Tag: home office

One Room Challenge: Week 7 (The Office Reveal!)

I have wallpapered my heart out, overthought the room layout and furniture choices, and arranged my grocery store flowers just so when the florist I wanted to buy from was unexpectedly closed. Yes my friends, it is One Room Challenge reveal time, and I’m ready!

I work from home on this very blog, and I wanted a beautiful office to call my own. I’m doing more design work these days, for myself and for others, and it seemed silly that we’ve been here as long as we have (four years!) and I had yet to dedicate myself to an office proper when we have plenty of space to do so.

Shall we start with the desk? The exact place I’m sitting at right now as I type this post? Let’s.

The chair! She’s so pretty! I always keep a blanket draped over the arm in case I’m cold. Sometimes I’ll keep the pillow on the chair and sometimes not, depending on what I’m doing and how mindful I’m being of my posture.

The desk is 5′ wide, so I have plenty of space for both my full-sized keyboard (I like having a number pad — probably a holdover from entering ISBNs all day for years) and my Wacom tablet. I started using a tablet years ago for art, but now I use it every day. I have problems with my wrists, and using a tablet instead of a mouse has been tremendously helpful.

The oversized ceramic lamp was a risk with my sloped ceiling. I knew it would fit (thanks, 3D rendering to scale!), but would it look like it fit? Thankfully it looked just as I’d hoped and it balances the large monitor nicely. The vase hits that sweet spot between reverential and whimsical, and then the brass snake is just awesome. I also keep my pink leather pouf under the desk. Sometimes I sit with my feet propped up, sometimes with my legs tucked under me, and sometimes I even sit like a normal person! It’s a little ridiculous to have a Moroccan Pouf hidden away as a footrest, but eh. I already owned it and it’s being put to good use.

I took various photos with doors open and with doors closed, because I wasn’t sure which way everything would photograph best. Are you digging my vintage mannequins in the stairway?

I hung a few prints and paintings on the angled wall to the left of the desk. I love the Beetles print and I chose it specifically for this room, but the the vintage portrait is from the 30s and I wanted her to grace the library. I’m stealing her for here, at least for now, but maybe things will change over time?

The desk has five drawers, which I lined with scraps of wallpaper that match the room’s closet. To my right when I’m seated is a long, low storage unit made of modular craft room furniture that holds my printer, trade catalogs, wallpaper samples, and more.

The shallow drawers in the hutch are handy for corralling both personal and client design work — paint swatches, fabric and wallpaper options, that sort of thing. I suppose it won’t be as neat when I’m juggling more than four projects at a time, but I’ve also got the shelf area above the drawers and the entire surface to spread things out on.

There is additional storage space in the closet, aka The Rainbow Room.

Someone in the comments of a previous ORC update suggested calling it The Aviary. I’m into it, but it was a quick ‘no’ from the kids. The Rainbow Room, it is. I think I’ll pick up a sheepskin or some floor pillows for them. They want to play and hang out in there, and I can’t blame them! I was always a special space, even though it’s really just a closet, and now the wallpaper makes it magical.

I have four walnut shelves, but I photographed the space with only two in so that you could better see the wallpaper pattern. The shelves are lovely and sturdy, and they’re already filling with fabric swatches, paint fan decks, equipment, and a nice stack of press (books, magazines, and newspaper articles I’ve been in over the years).

The light was just a bare bulb in a socket before, so while that little number you see peeking out below is nothing amazing, it’s certainly an improvement over what was there. I bought an inexpensive light with a pull chain, and picked up a white globe to replace the ribbed glass shade that came with the base.

I did a ramshackle decoupage technique (cool/terrible band name alert!) where the two halves of the wallpaper met in the center. The seam would have been pretty noticeable and I had assumed I would be adding a piece of trim, but I ended up trimming around birds and leaves, overlapping the different sides so that the pattern blended together. I shared it on my Instagram Stories last week. I wasn’t sure if it was a brilliant or stupid idea, but I think it worked!

