Hi everyone, Thanks so much for the replies so far! Maggie - I am actually happy to hear that you don't think my inspiration photos are very girly... that makes me feel more at ease with going in that kind of direction. Maybe my home is more masculine than I thought, so that aesthetic just feels girly? Not sure... either way, I LOVE the picture you posted. Annie - I think you are right. Right now, I have a very light robin's egg blue shade on the walls in that room, but that's really the only thing in there. It has old beige carpeting - replacement to wood laminate is on the agenda but not anytime soon. The space itself has some unique challenges. For example... the room is actually a sunroom (I only have one wall available - the rest are windows) and the room is long, and divided up into two sections. Our plan is to have a sofa and TV in the other section, and to position my elliptical in such a way in the office section that I can work out and watch TV in the mornings, if I so choose. I could also chill on the couch and watch something different than my hubby, if he happens to be watching baseball or something in the living room. The office is the space to the right of the living room labeled "sunroom" Outside - I hadn't thought of using a raspberry shade... that sounds lovely! Marina - I had thought about using wallpaper, or maybe even stenciling on the one wall I have available. I think it could add some nice interest, but sometimes I struggle with mixing patterns in a room. Lavender - I think the sheer panel is a great idea! Luckily, the room already has a glass paneled door (original to the house, with the old hardware - it's very pretty!) and I like the idea of adding a sheer panel for added privacy. Here are some of the elements I have so far: [[(https://www.houzz.com/products/liatorp-desk-prvw-vr~255337) [Modern Desks[(https://www.houzz.com/products/modern-desks-prbr1-br~t_580~s_2105) by Other Metro Furniture & Accessories IKEA [[(https://www.houzz.com/products/ingolf-chair-prvw-vr~250183) [Modern Dining Chairs And Benches[(https://www.houzz.com/products/modern-dining-room-chairs-prbr1-br~t_969~s_2105) by Other Metro Furniture & Accessories IKEA [[(https://www.houzz.com/products/barometer-work-lamp-prvw-vr~256720) [Traditional Table Lamps[(https://www.houzz.com/products/traditional-table-lamps-prbr1-br~t_611~s_2107) by Other Metro Furniture & Accessories IKEA Also, I am kind of loving this rug (and the price) and the colors go with the rest of the house: [[(https://www.houzz.com/products/home-decorators-indoor-outdoor-area-rug-home-decorators-collection-rugs-prvw-vr~6857011) [Contemporary Rugs[(https://www.houzz.com/products/contemporary-rugs-prbr1-br~t_515~s_2103) With that rug, I wouldn't know what to do for curtains, however... thoughts so far? :)

Late night ramblings: Oh, good grief! Did I never show you the 95.5% finished work? Yes, you know it's not 100%! MrHunzi still hasn't put in the counter and the sink for the coffee bar. He has a good excuse, by the time we were ready to do it, the stupid virus was upon us and we couldn't invite his work buddy over to help, and then the next shiny object took over... the BIG RENO - The BIG RENO is all the super necessary and completely unsexy stuff we've put off doing for a decade or two or three. So far, we have spent 3 yrs sucking all the 100yr old insulation out of the attic, spray foaming the roof deck, upgrading the electrical panel, burying the service lines, trenched and burying the roof runoff system, fixing a bit of masonry, cleaning up a few thousand feet of wiring, installing a 1100sqft of plywood flooring in the attic during the height of the pandemic (I could have floored it in gold bullion and had it be cheaper), putting in a pulldown sliding attic staircase, tearing out a few tons of lath and plaster (3.25tons to be precise) from the upper and lower halls, cleaning and adding meeting rail locks/latches to 16 huge double-hung windows and installing interior storm windows to tighten up the envelope, and pouring a concrete utility pad for the reason we've been doing all this work - getting HVAC installed in this 140yr Shrine To Our Lady of Perpetual Renovation! (cue angelic singing). Yes folks, in a few weeks' time, the window air units will be no more! (Well, except for the converted side porch office, that's a whole other problem for another time.) And we're getting a whole house generator to boot, because, go big or go home. Anyway, I promise as soon as all the piles of stuff that have nowhere to go right now are gone, I'll take some lovely photos and show y'all the BabeCave. I'm about to reopen it to clients after all the hot mess of 2020/2021 is done. (I am about to have a breakdown over this part of the reno- the