Before/After: Home Office

July 05, 2021

Before/After: Home Office

"Entrepreneurship is where you can be yourself at work and not get fired." - Every entrepreneur

I've owned my own business since 2005, and though the businesses have shifted, they've always been about chocolate and education.

I'm on a summer escape from the roof noise and vibration at my regular place, but not an escape from the beloved world of chocolate -- ethical sensational craft chocolate which my business Chocolate Uplift distributes. Under the Chocolate Uplift umbrella I also consult to chocolate makers and retailers, and I give talks and tastings (including now virtual) to law firms, corporate groups, and other organizations.

Then there's my Valerie's Infinity Tutoring business, through which I tutor mainly high school and college kids on college prep and essay writing.

Entrepreneurship for me means inspiration, creativity, and living my values to help others live theirs.

I set up a home office at the summer serenity cottage -- and even set up the wifi; see previous post! -- and you can see the before & after below!

Before

The house came with a desk in the room I wanted to make into the home office anyway; hooray!

The desk was so dirty that I had to wash it 3 times before a cloth came up clean.

I stashed the Hell-red curtains and the discarded plastic and wire hangers that also came with the house in a half-broken closet in the home office. I've turned another upstairs room into a walk-in closet and dressing room; post to come!

After

I turned the desk so that it is facing diagonally into the room, instead of facing a wall. Now when I sit at the desk, I have the window and green trees and birdsong to my right, a lovely vintage mirror in front of me toward the right (Jorji the Cat is under the mirror in the photo directly below, and you can see the mirror -- and Jorji -- in another photo further below!), and the door into the sitting room in front of me toward the left. Good feng shui!

I created an art wall using: chocolate wrappers I framed by some of my clients whose package design fits my nautical theme and a counterpart theme of bright summer colors, a cotton textile remnant in my blue-and-white theme that I framed in a gold leaf Blick frame, and a couple of my Lake Michigan photographs that I had framed online by Keepsake Frames for my overall Great Lakes cottage theme.

I hung the art on the wall that the desk used to face, so that now the art wall is to my left and somewhat behind me. Good for Zoom calls!

I placed a linen-upholstered chair from my regular place to the right of the desk and underneath the window, for a good reading spot and a good Jorji spot, though Jorji often prefers to be under the chair, on the window sill above the chair, on the desk, or on my lap -- photos below including cat-on-lap!

I brought a few chocolate books and a cacao pod and some desk items from my regular place, along with framed photos of Mom and me, and my sister and me. I also added a stack of books I've selected for my women former college classmates' book club, plus related books. A small Tiffany clock I've had for around 20 years went missing some time ago and then turned up, so I got a new battery for it, brought it to the cottage, and here it is! A couple of shells from the local beach wanted to come home with me, for a touch of Lake Michigan on our Great Lakes theme.

The desk chair is a yard sale find: a set of 4 for $25.

I added grosgrain ribbons to the ceiling fan pulls, to make them reachable for petite me, and to add some whimsy and lightheartedness as they wave in the breeze. Post coming soon on decorating with ribbons!

The cacao pod dish below and the similarly-styled cup were made by a dear friend and chocolate retailer client of my craft chocolate distribution business, Brook of Yahara Chocolate. He is a talented pottery artist, started selling craft chocolate because he loves it too, and now sells more chocolate than pottery! (He is located in our beloved Midwest -- in charming Stoughton, Wisconsin -- and ships anywhre if you order online!)

See more book photos in the home office and throughout the cottage here, in my post about choosing books for the cottage.

The rotten windows are something I am not in a position to address, as a summer renter, except to prop them open with these ingenious and inexpensive pine window jacks from The Vermont Country Store that I keep raving about, so that they don't slam shut on dear Jorji the Cat!