A Space of One's Own

A very dear friend of mine shared photos of her writing desk with me, and I enjoyed it so very much, I decided to share my space as well. I have a beautiful antique secretary desk that used to belong to my husband's mother—she had beautiful taste in antiques. It's placed in the living room, right by the entrance to the dining room and front hall. I'll start with my chair—I love my chair. It is so beautiful and comfortable and comforting to look at. Normally, I am not a fan of blue, but the peacock-blue paired with the flower pattern on one side and white dots on the other makes it just right for my space. Hanging up on the wall to the left is our little mail organizer; it has been really helpful with dividing up our personal mail and keeping track of bills. I also keep a copy of the public library's classic film calendar—I love that my library does this! To the right of the desk are several stacked storage boxes with everything else I need: Scrapbook papers, sketchbooks, palettes, cardstock, watercolours, markers, graphites, and charcoals.

On the desk, I like to keep not only the practical items (pens, post-its, etc.) but also inspiring items that make me happy when I'm sitting in my space. I love having my smaller antique books on display on and around my desk.

What makes me happiest is, when I need a quick distraction, instead of zoning out on Instagram, I'm picking up a grade school textbook from 1897 or I'm reading The Letters of Emily Dickinson. 

My planner is always right in front, opened to the day's agenda. I can take a look at what my day holds, add or remove things as needed, and mentally prepare for the morning. I started a habit in my planner that has become really rewarding: Instead of using the To-Do list in the planner to pile more reminders of tasks on my shoulders, I write in it at the end of the day—and write in things that I've accomplished instead. It feels way better to fill the space with all of my productivity instead of making myself even more anxious with a never-ending task list. 

I enjoy my space so much that I find any excuse just to sit there—and that's been a great thing for me. I work better, write more, and take more time to care for myself. I love starting my morning with a cup of tea, Madeleine Peyroux and my Astrostyle daily horoscope (which, I've declared often is always accurate—trust me on this one!) on my MacBook. Then, I take Mister Grenouille for a nice morning walk—it refreshes both of us, and allows me a bit of peace and quiet to work when we get back, while he softly snores and snuffles.

This big baby right here is my reluctant coworker—he'd rather have me rolling on the floor with him than buzzing around the house. His life is so hard. And on that note, Gren and I are off for a walk—see you soon!