absolute CHAOS of everything everywhere. This is the part that breaks a lot of DIYers, and I know we'll get through it, but it's tempting to say eff it and start over with something that's "turn-key". With all the other projects we've done, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, LR, DR, Library, they have been easy to compartmentalize and keep the mess to that location. Y'all! There is no part of the house that isn't getting touched and there is no refuge from piles of tools, stuff that has been moved out of the way for something and has nowhere to go, oh and there are literally 17 giant bales of insulation stacked in my dining room and it's 2 weeks till Thanksgiving. No turkeys will be sacrificing their lives for us this year! Oh, only 5 of those bales have immediate use after the ducts go in, 4 more are holding for when we do the bathroom because MrHunzi is worried we might damage them somehow when demoing that ceiling if we put them up now, and the rest...there was somehow a mad rounding-up error on how much was required, so yay, I'm going to have the privilege of dragging them down into the basement, putting it up in the boiler room ceiling, and crawling up into the 2ft high crawlspace ledges and scootching around on my back to insulating them with Rockwool, because waste not, want not, and I have 8 bales to spare.) It's all good - the goal in this house is always to stuff every possible accessible space with Rockwool because fire is the one thing that is super scary in an old house like this - if you've ever tossed a stick of lath into a fire and watched it go WOOSH and contemplated, my whole house is made of that stuff, you too would be willing to backcrawl in dirty, dead mouse filled crawlspace ledges with the goal of not making your house fireproof, but to at least buying you an extra minute or two to make it out. And this is the one time that MrHunzi gets off easy - he can't work in quarters that tight, and while I'm no skinny mini, I can, so yay for that. But I know it will get better. As soon as the ductwork (and insulation for the hall) is installed, I'm planning to call in my fabulous assistant and we are going to organize and PURGE like mad, then I'm going to call in the Stanley steamer guys to clean every floor in the house, and beg my housekeeper to come back to work. I'd really like to do it now before the contractors descend on us right after T-Day because I'm actually horrified to ask anyone to come work in this house in this condition - I'm not sure they won't think we're hoarders. Isn't there a DIY show on TV like this right now? Where the DIY got out of control and the homeowners are a full hot mess and need to be rescued? I feel like someone could nominate us for that show. We are currently the poster children of why not to live in the renovation. Contractors will take photos to scare their future clients out of ever attempting DIY with tales of our woe. Oh and for extra fun, Thanksgiving weekend, the Mini-Mes are coming to stay with Nana for several weeks, because it's not chaotic enough without throwing two small children, 4yr (girl) & 8mon (boy), into the mix between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think I was fine until I realized there will be a point while the HVAC guys (arriving Monday after thanksgiving) are working here for 2 weeks where I will need to remove ALL THE FURNITURE from the nursery and ROLL UP THE CARPET, so we can put the ductwork in for the DR below, while I have infants/preschoolers who need to sleep in that room because the other guest room is 6ft deep in all the crap from every other place and will have the nursery room furniture piled in there to boot. Everyone be sure to say your prayers and light your candles to Our Lady of Perpetual Renovation for us. We're going to need them! ;-) Once the HVAC is done, a brief interlude for celebrating Christmas, and the purge and cleaning have commenced, it's drywall, paint, add more fancy applied moldings on a huge staircase wall, and we'll pour a concrete driveway big enough to land a 747 (well, maybe not quite that big but at least a 7/11 parking lot) and that will probably mushroom into more landscaping. And then maybe by this time next year, we can declare victory. For five minutes at least. And then, we'll see if there's anything left in the tank to work on that truly evil old converted porch/office reno - that thing is going to mushroom like a nuclear cloud. And then there will only be some minor drywalling, install a window and pocket doors for the dining room, the 2nd-floor bath (only bathroom on the 2nd floor shared by 3 bedrooms so making it master-bath nice is the plan), and the kitchen to do, you know, nothing major.... But I promise - photos soon.

