I cannot believe that picture right there is my HOME OFFICE. Who am I??? It is just so beautiful and inspiring. I have never had a dedicated working space in my entire life and it is just so transformational to have a place dedicated to work (yes) and to also making all of my writing dreams come true. After I meditate in the morning, I come downstairs to write in my blog before I kick off my work day. I light a candle and bless the space and open the window and I sit at a proper desk to share my creativity with the world as a cool breeze kisses my skin and I just couldn’t be more thankful.
But, of course, it didn’t start off like this. In fact, when I first started working down here my work colleagues on video calls told me that it looked like I was working in a bunker. They were right. It’s a tiny room downstairs off our garage and it smelled musty and unloved.
Here’s a couple of pics:
And here’s what it looks like now:
Can you believe it? I love this space so very much.
I’d like to share a bit about how we went about creating this space. I love home design but I am not a ‘designer’. I’m a total amateur with a decent eye, but I got tired of only admiring pretty spaces on the internet and believing that I couldn’t afford to create something similar for myself. I also have an important belief that I am trying to bring into my life: use what already exists if at all possible. I didn’t want to buy new furniture from Wayfair or Ikea – I wanted to give already existing furniture a second or third life. So, I scoured Facebook marketplace and Craigslist and rented a uhaul truck one day in full belief that I would figure it out on the day I had the truck. Can you believe that I got the desk for $90 and the ikea shelves for $75 dollars all in the same evening? It was so incredible to me to see it come together. We already had the twin mattress and I found someone on craigslist to deliver an old ikea frame to our house for $40. I initially wanted a chair, but we already had the bed so I tried to transform it into a daybed situation and I’m so glad I did. It’s a perfect space to meditate in the morning.
All in, I spent about $205 on the furniture plus about $70 for the truck rental. All of this furniture would’ve been closer to $450 if I purchased new and I would’ve had to spend hours putting it together. It’s a win/win/win to go used for so many reasons if you have the patience to look for it. It’s what my aunt and I call ‘hunting for treasures’.
I had the furniture and I also happened to have leftover paint from our move, so we used that up to paint the walls a lovely matte white and the trim the same color of white in a semi-gloss. We used falling snow from Behr and couldn’t be happier. Highly recommend! I use the word ‘we’, but really I should say ‘Keith’ because he’s the lovely man who did almost all of the work. I helped with the prepping and cutting in, but he rolled the walls and managed the entire painting process. He made me promise that if we move again, we’ll hire professional painters because painting our house made him never want to paint again. I don’t blame him!
With the walls ready and the furniture in place, my mom and I got to work. She is a great decorator who just so happened to be able to visit at the time I was putting my office together. We love doing projects together and she has helped me bring together my last couple of rental spaces. We went to Target while she was here and we found the curtains and basically built everything around that. I did my best to use anything I had accumulated over the years as decor, but I did spend about $250 buying the curtains, bedding, garland, pillows and some of the wall hangings. The pillows were my kryptonite. Target’s pillow selection is awesome, but you can rack up a pretty penny on pillows and that’s something I don’t really want to buy used. Anyway, I will list out my sources in the links below if you feel inspired to create a little office space of your own.
Here’s the thing: I learned so much about myself in this process of creating this space. For so long, I have believed that the things I love and desire are frivolous, wasteful and flighty compared to the things that ‘matter’. Who needs a pretty space when an old table in a bunker will do? Who cares about a basic office space made from used ikea and target goods? Why write about it?
Do you see how limiting and harmful these beliefs are? I am starting to see and to believe that the things I love matter, that sharing beauty with the world matters, that pursuing things just because they make me happy is okay. I’m starting to understand that denying my own love and happiness hurts only me and that the way of thinking that taught me that my desires are bad, unimportant or ‘frivolous’ needs to go away. I matter. You matter. and it’s okay to turn away from ways of thinking that harm us so that we can step fully into who we are meant to be.
Wow, that got deep.
But, I mean it. I want to see myself clearly and love every part of myself. I think that’s the only way I can feel free to live my life fully and in my own purpose. I want that for me and I want that for you so badly. Your desires are perfect. You deserve to live in full joy and to create what YOU love without fear. If we all felt free to live life fully and without fear, I believe we would live in a better, more just world.
This room is the embodiment of that belief and I am SO grateful for every day I get to spend here, surrounded by beauty. I wish the same for you!
Resources:
desk table top (ikea), desk trestle (ikea), bed frame (ikea), shelves (ikea), curtains (target), twin duvet cover (amazon), basket (target), velvet lumbar pillow (target), mustard yellow pillow (target), linen pillow (target)
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