Wow am I bored tonight.
I've been slowly thinking about and making little decorating changes in my house. The first step was to get rid of that ridiculously gigantic entertainment center earlier this year. That changed the whole dynamic of my living room, and the Target stuff I put in its place looks great.
The new bedroom furniture was a great move for me because it helped me take ownership of the room. Stephanie is a great decorator, and I'm thankful that she had such great taste when she chose a lot of the things around the house. That said, I sometimes catch myself having a certain thing a certain way only because she did it that way. I liked our bedroom furniture too, but it was kind of fun to shop for something that was entirely me.
With Luna gone and no longer destroying the carpet, I'm ready to replace that soon. I want to pay off the bedroom furniture first (even though it's 0% financing until 2011 or something stupid like that). I'm kind of dreading that because I can't imagine I can get away with spending less than five grand on it, and carpeting is so not sexy. Even without the Luna factor, it would need replacing anyway since the builders used total crap. Six years old and it's matted down and crappy looking.
I was thinking about how I could make my office more comfortable, so that I would actually spend time working in it. I don't think I like it being in one of the bedrooms. I'm seriously considering moving it down to the family room, which used to be the "red room" before Steph moved the furniture with her. It was fading in that room with the giant 8' windows, and it looks much better in her place. I was thinking I'd bring my desk down there, or get a new one, and get a nice big couch or something. It gets a little cool down there in the winter, but add a computer or two and that'll change!
Finally, I need to get my landscaping cleaned up. A part of me thinks about doing it myself, but I'm just not that interested. All it really needs is the bushes trimmed, and new mulch. The catch is all the weeds creeping up in what's left of the mulch now. Maybe if we get a nice weekend and I'm home I'll be inspired. I'm fully expecting to wake up to a yard of dandelions tomorrow, which kind of sucks.
I don't take a ton of pride in my house, even though it's a neat house in a relatively nice neighborhood. I guess that even after six years here, two on my own, I struggle to really identify it as my own. The feeling of home is so hard to create.
Landscaping turns me on. Really. There is something about spending a weekend working in the dirt, mud, and grass that elevates my mood. I just wish I had the money to do the things I'd like to do.
I still have dreams of being able to spend some of my retirement years working in landscaping at an amusement park.
I say go for it and move the office downstairs. That room is a great location as it brings in a lot of natural light, has quite a bit of square footage, and--most importantly--is only a few steps from food and beverage (or maybe that's a bad thing?). You also have quick and easy access to the deck for when a breather is needed.
Obviously there is a lot of labor involved in moving everything downstairs, but I think the change will pay off. If there is anything that might help you identify the place as your own, it's a drastic change like that.
Besides...if you can't feel completely comfortable in you workspace, you're not going to do your best work. Plain and simple.