I spend a lot of time daydreaming about my new house and what I’ll do in all the different rooms to make it suit me perfectly. One of the rooms I’m having the most trouble with is office. First I don’t know if I’ll be able to use a third bedroom (a lot of the third bedrooms that I’ve seen are just too small and only suitable to become a large walk-in closet–which would be fun, lol!) or if it will be in the basement or have to be combined with the guest room or dining room. So that’s part of the problem. I can’t really decide anything until I know the room’s situation.

But even when I think about an ideal situation (which I think would be a large bedroom), I still have trouble. There are some things I know. I’d like to have room for a chaise lounge as well as a desk/work table and bookshelves. I also know I want to put cork on one of the walls to make a super large bulletin board for notes, ideas and inspiration. I don’t know what colors I want it to be either. I really like some marble paper that I found at papermojo.com when I was working on my MFA book project, but they’re out of stock now and apparently the line is being discontinued. The only other place I can find it online you have to buy 15 sheets for $50. Which unless I want to paper a wall with it, is more than I would use to hang up and use for inspiration for the color scheme. Actually I did think about papering the wall with it, but I can’t find my sample at home and I don’t know how it would look. Each page is unique so there is no regular pattern to match up. Anyway, the colors in that paper were that really fresh green you see around. I’ve heard it called celadon, but I’m not sure it’s that exactly (again, I lost my sample) and I don’t think it’s quite a lime color either. Then the green had a swirl of pink running through it. And I’m sure there were other shades of color that I can’t remember now. So I’m stumped. I’m afraid to pick out a green like that without inspiration just because that group of colors is so tricky. I don’t want to end up with a pukish color or a neon color.

But ultimately what I’m going for is a room that will inspire me to write and I can also use for book crafts. That is a skill that I don’t want to lose and would perhaps like to develop. (even if it is expensive). I suppose I shouldn’t even call it an office, since that’s not really it’s purpose. It’s more of a creative room. I think I’m going to try and have another space for all my bills/financial/health etc stuff anyway. Keep that negative clutter (I find it negative and overwhelming anyway) somewhere else. Since I have a laptop that should be feasible. I can have a little desk and file cabinet tucked away in the living room or dining room.

Ok. Enough about that room. The next room I was most obsessed with was my bedroom. I wanted to paint a grid of four squares in different shades of blue on the wall behind the bed (I saw that done on some design show) and I was having trouble picking out the colors. But I found a bookmark with three different shades of aqua and blue on it and so I have those colors basically picked out. I’m still searching for the perfect bedspread. I’m going to invest in new bedroom furniture, including a queen-sized bed (yay!), which I know will be dark wood with simple lines, possible a sleigh bed or something similar. I’ve also decided after seeing some different comforters online, specifically one of Ty Pennington’s from Sears, to use chocolate brown as an accent color. So I’ve actually found a bedspread that’s mostly chocolate with a some light blue/aqua threaded through that might work, but of course I can’t buy it until I know for sure and I’m not sure it matches yet anyway.

So since I almost have my bedroom figured out, I’ve now decided to obsess about the kitchen as well. Most of the places I’ve seen have tiny kitchens, which bothers me because I want to be able to cook. If I don’t cook, I know I’ll eat a lot of junk and takeout. But I have to like my kitchen. I have to enjoy it. Well, I think I do. I cooked the other night when our kitchen at home was a mess, so maybe I’d be ok. Anyway, if it’s nice and updated with new stuff, that’s fine. If it’s not that’s ok too, because that will give me the opportunity to tear it all out and put it new stuff. And I should actually be able to afford it if I use Ikea. And I read in Consumer Reports that Ikea is up there in the ratings. I wouldn’t get a couch from them, but bookshelves and kitchen cabinets? Definitely.

My final problem is that I have this nice picture frame and pillow that my previous boss gave me for my birthday in this great dark purple color that I want to use somewhere and I just haven’t figured out where they would fit yet. The pillow has muted gold stitching on it and the picture has beige ribbon and pink buttons.

Enough rambling about all that for now. I’m sure I’ll figure it all out anyway.