The Office
Just before the holidays, I signed a lease on a small office space.
I had been thinking about this step for a long time.
First, buying a piano displaced me from my home office. (Both my girls play and the keyboard wasn't doing it anymore.) I moved to the basement, which is unfinished but has good sized windows. I thought I would hate it but with a rug and a little decor, it wasn't so bad.
But then, I started thinking about getting an intern. I conducted some meetings with my contractor at my kitchen table. I wondered if I wanted a street level space (walk ins!) or a shared loft (photoshoots!). I fell in love with the Ivy Arts building. I continued to work from the basement, in straight view of monkey bars and a man cave. (True story.)
And then, we got a puppy.
It became both more necessary and more impossible to work from home. One day in December, I went on craigslist and found a small but charming space with tin ceilings, hardwood floors, and reasonable rent, just a few minutes (and directly on route) to my kids' school. I met the landlord, also a mother of two girls, also teetering on middle age, also in a newish career. I hemmed and hawed, but much less than usual. I signed the lease. We went to Texas for Christmas.
I forgot what trouble it is to move, even a small move, and if I am being honest (I am being honest), a month after I took possession I am still moving in.
Right now it is lovely, despite the card table I am using as a temporary desk. Lovely, realistically, because all of my mess and piles and tangles of fabric swatches are still in my home office space.
I spent more time than usual there today, and as I was leaving, I had this flash of what it should be.
When people say things in magazines like "I work with color all day, I want my office to be devoid of it!" Or, "I need to come home to white so I can breathe!" I may, in the past, have scoffed. But guess what? Today I felt how calm and pretty the office was, and how utterly destroyed that sensibility will be the minute I bring in the half dozen crazy colored rug samples that are currently in the back of my car.
For once in my life, I truly get the appeal of neutrals.
Maybe tomorrow (or soon) I'll talk about what it actually IS and why. And what we (or at least I) can learn from it.
I had been thinking about this step for a long time.
First, buying a piano displaced me from my home office. (Both my girls play and the keyboard wasn't doing it anymore.) I moved to the basement, which is unfinished but has good sized windows. I thought I would hate it but with a rug and a little decor, it wasn't so bad.
But then, I started thinking about getting an intern. I conducted some meetings with my contractor at my kitchen table. I wondered if I wanted a street level space (walk ins!) or a shared loft (photoshoots!). I fell in love with the Ivy Arts building. I continued to work from the basement, in straight view of monkey bars and a man cave. (True story.)
And then, we got a puppy.
It became both more necessary and more impossible to work from home. One day in December, I went on craigslist and found a small but charming space with tin ceilings, hardwood floors, and reasonable rent, just a few minutes (and directly on route) to my kids' school. I met the landlord, also a mother of two girls, also teetering on middle age, also in a newish career. I hemmed and hawed, but much less than usual. I signed the lease. We went to Texas for Christmas.
I forgot what trouble it is to move, even a small move, and if I am being honest (I am being honest), a month after I took possession I am still moving in.
Right now it is lovely, despite the card table I am using as a temporary desk. Lovely, realistically, because all of my mess and piles and tangles of fabric swatches are still in my home office space.
(as shared on instagram)
I spent more time than usual there today, and as I was leaving, I had this flash of what it should be.
When people say things in magazines like "I work with color all day, I want my office to be devoid of it!" Or, "I need to come home to white so I can breathe!" I may, in the past, have scoffed. But guess what? Today I felt how calm and pretty the office was, and how utterly destroyed that sensibility will be the minute I bring in the half dozen crazy colored rug samples that are currently in the back of my car.
For once in my life, I truly get the appeal of neutrals.
Maybe tomorrow (or soon) I'll talk about what it actually IS and why. And what we (or at least I) can learn from it.