I love the wallpaper peeking out when I have the door open.

I had access to rugs both vintage and new from several sponsors, but I already had several rolled up and awaiting use. I have problems with rugs… namely, that I want them all. So look at me going with what I’ve got! I was going to go with a subtle pink wool ikat, but changed my mind and went with the rug I carried back in my luggage from Morocco. It’s a better fit, size-wise, and there are fond memories attached. The office is a great place for it.

The brass pendant is so lovely in the space. And yes, it is wired in! I point that out, because several pictures appear to show otherwise. It replaced the ceiling fan that I took down, and I wanted the light centered over the table so I added a hook to the ceiling. I’m not one to heavily Photoshop my images, but I have edited out the chandelier chain and cord where I swagged it over from the junction box. Honestly, it was so distracting to my eye, and I plan on relocating the junction so that I no longer have to suspend it from a hook. I’m not trying to fool anyone and maybe you wouldn’t have even noticed had I not said anything (it’s cropped out in most photos), but I felt a little funny resorting to digital trickery because it’s not something I do. So if you happen to notice that the light seems to be suspended from nothing, that’s why.

The center marble dining table is already proving useful (and beautiful). It serves as a desk, a project planning surface, a spot for the kids to hang out, and an alternative to my dining room for tabletop shoots. I knew I didn’t want another wood surface in the office since my desk and the modular storage were already representing that category quite well. I’m not a big fan of glass tops, so that sent me looking at painted or lacquered tops, or stone. The parsons shape of the table I chose is classic, and the combination of marble and brass is perfect. Green chairs in a streamlined mod shape bring a little more fun to the grouping.

Hey there, traditional but cool blue and white planter! And hey there, cool convex mirror that I grabbed from another room! I’m very much disliking that the pendant is just hanging there in the reflection, but whatevs, we’ve discussed this. Moving on!

I bought these vintage slipper chairs for my first go at the One Room Challenge. I only used one, but when you find a pair, you buy (and hoard) the pair. And lo, I finally found the perfect spot for them!

The little side table between them is dainty in form, but sturdy. The window nook is a nice spot to take a quick break and look through a design book or some magazines with a cup of coffee. And how amazing are those sconces?

I wanted sconces that could plug in, which these can be customized to do, and I also had a beautiful brass toggle switch added and chose and pretty French gray fabric cording. They’re a little now, and a little Art Deco, and oh so pretty. They were initially six inches higher, but they looked off so I took them down, patched and painted the holes, and put them back up 5-1/2″ lower. An hour’s worth of work for a small change, but I think it would have bugged me had I not done it.

I took my pale pink linen curtains from another room, and the embroidered sheers arrived in time for photos (even though I know you can barely make out the details!).

I’ve recently created a “Shop Our House” page, and you’ll find sources for everything there, including paint colors and links to the exact items I’ve used. The Home Office section is new and I will continue to populate it today. You can also take a look at the design plan from week 2.

Thank you to all of you for following along! Thank you to Linda of Calling it Home for inviting me back to participate again, and thank you to my ORC sponsors (listed below) for helping me bring this room to life. The other participants are also listed below and they are doing amazing work, so be sure to visit everyone and see how their reveals shaped up! Tomorrow is the big reveal for everyone following along too, and there are some impressive designs out there.

I’m thrilled with my new office, and I hope you enjoyed watching the process as much as I loved bringing the design to life!

Follow along with the One Room Challenge participants!

• Boxwood Avenue • Coco & Jack • Design Manifest • Dwell with Dignity • The House That Lars Built • Little Green Notebook • The Makerista • Making it Lovely • Old Brand New • Old Home Love • The Painted House • Megan Pflug Designs • Pink Pagoda • Erica Reitman • Sacramento Street • Simply Grove • Jill Sorensen • Sugar & Cloth • Vintage Rug Shop • Waiting on Martha • Media Partner House Beautiful • TM by ORC

My One Room Challenge Sponsors

• Arianna Belle • Article • Artfully Walls • Bellacor • Cedar & Moss • Crate & Barrel • Jill Rosenwald • Milton & King • The Mine

My One Room Challenge Posts

Follow along from the beginning!
• Week 1: Hello, Office • Week 2: Design and Layout • Week 3: It’s Curtains • Week 4: Putting it Together• Week 5: What Trim Color?

