My current home work space is a desk that was once my husband’s. I commandeered it when I started working from home because my desk is a lot smaller and the top of it is cluttered with papers, knickknacks, my jewelry box, and stuff. Both desks are in the room we call the library (because it has lots of bookshelves and I’ve always wanted to have a library in my house), but which also serves as the workout room (when we workout, which lately is hardly ever) and The Boy’s playroom.
In a few months, we will be switching The Boy from his current room, which is the smallest bedroom in the house, to what is now the library. And my office space will be moving upstairs to a brand-new room, which was once an unfinished attic space used only for storage and is presently in a state of partial finished.
It’s got the important stuff like heat and insulation (flooring to come soon), but I’m really excited about the big windows. For some reason when our house was built, the bedrooms all had these small windows, and even when the people who lived in the house before us redid the window, they kept them small. Like I have to stand on tiptoes to get a good look out of them. I’m not a fan.
My new desk upstairs will be right in front of one of the new big windows (the picture above doesn’t do their size justice). Admittedly, my view won’t be super picturesque or anything, mostly the street and the neighbors’ houses and lawns, but I’ll be able to see trees, too, and the sky! Sure beats staring at the wall while I write.
Granted this room won’t be entirely mine. It’ll have a big storage closet (because this was our main storage area before renovating) and an area for toys and musical instruments (which have sadly not seen the light of day for along time, and though neither my husband nor I are particularly talented in our musical pursuits, we still like to dabble). But it will be a space I helped design, with a desk that I picked out myself and didn’t just inherit. And it’s on a different floor than the rest of the house, so it will feel more like a place I can escape to write, even if The Boy ends up following me up there to bang on his piano.
Because as much as I love getting away to the cafe to write, it just doesn’t happen often enough. And as much as I’ve made do with the space I have now, it has never felt like mine. So that’s what I hope to have in this new room: a space of my own. Even if it’s just a spot on the desk in front of my big window.
What’s your favorite spot to be creative?
I learned early on the importance of a dedicated writing space. With that in mind, we always tried to pick houses with an extra room that could be shaped into and office/library.
Yours looks absolutely fabulous. You’ll have a wonderful time weaving your stories in it. I can’t wait to see the finished product.
Thanks, Lynn! I hope to be able to share some finished photos in a few months.
That’s so exciting! I hope you’ll share some pics when you get it all set up 🙂 I definitely find that having a spot of my own helps me to escape to my mental world a lot more easily (our current digs has extra room for once…after too many apartments with none at all. It’s amazing!).
That’s awesome that you have extra space in your current place. It’s funny how small our house feels compared to when we bought it 9 years ago. That’s what a kid and all his stuff will do to a house!
Very nice. It really helps to have your own space.
Thanks, Suzanne!
How exciting that you will be getting your own space–and with a view too! Happy writing!
I’m so excited about the windows! Like more than I really should be. 🙂
It’s so romantic! Your attic is just the kind of place I envisioned my favorite childhood authors scribbling out their works.
Hold on readers, great things are yet to come…
Romantic is the perfect word, Loren! I hope great things are coming from me…
This should work out great for you, Katie. I had a writing room in the basement when we lived in St. Louis. Other than getting a little cold in the winter, it worked great. I had almost complete isolation. Now I share an office with my wife, and it’s in the center of our house. It does not compare. Good luck with yours.
Our house is pretty small, so anywhere in the downstairs pretty much feels like the center of the house. I am so looking forward to a second-floor retreat. (Glad mine is upstairs and not down in a basement. I’m not a fan of cold!)
Exciting! Can’t wait to see the finished product. :o)
Thanks, Kim! Can’t wait to share.
I still don’t have a room of my own, but I have graduated from the cold basement to a corner of the (much *MUCH* nicer) bedroom, and will continue to dream…
Brava, Katie. It’ll be a good one.
I think many a writer has done great with a just a corner to write in, but I do hope you get your dream space so you can spend your time there dreaming about your stories and not the perfect writing space. 🙂
So excited for you, Katie. Because I’m addicted to HGTV, I’m going to ask you to share not just photos of the end, but the process,too. Then we can all share your joy as this new space becomes real.
Romantic for sure, Loren. Makes me think of Jo in LITTLE WOMEN. Seems to me she wrote in her attic. Good luck with this and remember to keep up updated with your progress.
Thanks, Marsha! Oh, I’ll have to remember to take pictures of the process. I, too, love watching those home improvement shows on HGTV.
And you are so on the money with Jo from LITTLE WOMEN. That totally makes me feel like I’m in good company.
I love attic-type rooms like that, w/the pitched roofs. Can’t wait to see what it ends up looking like, plz share when you’re ready! 😉 I’m going to be posting my office reveal hopefully soon, even tho I don’t think I’ll quite be done w/it. I just get too picky sometimes and need to call things done!
I will definitely be sharing pics, Leandra! And yay on your office reveal coming soon. I’ll have to make sure to check it out! 🙂
What a great space that’s going to be! I can picture it now – cozy and inviting. Although we have a big house with a guest room that only gets used once or twice a year, I mostly write at my kitchen island. I have no idea why. Maybe it’s time for some DIY…
Oh, Heather, you should totally make the spare room a writing space. You can stick a futon or something in the corner for when guests come. 😉
Looks like it’ll be a great space! I’ve recently started using my office again after a long stint of writing on the couch. I forgot how productive I can be in a dedicated space, so now I’m shopping around for more comfortable office furniture to encourage me to actually stay in there!
Hi, Anna! I’ve been using a home office for years b/c even when I was working full-time, I worked from home a couple days a week. This will be an upgraded office for me that will be slightly less cluttered with toys than the current one. Comfortable furniture is key…I can’t wait to buy a new chair.
That’s wonderful. It’s going to be a great space to write.
I think I am going to miss your café pictures though!
Thanks, Tammy! I’m still planning on hanging at the cafe from time to time, so I’ll keep posting those pics too. 🙂
I have an attic office just like that, complete with slanting ceiling and large window seat. I love it. The cats love the window. Be warned though, attic rooms tend to take on the character of the weather outside. I had to add a window air conditioner for the summer and a thick flannel robe for the winter.
Nice, Jeff! We did the whole nine yards and put a second zone for heating and cooling up there, so hopefully temperature control will be manageable. I used to have an attic bedroom in high school and it was sooo hot in the summer!