Goodbye Screen Door
I loved renovating our home, but...It is A LOT of work. Like giving birth to an elephant kind of work. There are many decisions that need to be made (sometimes quickly) and although I did my best to get it all just the way I wanted, I realized after two years of decisions, our last one being the style for the office, I was tired.As I mentioned in my last post, "Go Ahead, Write Your Story," I'm writing a book, sometimes that's hard for me to say, but I am. I'm writing a book. I needed a creative space to well, you know, write! The office sits right off our family room, which is the only stained wood (non-white) room in the whole house. It's cozy and warm and a nice departure from the all white, which I love, so when it came down to final decisions on the color for the office, my tired self said, make it like the family room, that way everything will flow together. Which it does, beautifully, but something about the stained wood office left me uninspired and leary of writing in a cold, dark space.
The office was originally part of the old living room and off that living room, there was a door that led to a screened in porch. Since we hadn't lived in the house yet, keeping the door to the porch was a no brainer. However, a few months of living in Mona Bina, (Home For All) I realized that I was never going to use that porch and something needed to be done about the dark office.
I started in gently. "Hey honey! You know that office is so cold with that porch door. Maybe if we closed it off, we could save some money on our heating bill." Genius, I know. Get him on his level of thinking and go from there. "I mean, we never use that porch. At this point, it's only storage." A few weeks later. "Hey babe, you know it's so dark in the office?" No response, but that didn't stop me. "I'd love to write in there, you know...Have my own spot, but it would have to be painted white." Crickets. Call him at work. "Hi gorgeous! You know, I really want to spend a good amount of time writing (TRUE) and I believe that closing myself up in the office is my best bet, you know getting away from the dogs, dishes, laundry, etc. I think I'm going to call Landschute and see if they can come over for a consult, I have a lot of ideas." Wait for it... "Sounds good sweetie. I can't wait to see what you do!" Mic drop. Actually phone drop. He's AMAZING!
Waisting no time at all, I called, Jon Monson, my amazing architect-always eager and excited for a challenge. I didn't want to change everything, actually I did, but Jon in his patience-heard me out and then offered some great suggestions on how we could avoid spending a ton of money. Thank you Jon! We came up with a plan to close off the porch, put doors on some of the shelves and paint that sucker white!
Truth corner...Did I really need a new office to finish my book? LOL! NO! My writing group lovingly heard my plea for my creative ideas and giggled while encouraging me and reminding me that creativity happens when we powerfully choose to be just that...creative! That can happen at your kitchen table, propped up on a pillow in your comfy bed, or sitting at your favorite coffee shop.
For me, creativity happens in spaces I create. I can't even express how much I love this room, not just for it's aesthetic, but for the possibility it holds as I pursue my passions. I sit on my little tuffet (which is where I am currently perched) and I write blogs, short stories and pour my heart into my novel.
XO