And check out my previous One Room Challenges!
• Spring ’16: Our Bedroom and Den • Fall ’16: Front and Back Entry, Stairs, and Hallways

November 15, 2017
One Room Challenge: Week 3 (It’s Curtains)
I’m planning a layered look for the windows with pink curtains on the outside, nearly matching the pale blush walls, and sheers behind. We have a window AC in there and it’s not nice to look at. Covering it with sheers when it’s not in use might be the best way to ignore the eyesore.

The double curtain rod is from Ballard Designs. I prefer thicker 1-1/4″ diameter aged brass for the rest of the house, but here where the ceilings aren’t as high and I’m installing a double rod, the thinner diameter is a better proportion. The change in material is due to the proportion issue too. Thin brass curtain rods can look cheap — they remind me of inexpensive café curtain or tension rods. (Admittedly that’s probably my own weird association, not some universally acknowledged design truth, so take it for what you will.) Black will look more polished, tying in with the room’s black doors and the black lighting accents going in that nook.

I hung five curtains on the window to test, four of which I already had on hand.
- The first is a pink linen pinch-pleat curtain from Tonic Living that I grabbed from our den. It looks great! But it looks great in the den too, and those windows will be naked!
- The embroidered sheer is one of two that used to hang in our living room at the old house — the only curtains we exempted from conveying with the house. The other is in my closet and I’m hesitant to relocate it because it’s pretty perfect where it’s at. The details are not conveying well in the photo — see below for a closeup.
- The third option is a linen sheer from the pair I had in the guest room. Totally fine. Kinda boring. Missed opportunity for something more special. A mix of textures/patterns rather than just opacity would be nice too.
- Next is one of the ivory dupioni silk curtains that hung in the bedroom when we moved in. Silk is a little too formal for my taste, but it’s of nice quality, so I keep storing the pair in the linen closet thinking I’ll have a spot someday. Not yet.
- The last panel is the only new one, dusty pink chambray from West Elm. I’d hoped it would be a happy substitute for the pink linen I stole from elsewhere, but when it arrived, the color was darker and “dustier” than I’d expected. Lighter would be better. I’m also not loving the hidden tab tops, but I can hang them from the pole pocket or clips.
I’m going ready-made with these because of the ORC time constraint, but also because I hung the rod at a standard 84″ high and there are tons of options at that length.

Here’s a detail of the embroidered sheer I love so much (with a bonus look at that silk). There are sequins! But it’s not tacky!

The morning light filters through so nicely with these in the closet, which is just such a nice hello to getting dressed and starting your day. Plus hi, that’s where I get dressed. Good sheers equal good privacy. All signs point to leaving the single panel where it’s at, continuing to store its mate, and finding other sheers for the office.

These have potential.
- Nora Medallion Burnout Drape, Pottery Barn
- Tessara Curtain, Anthropologie
- Embroidered Lacina Curtain, Anthropologie
- Embroidered Benet Curtain, Anthropologie
- Floral Medallion Sheer, PB Teen
- Embroidered Arya Curtain, Anthropologie
- Reeta Print Sheer Drape, Pottery Barn
- Amera Curtain, Anthropologie
- Palampore Burnout Sheer Curtains, World Market
And I think the dusty pink chambray curtains are going back.

Follow along with the One Room Challenge participants!

