A room of my own.


I’m happy. I’m in my office.
          I haven’t had one for a long time. I made the office I used back into a bedroom and took to working at the dining room table because that’s how it worked out best. I sewed upstairs in my daughter’s old room because…yeah, that’s how it worked out.
          My stuff was everywhere.
          This spring, my husband—the roommate, the boyfriend, my heart, Duane, all the same—suggested giving me part of our garage as my very own space. I said Can we have it done by Saturday?
          We couldn’t, and it’s still not quite done, but I can use it and I am happy. I am here beside the west window with a view that is chilly today but warms me nonetheless.
It’s still a mess in here, but the table I’m using for a desk isn’t. The new sewing table Duane got me for my birthday isn’t. The TV is blessedly silent when I need it to be, but when I’m sewing and like it on, I can watch what I want as quietly as I want.
Writers and sewists alike talk about work spaces a lot. The pictures on Pinterest alone http://pinterest.com/lisaannebrown/sewing-room-ideas/ and http://pinterest.com/search/?q=home+office+ideas are amazing and discouraging at one time. I don’t have a decorator’s eye, so my room will probably remain…what was that word I used? Oh, right, a mess. But it will be mine. I’m happy.
This is my first day to work in here. This blog post is the first thing I’ve actually written. It will be interesting to see if this bright space will help me creatively or productively (both areas that have been lacking lately), but even if it doesn’t, I love this space. I may have already mentioned this, but it makes me happy.
Do you have a space of your own? If so, or if you have a really dishy one just in your mind’s eye, tell us about it.

Comments

  1. My space has morphed into many places, from the dining room, to the laundry room, to the wide open spaces. In some ways, being tied to a desktop computer in the past probably helped because I was required to allocate a specific space.

    Love the idea of using the garage. How did you deal with the heating issue? Our garage has drywall and insulation (I think) but no heat.

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    1. We got a Mitsubishi heat pump. It was godawful expensive, but takes care of heating and cooling and is very comfortable. The room is 13 x 24 and I'm toasty. Not in my jammies, but could be. :-)

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  2. I don't have an office of my own, and I'm not likely to in the foreseeable future. We live in a two bedroom condo, both bedrooms used up. But I have a roll top desk that is SACRED. No one touches mommy's desk. LOL! It'll have to do.

    Your room of your own sounds wonderful! Enjoy!

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    1. I'm loving it. A roll top desk is a really good idea because you can close it!

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  3. I don't, not really. My desk is in our living room and has to be cleaned up when company comes over. But I write at the kitchen table or on the couch if DH is watching football or bebe is watching a movie. I'd love to have my own space, but our little house is filled to the gills right now. Maybe someday...until then, I'll make do. :)

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    1. I miss the houseful of noise, but someday's nice, too. When the kids were home, I still used a desktop computer, so worked wherever it was. Got much easier when I got a laptop!

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  4. Mine is the spare bedroom - with a roll top desk sans roll top so the computer screen will fit. Best of all are my headphones which I wear to hear instrumental music, ocean waves, and rainstorms as I write - rather than the television down the hall!

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    1. Good thinking, Davalyn. I was never able to shut out the noise, hated earplug, etc.--what a whiner I am!

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  5. My office is the tiniest garret in our upstairs--way at the back, farthest away from the furnace--but it's ALL mine. It's very Country French, and I have a space heater that keeps me quite comfy and a wing chair next to the window that looks out over our backyard and woods. My room is always pretty tidy because I need it to be that way when I work. I'm a terrible person because I cringe when Husband comes in with his papers and beverages to sit in my chair so he can be close to me. I don't want him to work in here or bring his piles of papers and stuff to mess up my space. I know, I know, I'm a brat, but I'm always gracious to him. And when he leaves a trail of paper, cups, socks, etc., I simply remove them and return my room to order.

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    1. I want to be you when I grow up--at least, the neat part! It's a gene that skipped me altogether. It's storage that's "ferhoodling" me. I see all these other neat ways of storing fabric and office "stuff" but none of them seem to quite fit me.

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    2. Sadly, Liz, the "neat" thing doesn't extend past the door of my office... ;(

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    3. LOL. You forget, I've seen your lake house--it's beautiful!

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  6. I actually do have an office, but I don't use it. It's cold out there. I like to be in the corner of the living room. I have my certificates on the wall, my framed covers, too. It's close to the fridge and the tv!

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    1. Important things! I have my TV out here--I watch when I sew--and ordered a small refrigerator, too.

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  7. I've tried the office thing and so far, it hasn't worked out. I need the buzz around me--either at B&N or at the kitchen table. I think I'm afraid I'll miss something.

    That said, I have a corner in the bonus room with two desks and a cluttered bookcase. Basically I just pile things on the desks--I never write at them. LOL.

    But, Kristen is moving out after the first of the year and I'm turning the room into a changing room--I'll have my own closet!!
    slash extra bedroom, slash reading room. We'll see what really comes out of it come January or February. What with the best laid plans an all.

    Love your space! Enjoy.

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    1. Thanks, Margie. I hope it works out for me, too. If not, we're going to have a very nice (and expensive) guest room!

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  8. My office has moved twice. First it was my oldest duaghter's room (which is now a gym) then it moved downstairs to the living room. Since nobody ever used it anyway, I moved my desk and book shelves in there. Hubby took over the dining room. I don't think we've ever used it either. Since we have an eat in kitchen, that's where all of our family meals were. I love my office. Of course since there is still living room furniture in it, people tend to come sit down while I'm writing to "chat"

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  9. Sounds comfortable, Shawn--I'm all for that!

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  10. I have my own space in the living room. It works because my husband isn't here a lot of the time. I may have to take over one of the bedrooms when he is.

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