Office Space

Sorry for the lack of blogging in the last few weeks, my motivation has been seriously taxed. I'm still fighting a nasty virus that's now turned into laryngitis, blech. But enough complaining...

I was thinking today as I surveyed the disaster that is my office that it's really time to consider redecorating. It was the first room that we decorated when we moved into two years ago and while I do still love it it has some issues. I spend my entire day in this room working for my full-time job and many of my evenings sewing and crafting for the Etsy shop so it has to do a lot and be inspiring to me. As you can see from the terrible photo it's super super dark. (And yes, there's a plate on the floor) I took that photo mid-afternoon when the sunlight should have been pouring in but alas, it feels like a cave. It's on the upper floor of our house and I do love the room. It feels like being up in a tree house with all of the trees surrounding our home. I love the combination of the black storage pieces, the gray walls and orange accents but I think all of the black soaks up any light that the room does get and makes it seem darker and smaller. The monster Ikea storage unit is great for holding a gazillion things but what you can't tell from the photo is that it's smack dab in the middle of the room cutting the room in half. Because of the low angled ceilings it was the only place that it would fit. On the opposite side is my sewing area and another window. Another issue I have with the storage unit is that while I adore the idea of all of my fabric and yarn sorted by color and neatly folded to admire whenever I choose, in practice it just doesn't work. You can't really see because of the darkness but it's a mess, there's fabric falling out everywhere. I think I'd really like to find something that has doors or drawers to store the fabric so it's hidden. This would also help because this room serves as a playroom during the day too, meaning that the baby who's so much more mobile is now getting into everything.

So, I know all the black has to go and I need to find some low covered storage in lighter colors. Either something from Ikea like this, or something from a thrift store that I paint. I think I'll keep the orange accents but paint the gray walls white. Maybe I'll paper one wall in some vintage paper. I would love to build something like this to put in the center of the room as a sewing / cutting table. Another issue is the built in desk. It's so adorable and I love that it's recessed in the window well. The problem is, I think it was made for a child. The opening is too short to put my legs under when I have my chair at the proper height for my arms. Also the drawers don't work very well and so are not very usable. I would really really hate to get rid of it but I'm thinking that it might have to happen. I could probably find a new desk to fit in the space. But I don't know, what do you think? Sorry for the rambling post but sometimes it's nice to just get my idea out there, it helps to get your thoughts too and focuses me a bit. I'd love any ideas you guys have on creating nice crafty spaces. I also started a Flickr gallery here for inspiration.