• Boxwood Avenue • Coco & Jack • Design Manifest • Dwell with Dignity • The House That Lars Built • Little Green Notebook • The Makerista • Making it Lovely • Old Brand New • Old Home Love • The Painted House • Megan Pflug Designs • Pink Pagoda • Erica Reitman • Sacramento Street • Simply Grove • Jill Sorensen • Sugar & Cloth • Vintage Rug Shop • Waiting on Martha • Media Partner House Beautiful • TM by ORC

My One Room Challenge Posts

Follow along from the beginning!
• Week 1: Hello, Office • Week 2: Design and Layout • Week 3: It’s Curtains • Week 4: Putting it Together• Week 5: What Trim Color?

And check out my previous One Room Challenges!
• Spring ’16: Our Bedroom and Den • Fall ’16: Front and Back Entry, Stairs, and Hallways
October 18, 2017
One Room Challenge: Week 2 (Office Design and Layout)
I have the design for the office to share with you this week! First up, let’s talk layout.

Look how fancy I am! Marvel at that rudimentary animation! I made it myself, and yes, everything is to scale. I’ve leveled up a little with SketchUp and it’s no longer the frustrating exercise it once was to create custom furniture. I even made the lamp on the desk! YAY FOR NEW SKILLS.

Anyway, I have still images too, which are probably more helpful in discussing the space.

The room is all angles, so the layout was a little challenging, but I took advantage of the one long wall by lining it with 7’ of modular storage. The ceiling wonkiness is limiting, so to avoid everything being at the same height, I added a hutch atop the cabinets.

Floating in the middle of the room will be a brass and marble dining table. It gives me extra space to spread out while planning big projects, but it’s also a secondary desk, a homework spot (the kids like to hang out up there with me), and an alternate location for tabletop shoots. There will be four modern green chairs for everyday use, but the table can seat six.

Next, the placement of the desk and chairs. This is controversial?

They can be flip-flopped, and in theory a desk in front of the windows sounds lovely. In reality though, the sun can be super bright there for a good portion of the day and I think it would hurt my eyes to be staring at a backlit screen (and I don’t want to draw the curtains all the time). I also have a window AC there which is very necessary on the third floor of an old house without central air, and I don’t want to sit directly in front of it. And also? I don’t want my back to the room’s main entrance! It feels wrong. My desk has been where it is in the mockups for months now, and I like it. I can also swivel to reach the scanner/printer which I don’t use every single day, but when I do I feel very much in control of my little command center.

Placing the desk in front of the window would make for a pretty picture, but the window nook will also be beautiful with my pair of vintage chairs and sconces on each side.

OK, and the closet. Excuse me, I mean “The Rainbow Room.” My family loves this little space at the very tip-top front of the house with its demilune stained glass window. We’re all pretty excited about giving it an update! I’ll be putting up the most amazing wallpaper with vintage-style illustrations of birds and bugs, and then painting the trim a complementary color (likely green). Four bookshelves will line the sides giving us tons of storage while keeping a clear view of the window at the end.

I’ve got a design board with the major pieces in place to share too. I always start my process here, adding each element layer by layer so I can swap things in and out as I make decisions.

