every inch of our house our home.
Like the rest of our home, my office is filled with flea market and thrift store finds (like the Louis Side Chairs and virtually everything that hangs on the walls), items that I've built or rehabbed, (like the wall sized chalkboard, the chairs and the table) and items that I've collected over the years: my Mom's first camera, old alarm clocks and pieces of vintage architecture.
You'll often find me curled up on window seat with a book or a report that needs to be read but it's the arm chair (which used to belong to my great Grandparents) that's my favorite spot.
It has been used for reading stories to my sons, crocheting blankets and on most sunny afternoons, if she's quick enough to get there before I do, you'll usually find that Martha has claimed the seat for an afternoon nap.
As you're reading this, whether it's early in the morning, mid day or even late at night, I'm probably sitting in this very room (unless I'm throwing in yet another load of laundry or figuring out what's for dinner).
I may be sitting behind this desk...
or sitting in the big white chair...unless, of course, it's occupied by a dog...or by someone wondering where their running shoes are or what there is to eat!
xo,