Home Office Transformation, Part 2

Read Part 1 of this post here!

About a year ago, I started taking steps toward turning my daughter’s room into a home office. It was finally starting to sink in that she would not be coming back home to live full-time. That was a hard transition. Even though I need a place to work at home, and it was nice to have a designated room for that, it felt strange to do anything permanent to what had always been Jordan’s room.

Finally, though, I decided it was time to get started. But you know how it goes. One thing, then another–I made no progress. My office continued to look like it had been decorated by a 16-year-old girl. Because it had.

And then, a few weeks ago, several things happened. A friend from graduate school passed away unexpectedly–not someone I’d kept in close touch with, but someone I’d connected with via Facebook and enjoyed seeing in my news feed once in a while. (And, more importantly, someone about whom I had only positive memories. There aren’t many people in that category.) I was devastated by his sudden death and just couldn’t handle the sorrow of seeing people eulogize him over and over again.

So I decided to take a social media hiatus for a week of my holiday break–and that’s when my husband suggested refreshing my office. I came home from the gym one morning and Mike proposed that we go buy paint. This wasn’t an expense we’d planned for, but Mike said “I just think you’ll feel so much better if we clean and organize your office and paint it a color you really like.”

He’s a keeper, that guy. And, of course, he was right.

So we went to Home Depot that afternoon and bought paint.

In the can, Cactus Blooms looked a little like melted orange sherbet. That was a tiny bit alarming–but if I know one thing about paint, it’s that what you get on the walls never looks like what’s in the can. So we went ahead and cleared the room, washed the walls, and started painting.

The walls had been Fresh Pear, a light green color my daughter had chosen when we painted her room about five years ago. It was a very pretty color in natural light, but it always looked awful in photographs–or at night, when a lamp was the only source of illumination. I worried that Cactus Blooms might not cover the Fresh Pear completely, but I didn’t want to take the time to put on a primer. Mike and I decided we’d just do two coats of Cactus Blooms instead, and if we needed a third coat, we’d buy more. But that turned out to be unnecessary–two coats did the job.

On the walls, Cactus Blooms was a beautiful, muted peach–nothing like orange sherbet. We re-painted the trim in Cottage White, which provided a nice contrast to the walls and made the room feel clean and fresh.

While the paint dried, we disassembled the huge black corner desk. (We’d donated my daughter’s vanity and makeup mirror to a local foster mom some months ago.) Then I started putting up the wall decor I’d been accumulating for my office, though I hadn’t put any of it up yet–I kept telling myself there was no point in hanging things when I was going to paint anyway.

First, we took care of the two walls you see at the top of this post. I’d ordered the white I dwell in possibility wall cling from a seller on Etsy over a year ago, using a gift card I’d received for Christmas. The painting you see on the right is called “Dreaming of Paris.” It’s one of several paintings I own by artist Eden Folwell–I just love her playful use of shapes and colors. But I’d never found the right place for that painting until now.

Best of all, though, I finally found a place for the Kelly Rae Roberts print I bought right after my mom passed away–right above the new white desk we bought from Ikea. (You’ll note that the desk is extra-long, giving me both writing space and art space in one location. Very exciting. My art journals create a logical divider between them.)

I loved this print as soon as I saw it. I wasn’t entirely sure why, except for the fact that I love Kelly Rae Roberts’ work in general. But the longer I stare at it, the better I understand why it belongs here.

 

 

 

 

When I saw the red bird (which isn’t a cardinal, I realize, but come on–it’s a red bird), I understood: this print is a meditation on the idea that sorrow and joy can sit side by side. That doesn’t take anything away from the love that also quietly weaves its way through my life, whether that love comes from the husband who helps me paint my office or the friend who sends her condolences, from people living or passed on to whatever comes next. I don’t have to be scared of not being completely happy. I’m loved no matter what. My life has been shaped by both good stuff and bad stuff, and I’ve handled it all.

That’s why the words nothing to fear are underlined. Twice.

If you think it looks like my office walls are still a little bare, you’re right. I’m working on filling in the empty spaces, searching for the right bookshelf or organizer for one corner, thinking about adding a reading chair, and trying to figure out whether the twin bed in this room could be swapped out for a futon or daybed (since my office will double as a guest room for the foreseeable future.)

But this definitely feels like my space now. I’m surrounded by good energy when I turn on the lights and sit down to work.

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