I work at home and the first priority in my home office is how it functions as my workspace. My husband works at home too and he feels the same way about function over style. We don't work the same. We don't have same needs. I don't like his office, I keep the door closed. He thinks my office is funny looking, he says "permission to speak" when he enters it during the work day. And that's rare . He will normally call or text even though we are in the same house. We are both "at work". I wouldn't want to be on a laptop keyboard or screen. I have full size keyboard and wireless, ergonomic mouse. I have 2 large monitor screens. The whole shebang is on a height adjustable stand. I stand as much as I sit. Lighting/Window coverings:. Since I am at work indoors it is important I can see out. I position my workspace so I can see out. To be honest, seeing your husband's desk positioned with his back to the window, forced to look at the coach and tv, saddens me. Have you considered turning the desk? To treat the window I would get a light filtering roller, solar shade and flank it with colorful panels. I would want to minimize the amount of the window that is covered when it's up to allow maximum natural light. It's purpose is to reduce glare when needed. Your husband's work space needs a task lamp. I don't know what your husband does but think about colors. Does he like a calming workspace or does he want a more energetic stimulating one? Right now with the wall color and the couch you are pretty somber. He may prefer you punch it up a bit with orange or keep the mellow vibe going with blue and olive. With regards to a rug, think about his chair. Will it have a plastic pad so he can still roll easily? Or is the rug just for over by the sofa? 50 hours a week is a lot of time in one space. Let your husband's work needs and comfort be number one and prettiness take a backseat.

Shannon - Not sure if this will help, but I recently redid personal my study (my husband has one upstairs) on a very tight budget. I wanted a slightly feminine and contemporary touch. But since it's off the foyer, also wanted it to blend with the rest of the house. The room is 13 X 14, so basically the same size as yours with the door opening being smaller. I decorated to make the room more like a sitting/TV room, and less like my office space. Instead of an L-shaped desk layout, I found an antique desk ($200), in a consignment shop, for the computer. The chair is from my DR until a smaller cream chair arrives ($45 SteinMart). The desk looks dwarfed in comparison. Plus my new computer screen is 26"! The desk is actually quite large with plenty of storage that you do not find in today's new furniture drawers. I repurposed a family console piece by adding mirrors ($25). It had ugly faded celery green insert curtains. I use the cabinet for my wireless printer and supply storage. The beaded mirror is from Overstock ($100). Paintings were in previous study decor. Brass table top ($50 from Craigslist) and wood base ($50) from Amazon. I repurposed old family lamps with new shades from Amazon (the taller one $75) and the gold shade was on a $20 lamp at Ross's! Lamp goes into yard sale stuff. Existing love seats were recovered with heavy fabric that I bought for a steal ($4.99 a yard!) The yellow pinstripe ottoman was in the room prior to the redo (along with a matching wing chair that the dog had chewed. It's going bye, bye.) The ottoman can be moved around the room as needed. It stays under the built-in's most of the time and can be moved in front of the computer for a 2nd person to sit and view. The dog sleeps on it with an addition of her dog bed. Or it can be moved in front of the loveseats to put our feet up when watching TV. ;) The rug is from Lowe's...less than $100 Throw pillows were existing. The brown wall color and book shelves were existing. I didn't change a thing with the decor, although the TV is fairly new. I am very pleased with the way my study turned out! As seen from the Foyer From doorway 1 From doorway 2 Sitting area 1 Sitting area 2 Close-up of desk and cord storage (desk still looks small) Mirrored console and beaded mirror Looking out toward Foyer and Dining Room So sorry to take up so much room on your post, but hope it helps you. :)