This board isn’t 100% final, but it’s pretty close. The room will need more to fill it out too — more art, accessories, and little styling touches — but that all comes in at the end.
* An asterisk denotes items that have been sent by sponsors for inclusion in the room.
1. Ornithology Wallpaper, Milton & King*
  Birds and bugs! That illustration style! You guys, this is right up my alley.
2. Audrey 8″ Sconce, Cedar & Moss*
  Well these are pretty much perfect, yes? Customizable too. Mine will plug in.
3. Alexa Hampton Basil Small Brass Pendant, The Mine*
  Much nicer than the ceiling fan it’s replacing. I’ll be centering the pendant on the marble table.
4. Globe Table Lamp, West Elm
  There are less expensive options for a simple globe lamp, but I’m picky about the glass. I didn’t want plastic or anything etched/frosted. Beautiful milk glass all the way.
5. Benchwright Hutch, Pottery Barn
  The ceilings have funny angles and I needed something with height. This sits atop my storage cabinets. (Discontinued, but here’s the rest of the collection.)
6. Martha Stewart Living Craft Storage Console, Home Depot / Home Decorators
  Modular, so you can build your own storage solution. Alas, I’m only seeing this one in white now.
7. Martha Stewart Living Craft File Cabinet, Home Depot / Home Decorators
  More modular goodness, but this one is still available in wood, along with white and black.
8. Archive Walnut Bookshelves, Article*
  These have arrived and not only are they sturdy, the walnut is gorgeous.
9. Freer House Slim Keith Vase, Jill Rosenwald*
  Little vases painted on a larger vase! Delightful.
10. Marble and Brass 60×36″ Parsons Table, Crate & Barrel*
  I cannot wait to start covering this table with walllpaper samples and paint swatches. Perhaps its beauty will inspire me to keep a tidy workspace?
11. Ruth Green Dining Chairs, The Mine*
  I’ve been looking for more ways to bring in mossy green, and these chairs excellent in that regard. Digging the modern style too.
12. Vintage Blue Slipper Chairs, Divine Consign
  I grabbed a pair of these and used only one in my first One Room Challenge, but now they’re reuniting in my office.
13. Pom Pom Velvet Pillows, West Elm
  I’ve used these in other rooms, but my pillows like to shuffle around. I think they’ll be happy in the office, at least for a little while.
14. Kendrick Currey & Co Side Table, Bellacor*
  This is the cutest side table and I’m sad to say that it’s being discontinued. I was considering this quirky side table too, which is still available.
15. Pink Curtains, TBD
  I might steal these from another room, but then that would leave that space naked. Find something else? Keep the others and pick up some new ones for this room? (Pink for every window, everywhere!)
16. Silas Round Convex Mirror, Overstock
  Another item I might steal from a different room (the snug). But I think I might like it even better in the office.
17. ‘Emerald Beetles’ by Kate Roebuck, Artfully Walls*
  It’s too good. I had to.
18. ‘Flowers in Vase’ by Ruti Shaashua, Artfully Walls*
  Great colors and an equally great drawing style.
19. Paint colors: White Blush, Benjamin Moore; Simply White, Benjamin Moore; Authentic Black, Dutch Boy
  The second and third floor has white trim and black doors throughout (with just a couple of rooms left to tackle). The pale blush walls are the same as my bedroom — I loved the color that much.
20. Morris 60″ Desk, Crate & Barrel*
  Drawers! So many drawers. I’m going to devote one exclusively to novelty toys just because I can.
21. Minna Vase, Crate & Barrel
  I picked up four of these a while back. I have three children, and not so coincidentally I suppose, I now also have three of these vases.
22. Jane Robert Abbey Table Lamp, Bellacor*
  I’m playing with scale here. This lamp is huge, and it’s going under an angled ceiling. It should work, but until I see it in person I’m crossing my fingers.
23. Bukhara Ikat Indigo Blue Pillow, Arianna Belle*
  Oh my do I love this pattern. My desk area needed a little shot of blue.
24. Liv Upholstered Wingback Office Chair, Crate & Barrel*
  My number one choice for a desk chair. It’s so dang lovely.I’ve written about it before!
25. Coziest Rosette Throw, West Elm
  For chilly days.
26. Ladies Blue and White Fishbowl Planter, The Mine*
  There are touches of blue and white everywhere, and I’ve been wanting to add a planter like this somewhere in the house. I realized the office is the perfect spot to do so.
27. Pink Ikat Genevieve Gorder Capel Dhurrie Rug, Pottery Barn Kids
  An oldie but a goodie. The dusty pink is hard to find in rugs — they’re usually baby pink or much, much brighter.
Everything is coming together and I’m feeling good about it — except for the windows. Am I stealing curtains from another room? Leaving those and adding yet another set of pink curtains to my house? (Not that I would complain.) I’ve played around with lots of fabric patterns, going bold with scale and color, and I keep coming back to the subtle backdrop of plain pink. What do you think?

