Welcome to Oz

Every time I walk through my dark-paneled bedroom toward my newly painted office of mint-green walls and sky-blue ceiling, I feel like Dorothy walking out of her black-and-white house and into the amazing technicolor land of Oz!

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It is finally done! Here are the pictures I promised of my refurbished home office.

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First, here's a shot taken in 2008, before the shelves were taken down and the drywall replaced just after Christmas.

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Pretty nasty, huh? Now you can see why I was so anxious to paint!

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Here are the shelves after their paint job. The colors didn't contrast quite as nicely as I'd hoped, but soft blues and greens are the shades I find most restful.

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Blues and greens are also the colors that inspire me when I'm working on my novel, living in the world of Tolkien's Elves.

Here are the shelves as they look now, filled with all the items that used to be strewn here and there while we waited to put the office back together.

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I'd love to be able to afford those see-through boxes the professional organizers use, but this still looks beautiful to me. Everything in its place...

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Much thanks goes to our friend Dave, who patched up our wall for us and made it so entertaining to watch. I never quite realized before what artistry there is in home construction!

This is the door to my walk-in closet. Fortunately, since my children rarely have occasion to go there, it generally stays pretty well organized and therefore did not require much attention.

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The door on the left leads into our greenhouse, where every plant I ever tried to grow sadly died, so it is unused now.

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Here is a quick peek inside the closet.

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We debated on whether to paint the door jams, but in the end I decided we needed the white to emphasize the green.

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Besides, if you look inside the door, on the right you can see our family's measurements marked on the board in permanent marker, starting from the year we moved into this house. That's 16 years of memories that cannot be painted over!

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As you enter my office, the shelves and greenhouse are on the left.

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On the right as you enter is my work area, where I spend a lot of time writing and blogging!

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If you're wondering about the exercise ball, that's what I sit on instead of a chair. I find it keeps my back and hips relaxed and flexible, as well as improving my balance. I sit on a ball at my desk at school, too.

At first the students were fascinated, always wanting to roll it around or sit on it, but they've grown used to my ball/chair. I've been using it for 3 years now. Several other teachers have since gotten rid of their chairs and replaced them with exercise balls.

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This shot also shows the shelf above my desk. It's my vanity area, displaying diplomas, awards, and honors certificates.

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When I'm writing, sometimes I'll struggle and want to give up, feeling unequal to the task. That's when it helps to look up and remember that I've accomplished some hard things in my life, and I'm equal to any task if I keep working at it.

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Past the desk is my Japanese fan collection, which I had no intention of removing from the wall! Instead, I painted a line of blue down the wall between the work area and the fans.

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I have a cute idea on how to decorate that line and the rest of the walls, but I probably won't get to it until autumn.

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My office used to be the back end of a small garage. Long ago some owner converted half the garage to this office and closet, and the front half to my boys' bedroom.

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The floor of the office is just painted concrete. We added the area rug when we moved in.

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It's wonderful to have this room finished and completely reorganized.

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And, as seen in this view of my bedroom from the office, I have my bedroom back! I no longer have to shove stacks out of my way before I can go to bed. Life is good!

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We ran out of paint before we could finish painting the step. That will be added to my fall project.

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So, one project down; just a few thousand more to go!