The “office” was the first project we tackled. Because of how dirty everything looked, I had planned on painting all the walls in the house some variation of white. Just give it that clean fresh slate the house so desperately needed. BUT I read Emily Henderson’s blog {https://stylebyemilyhenderson.com/} and there was a whole post about dark green walls and I fell in love with the look. The office was the perfect room to implement the color since K has no interest in using it and I get free rein with decorating.
The whole point in creating this room was to finally give my desk a home, and to give some breathing space to the bathroom. Our bathroom is incredibly small and not ideal for 2 people getting ready for work at the same time! The office is doubling as my “dressing room” and where I get ready for work or the gym every morning, so K gets some extra undisturbed sleep before he has to get up.
My mom and I painted the walls while I still had some vacation days from work. The color change had an immediate effect on they way the room looked. While it may seem like a dark color choice (more of a greenish blue than just straight dark green), mixed with the white ceiling and trim and the light through the windows, it came out perfectly. A fresh coat of paint always makes a room seem cleaner and more put together.
I moved my desk and filing cabinet against the wall that would give me the best view to the outside. I’m still working on the organization aspect of it but that will come in due time. I also haven’t started utilizing having my desk in a separate room – K still teases me about wanting to do work in there instead of hanging out with him on the couch and honestly, I’m obsessed with using our fireplace so I want to sit in front of that instead!
I have to keep the filing cabinet under the window mostly clear because the cat must have access to the views. And I really don’t like having my stuff knocked over.
I put our extra dresser on the other side of the room and added my old mirror on top to serve as a vanity. I definitely need a stool in front of it because with only overhead lighting, I have to sit down to do my hair and makeup – the shadows are too weird. For now I’m content to just drag my desk chair over (which is just a padded folding chair with my furry blanket on top…).
I put all my workout clothes in the bottom drawers and organized some of my beauty products to fit into the top drawer. I left the top open to display the most used stuff and to be able to rest my blow dryer or curl wand on. It is such a relief to not have to cram all this stuff in the bathroom or try to blow dry my hair around K shaving.
The closet has a double hanging rod, so I’m utilizing it for all my work scrubs, workout half-zips, and sports team paraphernalia. Having the space has really lightened up my closet in the master bedroom and made everything in there seem more spacious.
The room definitely serves its purpose now. I’m so glad we knocked this project out first since it lightens the load (aka belongings) everywhere else in the house. I started a wish list/to do list going for the stuff the room still needs:
- Stool
- Small rug (warm the floor up a little)
- Actual desk chair (I’ve been using that folding chair since 2008… obviously I haven’t made this a necessity!)
- Large floor mirror
- Hang picture frames
- Move non-gym related shoes to bedroom closet
For now the room works and the non-essential things will be focused on once we’ve accomplished other more important matters…. like new windows. and new plumbing. and new HVAC system. and there is a lot more painting in my future.
the Bold Bach 