One of the things Mike and I knew immediately that we wanted to do when reworking the basement and parceling out his mother's belongings as she had wished is that we knew I need a designated space as an office and work room.
Since I was sent home to work during Covid, I had just perched on a little desk space that my parents had made when I was a girl and it worked out fine. Sometimes my need to be online in a live virtual meeting was an inconvenience for Mike. Sometimes there were distractions when I needed to be working. All too frequently, I worked long, late hours because it was just too easy to work with my computer and desk right there.
So, now we have the space for me to designate a room as the office. Just after Christmas, I noticed an inexpensive desk and chair offered for sale on Facebook. It was just the right size - large enough to hold my laptop and extra monitor and microphone and notes but not a big executive desk. So, I jumped on that and brought the desk home. Mike helped me get it out of my truck and into the room.
I shoved the wicker sofa, chair, table, and accessories to the other end of the room. With the beginning of the new year and a new school semester I was beginning work in my new office!
I had already decided that we were going to set this office up on a shoestring budget. I didn't want to spend a potload of money to make it beautiful and functional when we already have so much stuff. However, I also wanted it to be beautiful and inspire me to work.
With a little time, I began to search for inspiration to make this really become a space where I want to work and am inspired to do good things. So, I started thumbing through my 'look books' where designers who are featured in places like
Southern Living show how they have decorated homes for clients and themselves. I began to scroll through Pinterest and Instagram and save ideas that I saw which inspired me.
My first thought was that I would put my desk in the space where the window would be off to my side. So, this office really inspired me. I had thoughts of painting the desk and adding panels of drapery at the window and really making it a feminine space.
I began to notice that another characteristic seemed consistent - there was shelving and storage in each of them. Knowing that I wanted to set this up on a shoestring budget and that I might not always want to have built-in shelving and storage in the room, I began to try to think of how to provide that shelving and storage in another way.
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I also noticed that several of the pictures I was saving as inspiration had cozy seating. Knowing that the Mister might stop in to visit and chat, I knew I would need an extra spot to perch. I thought it would also be a good thing to have comfy seating for when I'm not doing computer work. So, a comfy chair or seating area needed to be included.
Sometimes saving a picture sparks more ideas and would prompt me to consider things we already have that could be put into service. For example, in the image below there is a green checked wingback chair. There was already a green checked wingback chair sitting in the room that had been my mother-in-law's. Seeing the drop leaf table also made me realize that there was one in the basement den and that might be a great way to have expandable surface space. It could be handy when I want to craft and need more surface area for spreading fabric out or other crafting supplies.
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Seeing a couple of photos that had the desk centered up in front of the window helped me to realize that I could be taking full advantage of the light there. The room is in our basement and is painted what I call 'prison grey.' The paint color was chosen by my mother-in-law and is still in good shape but grey is just not a color I like. So, I hated to go to the expense of repainting when the color is rather neutral. I decided that I would just use the assets we have and make the most of it.
I began to scroll through online estate sale postings and Facebook Marketplace. One of the first china cupboards I saw, I fell in love with. I thought the color of the wood was nice, warm, and light and might not even need painting and liked the number of drawers for holding things. The catch was that the seller wanted more money than I wanted to spend.
A friend started surfing and looking for similar items with smaller price tags. Yet, when I would inquire, it seemed that each one had a catch - something might be broken or the drive was more than an hour away or the seller didn't respond. So, after a couple of days, I bit the bullet and bought the one that tugged at my heartstrings. When I got it home, the Mister was all grumbly but I could tell he mostly was grumbling about having to move it more than anything else. He had lined up my bonus son to come over and help provide some brawn to get it unloaded and placed in the space. So, the three of us manhandled her into my new office!
Once in place, the bonus son commented, "That's a nice piece of furniture." So, the Mister rolled his eyes and I puffed my chest out and all was well with the world. Immediately, I moved the green checked wingback chair that had been sitting in the corner over on the opposite side of the room and things started taking shape.
Next, I dragged a drop-leaf table from the basement den down the hallway and set it across the room from the new cabinet. The color of the wood was almost identical. Plus, it would provide that expandable surface area when needed - and it is a nice, beautiful piece of furniture as well.
Things that are always being considered as I work on this space to make it a reflection of who I am and what the intended focus of this room is include:
- It is a basement room and there is very little lighting - only one can light in the center of the room.
- It will be used for my work as an instructional designer until I retire from the education business.
- It is where I will be working on writing projects and will continue in that capacity even after I retire.
- It is where I will be doing stitching and sewing in the space. So, there will be lots of stray threads and scraps of fabric.
- When I sew, I will also be using the ironing board and iron. So, there will need to be open space for that vital equipment.
- I will need to store fabrics, trims, thread, office supplies, crafting supplies, and such in there.
- I want the space to be a work horse but also keep to my shoestring budget.
So, the designated office space is taking shape. Updates will be shared in a later post. It already looks quite different from the photos here but it still has a journey to go before I will call it meeting up to my inspiration.
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