Nothing a Little Shame Can't Help

Here I am, Day 4 of being sick at home, and still looking around me in a cold-induced fever of home redecorating.

After yesterday's post about reframing wallpaper, I realized it's been half a year since I'd eBayed those suckas. My own public shaming finally got my ass in gear and forced me to start looking up some cheap frame sources. I finally found and ordered some oversized frames from AmericanFrame.com, to  embark on my wallpaper framing project, at long last. Getting them custom framed at 28"x48" could cost up to $1K at a custom framer, so I'm hoping my roundabout $90 version (for 2 frames) will work fine. Updates on that soon.

Since I've been home sick, I've spent a lot of time in my office, trying to figure out why I don't spend more time in here on a regular basis. There's a garden view and the room is nice and spacious, but somehow Alex and I always opt to do our work in the front living room.

In an attempt to make this room more conducive to creativity, I'm embarking on another public shaming. Nothing better to get my ass in gear than publicly showing off the most embarrassing parts of my home on a home decor blog, right? Gulp. Here goes.

Here's what I need to work on for the office:

1. Create a thinking/lounging space.

Right now all we've got is a leftover media stand from my old TV, which a friend has on temporary loan. Good for storing DVDs, but a major space-hogger and an Ikea-style eye-sore. Plus not a very comfy seat. I'm thinking a small couch or armchair, a comfy pillow, and a side table will make us want to hang out here more often. And, of course, some wall art. Right now, the only seating options are our desk chairs. Once we have some comfortable seating, let the procrastination brainstorming begin!

2. De-clutter.

Need I say more? I can't even stand looking at my mess of a desk. There is so much leftover wedding planning stuff that I need to go through and throw out, my head hurts just looking at it. Oh, and that opens the Pandora's box on a whole slew of wedding things that need to be taken care of-- cleaning and selling my dress, selling the table runners, making our photo album, bla bla bla. Those things may take a while, but at the very least, I should be able to clear off my desk, right? In the long run, I'd also like to re-stain that desk top black or a very very dark brown.

3. Storage wars.

Dear lord.

I'm not a fan of ugly file cabinets, but anything would be better than stacking boxes on top of boxes. Here's the problem: I have boxes of head shots, boxes of postcards, boxes of old head shots, boxes of resume paper, boxes of 3-hole paper for scripts, boxes of labels. We have two printers, a paper shredder, a tripod, a C-stand, and lighting for when I shoot my own videos. How do I organize and categorize all these things and have enough drawers or compartments for all of them, without my office looking awful? And how do I cover up that fugly file cabinet?

4. Toss old furniture.

The Chinese in me cannot waste. So when the old tenant left a bunch of her furniture in here, we inherited a bunch of pieces rather than throwing them on the sidewalk to be picked up by the trash collectors, like any sensible person would do. This, on top of having extraneous lamps, stools, etc. as the result of melding two apartments into one. This means I have a random assortment of chairs, tables, everywhere. Time to clear these out and make room for storage furniture. Those two chairs, that lamp, even the giant 80s-style desk-- They've gotta either revamp or hit the road.

There it is-- my dirty laundry, aired out into the universe. Don't laugh at my undies! Shame, do your worst!