Follow along with the One Room Challenge participants!

• Boxwood Avenue • Coco & Jack • Design Manifest • Dwell with Dignity • The House That Lars Built • Little Green Notebook • The Makerista • Making it Lovely • Old Brand New • Old Home Love • The Painted House • Megan Pflug Designs • Pink Pagoda • Erica Reitman • Sacramento Street • Simply Grove • Jill Sorensen • Sugar & Cloth • Vintage Rug Shop • Waiting on Martha • Media Partner House Beautiful • TM by ORC

My One Room Challenge Posts

Follow along from the beginning!
• Week 1: Hello, Office • Week 2: Design and Layout • Week 3: It’s Curtains • Week 4: Putting it Together• Week 5: What Trim Color?

And check out my previous One Room Challenges!
• Spring ’16: Our Bedroom and Den • Fall ’16: Front and Back Entry, Stairs, and Hallways

p.s. Here’s a smoother animation for you.

A post shared by Nicole Balch/ Making it Lovely (@makingitlovely) on Oct 11, 2017 at 8:06am PDT
October 11, 2017
One Room Challenge: Week 1 (Hello, Office!)

This is my third One Room Challenge. Enough time has elapsed that I’ve sort of forgotten the worst of the end rush, so here we are going for it again! Twenty of us designers and design bloggers are each doing a makeover from start to finish in six weeks, and sharing the whole process along the way every Wednesday. (A huge thank you to Linda, the organizer of the One Room Challenge, for inviting me back.) I’ve linked to the other official participants at the end of the post, so be sure to check out everybody’s ORC introductions today!

I was torn between two options this time around. The laundry room in the basement, or the office on the total opposite end of the house up on the third floor? I have big plans for both, and spoiler alert, I’ll probably do one right after the other. The laundry room is going to wait a smidge because the 7′ ceiling height and exposed pipes mean it’s always going to look a little like the basement of a house from the 1800’s. Because it is. I guess attics with weird layouts and crazy angles are inherently more photogenic? Let’s find out! Office, you’re up.

It is a finished attic, so it has that going for it. I had set it up as a playroom for the kids initially, but they preferred being close to us on the main floor or in their rooms, and they didn’t spend much time on the third floor. Not enough to justify dedicating the whole room to toys.

Meanwhile, I’ve tried setting up my office in various places around the house. We have the luxury of space in our Victorian with 3,000 square feet (the house feels huge to us) divided up into lots of rooms. We learned that some rooms are much draftier or hotter than others though. What I thought would be a great office turned out to be freezing cold in the winter, so that’s now “the snug”. It’s still on the cold side even after we improved the heating situation, but you can feel cozy huddled up under a blanket to watch a movie, vs. typing with fingerless gloves because you can’t keep your hands in a blanket for warmth and expect to get any work done.

Side note: I’ve talked about my office shuffle before. And every time I bring it up, I feel like I have to reiterate that our house is not a ramshackle freezing/boiling/awful thing. We added a new, more efficient furnace and thermostatic valves to radiators in the troublesome rooms. There are a few window unit air conditioners. The house is now chilly/warm/character-building. Big difference! All part of that old house charm.

I have the tiniest head start in choosing the office for this round of the ORC because I’ve already done some of the painting (black doors, white trim, palest blush on the walls and ceiling) and added a wall of storage. It looked like this last you saw it, while I was waiting for the backordered filing cabinet for the middle to arrive (which did, months later).

Once I got that setup and had my desk up there, I fizzled. The office is functioning! It just isn’t as nice as it could be yet. Think brass, marble, and wood. Old meets new. Black, white, and pale pink, plus green and blue. I’m not anti-ceiling fan, but I’m replacing this one with the prettiest pendant. I’ll be sewing window treatments once I decide between curtains or a roman shade. I’m addressing the layout, making room for multiple people, and tying it all in with the rest of the house.

