Home Sweet Home Office

I know, I know. When it comes to home decor, I probably should just focus my efforts whole-heartedly on my dining room wall project. But there are a few different spots in our home that need attention and one of them is a place I spend time every single day - my home office.

My office space used to be in our second bedroom, a spot that has since been converted to Phee's nursery. The former home of my computer desk is now a mecca for dirty diapers:

Last summer, I started the lengthy process of downsizing my office-related possessions and moving into the significantly smaller space of our sunroom. My poor husband's desk and office items were consequently moved from their former home in the sunroom to their current home in a corner of our dining room (see, I told you that room was a catch-all). Thankfully, years ago I invested in modular office furniture which has been reconfigured successfully now three different times to fit in three very different spaces.

I started the process of making the sunroom into my personal office space by painting the walls a pale pink. Then I decided, in a pregnancy-hormone-fueled fit, that I hated the color. On a whim, I picked a medium yellow tone to replace the pink. I'm not 100% happy with the color, but it works for now... especially since I have no desire to repaint the room a third time. The main issue with the sunroom is that it has the traditional/original wood moldings. White moldings are definitely much easier to work around when planning a color scheme for a room (at least for a novice like myself). And I have considered painting the moldings in the sunroom... but the thought of painting the moldings and frames on eight large windows and two glass-paned doors makes me a bit nauseous. So I'm working with the wood trim and the yellow paint color.

Here's a quick snapshot of how things look now (oh the difficulty that is photographing a 5.5' x 12' room...)

Here's what needs to be done in the room --

1. Window treatments
As I mentioned above, there are eight big windows in the room (makes sense, it being a "sun room" and all), currently outfitted with basic horizontal blinds. I don't want to block off the wonderful light that streams into this room, but man does it get HOT in the late spring through early fall. Last summer I resorted to using packing tape to cover the windows with anything I could find - including two old mis-matched curtain panels, an old shower curtain, and three old sheets - just to bring the temperature of the room down to a level that didn't result in excessive sweating and panting. I'd like to avoid that this summer by getting some proper curtain panels up there before the heat hits. And since I'm hoping to add some pizazz in doing so, I'm going to hand-pick a fabric and whip some up myself. So far I've been having a hard time finding a fabric that is a) in the right color palette, b) not too dark or too busy, c) not too traditional... but not so modern that it seems very out of place in the room, and d) not ridiculously expensive, since I need a minimum of 15 yards to outfit all eight windows with 63"-length panels... even more if I decide to go with floor-length. I need just the right something that will break up all of (and hide some of) that brown wood.

2. Concealment
I gave up a decent-sized closet and significant square footage in the move to the sunroom and while I was able to reduce the amount of stuff I brought over to the new space, there is still plenty of stuff that simply has to stay in the room. I have a very organized system of plastic bins and storage boxes in place but I'd really prefer not looking at those. I'm definitely thinking a sort of fabric skirt attached to the work table in the corner would be a great way to bring in another decorative element while concealing stuff that needs to be stored.

3. Details
I'd like to recover my desk chair to better coordinate with the color scheme I have in mind for the room. I'd like to jazz up or replace my current (plain, cork) bulletin board. I'd love to replace the hideous '70s-era (complete with faux stained glass inserts!) ceiling fixture with something from this century. A few carefully selected decorative accents here and there will help make the space more personal and less bland. Since I'm working with this fairly traditional base of wood moldings and yellow walls, I'd really like to bring in some more modern details with the accents in the room.

So this is where this project is starting and some hopes for where it will end up. I've got some fabric swatches en route and I'm starting to pull together some inspiration for the room's overall look... details to come!