Tuesday, September 20, 2011

My Office: Before and During

Before:

Sardines
Hardworking sardines.

Today:

Office, cleared and painted
Better, yes?
Ah, I love having an empty room. Going in there is like taking a deep, cleansing breath, or like being in my spirit cave with my power animal. It makes me wonder if we should get rid of 80% of the stuff in our house. I think the answer is probably "yuh huh."

So, all this picture shows is that the old yellow walls have been covered with The Perfect Gray. (Behr's Dolphin Fin.) Those built-in shelves I left white and didn't repaint, but they look much fresher against the cooler color. Same with the molding and trim, in here and in the dining room. White loves gray.

I haven't put anything back in here because I'm having the carpet cleaned Monday. Then I'm on the hunt for a bigger work table than the little writing desk I had in here back in the day. I'd like something big enough that I could put my sewing machine on. There is a perfect vintage library table on craigslist right now, but unfortunately they want money for it. I also need to put all the pictures back on the wall. Finally, some of the crazy fabric panels I've collected will have a home. You'll see more about that.

I snapped this picture because I glimpsed Laura and her buddy hanging out in here, and I realized Laura likes having a cleared-out room as much as I do. What is it about an empty space?

Girls' Hangout

Y'all doing okay? All normal here: school, work, preschool, tennis, chores, car repairs (ugh), Breaking Bad on Netflix. Also preparing meals and futile tidying. You know.

10 comments:

Aimee said...

Ooh, breathe in the empty space! LOVE it.

School, homework, music lessons, rowing, laundry, laundry, laundry, crock pot...yup, same ol', same ol'.

Beth said...

I am envious of your newly acquired open space. I'd love to have a room of my own, pace Woolf.

To follow suit: de-hacking, making lunches, ironing, feeding dog, crocheting, de-de-hacking, drinking coffee.

Jenni said...

That room looks gigantic now without all those men and computers and desks!

KathyS said...

The walls are yellow in both pictures, yes? But I am mucho jealous of the clean, clear space -- and think you should give those Craigslist people money for the library table, since I'm still regretting having passed up buying an old card catalogue two years ago. Oh, Edith Piaf who regretted nothing, I am so jealous!!

Becky said...

Hey Kathy, no the walls are gray now, but this was a bad pic to show 'cause the light from those lampshades makes it look yellowy.

Amy said...

Those guys must really like each other is all I can say.

Dolphin Fin is the Gray I Gotta Have? Uh-oh... I have Behr "Polar Drift" sample chip taped to the wall in my workroom at this very mo.

Anonymous said...

those sardines are adorable!!

AlGalMom said...

are you at all inclined to diy a desk? b/c ana white has some pretty nice (and easy) plans for office desks. like this one:
http://ana-white.com/2011/09/eco-modular-office-desktop-made-purebond-plywood

(are there rules of etiquette for posting links to blogs in blog comments? I feel a little bit tacky...but I have been having a lot of fun diy-ing furniture lately...)

my kids are immediately drawn to empty spaces. in order to FILL them.

Becky said...

Ooh, that's a good DIY. I like that. I was leaning toward the diy route but then I thought it might be actually cheaper to thrift something than make it, so I fell down that rabbit hole for a while.

Star said...

I do so look forward to your posts, thanks!