And you guys. This is the part of the house with the rainbow room! The room that led my kids to name our entire house The Rainbow House. (There’s embossed stationery and everything. It’s all very official.)

See the stained glass window in the top peak?

There’s a closet tucked inside, about 5′ x 6′ and only 6.5′ tall. The demilune window takes up most of the far wall, and while it’s already kind of magic in there, it’s about to get even better. I’ll be painting the trim and adding the most amazing wallpaper, then lining the sides with bookshelves.

The closet is going to be so good. The whole thing is going to be good! I’ll have all the design details for you next week.

Follow along with the One Room Challenge participants!

• Boxwood Avenue • Coco & Jack • Design Manifest • Dwell with Dignity • The House That Lars Built • Little Green Notebook • The Makerista • Making it Lovely • Old Brand New • Old Home Love • The Painted House • Megan Pflug Designs • Pink Pagoda • Erica Reitman • Sacramento Street • Simply Grove • Jill Sorensen • Sugar & Cloth • Vintage Rug Shop • Waiting on Martha • Media Partner House Beautiful • TM by ORC

My One Room Challenge Posts

Follow along from the beginning!
• Week 1: Hello, Office • Week 2: Design and Layout • Week 3: It’s Curtains • Week 4: Putting it Together• Week 5: What Trim Color?

And check out my previous One Room Challenges!
• Spring ’16: Our Bedroom and Den • Fall ’16: Front and Back Entry, Stairs, and Hallways

October 4, 2017
Update: Modular Home Office Furniture

I figured out my office storage situation, and it’s going to look fantastic!

And I say “going to” because the file cabinet for the center isn’t expected to ship until June. So this will be the setup for a while.

I mean, the furniture at least. I will clean up the wallpaper samples at some point in the next three months.

I came in nicely under budget though! I had set aside $2000 for the wall of storage, and came in at less than half of that. I bought the floor model Benchwright Desk Hutch for $299 instead of $499 at full price, and I ordered the modular Martha Stewart Living Craft Studio pieces during their St. Patrick’s Day sale (17% off), making them $562 instead of $677. I could have gone with a different configuration and saved a little more, but I felt like the extra $100 or so was worth it for more drawers, rather than open shelves.

The lights I have there now were grabbed from another room, and the sconces in the mockup aren’t final, but this is the general idea. The backordered filing cabinet is going to slow things down a bit, but at least the decision has been made and the order placed. Progress! Slow, slow progress.

March 28, 2017
Would You Rent Out Your Home Office?

A Facebook group of working moms in the area is discussing ideas for co-working spaces. People are thinking it would be nice to have a space to work outside of their home, $50-100/month for occasional access, something like that. Which I read at my desk on our quiet and cute 1000 sq ft. third floor, where I work all by myself. Where I am planning an office makeover with room for the assistant I don’t currently have, and where I’ll soon be turning the home’s former third kitchen into a kitchenette and crafting space.

It’s a little seed of an idea. I haven’t even talked about it with Brandon. I’m sure there’s insurance to look into, maybe legal zoning or permits to acquire. It’s an interesting option though, isn’t it?

Image: Naveya & Sloane’s Showroom, New Zealand Design Blog

I know a lot of people rent their homes out on Airbnb or Kid & Coe. It’s not something that I’ve ever considered all that seriously for us though — this is my kids’ home and it feels strange to let strangers sleep here (though I’ve happily slept in other people’s listings). Locals in need of a place to work though? People that live in the area that would be regulars? I mean, we’ve got some extra room.

We have extra parking spaces that we rent out too, but obviously this is quite a bit different. A quick search of “Airbnb for home offices” yielded few good results. This is totally just this morning’s thoughts and maybe it will go nowhere (people that work from home might not want to work in someone else’s home!), but it’s something fun to think about.

Would you rent out or share your home office?

Image: Naveya & Sloane’s Showroom, New Zealand Design Blog

March 1, 2017