Last year, my husband turned our unfinished basement into an office for each of us, plus storage and home work space. I’ve had my own home office for almost eleven years and don’t know how I would work outside my own home. My previous upstairs office, now the nursery, was the first room we painted and decorated when we bought the house because I spend so many hours there.
Our home offices for our work are dedicated space – they are where we do our paid work, our jobs, only. It’s good to separate our space and close the doors at the end of the day since we work at home. This keeps work where it belongs.
But I still want a cozy space that makes me happy to sit for eight hours every week day. My new office is getting there.
Sight: Sunlight. This is a basement office, but I get amazing light in the morning thanks to the two windows and the bright white paint I chose. Autographed books faced out on the ledges. Boxes, still unpacked, waiting for us to install shelves for my collection of middle reader and young adult books. My college diploma and my honors from work. My own baby picture, which reminds me to be kind. A poster from the Red Balloon Bookshop, where I truly launched my book career.
Taste: Coffee. When my husband is home, we now make a large pot to share in the morning.
Smell: Homemade rosemary air freshener because I read that rosemary promotes concentration. Dust. I’m not used to having to clean the basement space in addition to the upstairs.
Touch: Cat fur. I’m so lucky to work at home where I can pet my cat while on conference calls. It’s soothing. A huge squishy reading chair. Woven blankets because it gets cold down here. Cold concrete floors (I need a larger area rug).
Sounds: Pandora. The gentle hum of the dryer.
She Has Moxie 
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