In all seriousness I told her that I wanted her to have her own office. She didn't believe me, she thought I was trying to tell her one thing but imply another. Contrary to what she thought, what I say I actually mean. After some serious convincing she got giddy as a school girl over the idea of having her own office. Now the only thing left to do was get to work.
It all began with a trip to Ikea. Before I go any further I have a few things to say about Ikea. Ikea seems to be like what having a baby must be like.
Step 1) You get it in your head to add to your life and home. There is excitement. (dream your new space = dream your new baby)
Step 2) You put in a little effort to make it happen (drive to Ikea = have the sex/insemination. There is still excitement, you are on your way.)
Step 3) The new addition to you home begins to feel real and you start to visualize what is about to enter your life. (Walking the showroom = seeing your baby on a sonogram).
Step 4) Pain and worry intensify (Collecting everything you need from the self-serve section, yes you have to lift it and put it all together = Labor begins).
Step 5) You push, pull, and it is exhausting. (getting the crap from Ikea into your car, then into your home = Labor intensifies).
Step 6) You put in your las bit of strength and energy to accomplish your mission. (Putting together what you worked so hard to get from Ikea = The baby crowns you push and it is born).
Step 7) You look at your beautiful prize and the effort of all you hard work in awe and amazement (Stand back and admire your new furniture = Admire your new baby)
Step 8) Forget the pain of everything you just went through, begin to think of what you want next time (What room will I decorate next = what will we have next time)
This lovely little room was originally Deb's office and I can't really remember why but eventually we moved her furniture out and the room sat empty. As empty rooms often do it began to collect stuff. It started slowly, but then my mom sent a whole bunch of baby stuff and then we got more baby furniture from deb's sister Susan. This collection of goods sat in this room just collecting dust. It looked awful, we kept the door closed and it just became this ugly vortex of things with no current purpose. Mostly because we have no baby, and no immediate prospect of said baby. Long story short, it was an ugly situation.
When we moved the studio from the basement to the guest room, the guest room had to go somewhere. For a brief moment the guest room occupied this small space. It was cute but then I decided that Deb needed her space, so once again our small third bedroom would be an office.
Before:
During:
Of course after the fabled trip to Ikea we had some junk to put together. We bought some shelving that was part of the Ivar System and I have a few things to say about it.
The first is the the pegs for the corner unit come in these little tubes. The were extremely difficult to get out. It was like trying to get the last sugar our of a spit sodden pixie stick. Miserable!
We thought it made sense to put the corner unit together first. Big mistake. You see the straight shelves have these little pieces where the pegs snap in, where as the corners merely rest on the pegs. It is EXTREMELY irritating.
We finally got the outer shelves together which was a nightmare in and of itself because we couldn't get them to be square and level. We took them apart multiple times.
***DISCLAIMER: If your floors are remotely let alone noticeably un-level it is going to make putting these things together absolute hell. I seriously wanted to punch a baby.
As you can see Deb got seriously to work with this project. This was most helpful because I was seething with anger at this book case.
Then on top of it all Deb couldn't figure out where she wanted them. They danced about the rooms multiple times. When you change the location you have to change the location of the pegs for the corner shelves, so you have to move them every time and we did.
Now that is a good lookin', hard workin', booty!
We also needed a little DIY side table to optimized Deb's work station. An extra shelf and for red legs and you've got a table for under $25.
New table pistols!!!
After:
I was not feeling well at all, so after moving a whole bunch of furniture I went to bed. When I arose. The office was complete.
The curtains you see pictured were made my yours truly. The people I work with know this already, but I have not great love for making curtains. These went together pretty quickly and will be the subject of my next blog post. They came out lovely and Deb was so pleased.
With the hanging of the Ukes and the art, it was a done deal and a sweet swag room. Deb has been enjoying it all day and that makes me so happy. I am thrilled to have her know the joy I have in my own room. Ok as I am still feeling super sick, its back to the sick bed.
~ Caroline ~
Projected Forecast
1) Grammy's Skirt
2) A tablet case for Deb
3) Blouse pattern for me!
