Take a seat

Boy, oh boy does the hubbs know me or what?!

His work is remodelling the model apartment and they were getting rid of furniture. They actually told him to throw it away. So he did the next best thing. He loaded it int the back of his truck and brought it home.

YEAH!

Remember when my dog Frazzle ate my office chair?
 I was going to reupholster it but I didn't get around to it because I have been so busy taking my classes. I tried using a pillow but boy was it ever uncomfortable!

Then I was using a folding chair with a pillow. It was slightly less uncomfortable but not much.

So this awesome chair is now being used as my office chair.

 I have it the living room as an occasional chair. I am not crazy about it being black leather/ pleather/ vinyl. But all the decorating experts say every room needs a little black, so there you go.

When I need it for the desk I just wheel it around . A much needed improvement! No more achey back or numb butt, haha.

The hubbs also brought home a matched pair of these dining chairs. I wish he could have brought a dining table with them, haha. I would like to reupholster the seats, other than that they are quite lovely! They are in the garage for now. Boy Meow Meow, our cat who live in the garage,  has already claimed  them to sleep on. So I put old towels over them for now. He may give me a fight when I finally take them back.

My not so fancy corner office

I must have some kind of gypsy blood. Or ants-in-my-pantsitis. Because I am constantly moving stuff around. I had taken over the dining room as my office which at first was great because I could spread out but that ended up not working because that is also the puppy prison. And the dog really did eat my homework. And my office chair. And my credit card. And my curtains. And my...well you get it.

I tried working upstairs in the spare bedroom but I am not gonna lie, it was far too comfy. The smushy bed and all those pillows--um yeah I usually fell asleep, which is great for bedtime not so much for project crunch time. I mean seriously, could you stay awake in this room and study?



So then I thought instead of using the little folding TV tray table why not move my Grandma's desk into the  living  room. But that meant something had to go. I sacrificed the big comfy recliner. It was old, the foot mechanism was sticking,  it wasn't so comfy anymore and quite frankly was just plain big. Grandma's desk has made the rounds between various family members and is a little worse for wear. Someday I will refinish it or something. I just haven't got there yet.

I stacked a child size bookcase I purchased at a thrift store to give it a hutch look. I like that it is off center so I can tuck in a basket of pens (possibly some candy canes--don't judge) and my phone in the little nook.

The chair I am using as an office chair is an old wooden folding chair and is NOT comfortable at all. A quick fix involved 2 old throw pillows and apple green standard sized pillowcases to use as "slipcovers". I wouldn't fall asleep in this chair but at least my butt is no longer doing so. And I don't  have to get up hunched over like a turtle because my back hurts from sitting on slab of wood.

I had to spend FOUR hours cleaning, organizing and decrapifying my living room to make room for everything but I probably needed to that anyways.  The room feels much more open. Overall I think it looks nice tucked in the corner and fill what would otherwise be an awkward space.

Tovah approves this blog post, haha

Creepers Peepers

No this isn't a halloween post. This is all about how when sitting at my pseudo desk (aka the dining table) I was feeling a little skeeved out. Like somebody's watching me. 

 Not that I do anything interesting enough to be watched but I was feeling a tad vulnerable.  My dining room is the main entry on to the house. It is the side my neighbor (on the south side of me) uses because it is closest to her house, it where the mail and deliveries are made. It is also where strangers, sales  people and preaching folks come to knock. Pretty much I know if someone comes to that door it ain't family.  Like I said I was feeling a little exposed.

Boy I sure do need to paint the house, door and clean my windows

This is the view through the little windows on the door, into my dining room --where I sit and do my homework.

Kinda creepy right? I made it a super easy fix for privacy using scrapbook paper cut to fit the windows.

I even made a peep hole on the middle window.. This looks like crazy, googly eyes staring back.

It isn't my perfect or forever fix, but it work for now and I don't feel so paranoid! I do know when I get my brand new door the glass had best be frosted or have shades because I don't want to feel like I am in a fishbowl!

A place to study

This past week was KUH-RAZE-EEEE!!

Monday I returned to college as a full time student (which I had talked about here)

I had hoped to have my office/ study area in the spare bedroom ready but the hubbs needs to update the electrical outlets to 3 prong receptacles for my computer and printer.

Bless his heart he did such a thoughtful thing. He did a little dumpster diving and was so proud to bring this GINORMOUS and MODERN desk home. Sooo yeah...it is very cool but doesn't fit both size wise and decoratively speaking. And not to mention I have a laptop not a desktop computer. oh well--Industrial modern desk anyone?

This is more what I had in mind. This empire style desk belonged to my grandma. It has made the rounds in the family before ending up back home with me. It is a little rough around the edges, but nothing a good sanding and some stain (or paint IF I have to)  can't take care of. It is the perfect size (small for my teeny little room), has a little bit of storage (my laptop just fits inside the middle drawer; the side drawers can hold the stapler, scissors and what not; and the cabinet compartment can hold folders and a couple of binders)

For now I am making due with  my ever versatile dining room table. I moved the buffet/island in front of the window and tucked the table against the wall and dividing book case. It actually looks really good!

And here is the room overall. I wasn't kidding when I said I had diminutive sized rooms! IF and WHEN we have company or decide to eat dinner at the table instead of the TV (yeah--we're THAT couple) I can easily clear the table off , move it around and bring in additional chairs if needed.

As far college classes are going....HELP ME! arggg! It is so much harder than the first time around. I am more organized but my brain just doesn't process as fast. And for those of you wondering here is the list of classes I am taking...

Anatomy and Physiology
Medical Terminology
Computer Concepts and Applications
Environmental Ethics
Interpersonal Communications

I hope I find my groove (and memory) soon!

Pay no attention to that mess behind the curtain

Well to hijack a quote from the Wizard of Oz...I guess that was the philosophy I had a adopted for a while. When you walk into my dining room this is what you would see...

However, lurking just a few mere inches away was a horrible mess, that I ignored. Until I couldn't anymore  (because things began falling out of the closet onto the floor!) Yikes--right?

It wasn't always like this. I don't know when it became a jumbled messy dumping ground. I am surprised our local waste management company didn't charge me annex fees. I mean seriously--who lives  like this? I guess for a while--I did. Boooo.

So with some determination, caffeine and lots of trips to the recycle bin I began to make to progress on my dumping ground. 

Finally after a few hours of purging documents, filing, sorting and organizing I ended with a nice little office nook. Not comfortable enough for me to work on my laptop, but organized and inspirational.

The tie back for the curtain is simply and elastic headband!

And when I want to have a "desk type" surface to work at I can remove my laptop from the closet and sit at my dining room table (instead of leaving it there ALL the time!)

It's not perfect but it is a beginning until I decide where exactly I can carve  out some office space in in my house. Now I don't have to worry about anyone peeking behind the curtain and seeing a junk closet! (The garage is another story/ post all together!)

I will be organized. This is my year--I just know it! How about you--do you have messy closets? And where is your office.