Although we didn’t have many options for housing upon deciding to move to Blacksburg (downsides to deciding living in a college town in the middle of the year), the house that I thought was the cutest had one major bonus: an extra bedroom. I use the term “bedroom” loosely (even though our rental company doesn’t).

With Whit working from home and me in grad school, I imagined us both having difficulty concentrating if we had to work in the same room. We both used our previous shared office frequently (I don’t understand how some people can use their laptops without using a desk! I have to have one), so we were certain that using our two extra bedrooms as offices was the best choice for us.

It was easy to decide who got which room. One room was surrounded by windows; the other twice the size as the former. I wanted the windows and Whit wanted the bigger room – perfect.

I love my room! Getting tons of sunshine is inspiring and uplifting to me. Although this room doesn’t get heat from the rest of the house, it has a baseboard radiator that makes the room pretty toasty when I turn it on. I also love the layout of our house – my room is off the opposite side of the living room from the bedroom and Whit’s office, and I love retreating over here when I need some quiet.

When you first walk in, I have a designated entryway for dropping papers and my backpack. I still haven’t finished with the pictures on the wall – I want to put an inspiring quote or two, and obviously that sideways pic is just a holder. The white console was $12 from Habitat ReStore, and I freshened it up with some spray paint. The zebra knob (missing an ear, poor guy) is from Anthropologie. I just recently bought the plant, and it brings me much joy! (Though I thought it would hang from the ceiling… still might try to do that).

One of the things I planned was an extra seat in my office for reading or if Whit stops by to have a conversation. I found this rad chair at the Y for $7! It already had the accent cushion, which is one of my colors. I bought the cushion (which coordinates with the other black and white one) from Target. The Alice in Wonderland calendar was a gift for Christmas, from Rifle Paper Co.

I bought the desk off Craigslist, and basically got it for free as we paid for a dresser and couch from the same people (a young couple downsizing in preparation for a move to Hawaii – I was jealous!). I impatiently painted it Clover Green in the summer without sanding it, and it peeled terribly. I used some of my free time over winter break to scrape the paint off, apply a couple layers of Gripper Primer, and re-paint it. So far so good!

The windows are a little high, so I can’t see out of them as much as I would like while I’m sitting, but I still love being surrounded by outdoor views. I don’t think this room technically qualifies as a bedroom, because of the lack of privacy and lack of a closet. It is pretty perfect for an office though! And spacious enough for my needs. The rug is from Overstock.com.

I wanted a sophisticated chair instead of a standard desk chair. This one was not a bad price at Target, but it isn’t super comfortable either. It does look pretty though.

I had a vision for this room, and the hanging buckets were part of it. They are from Ikea. I thought I had gotten a longer rod to hang more buckets, but I picked up the wrong thing – darn Ikea! I actually like the way it turned out though. I just added the plant (actually all the plants in the room) last week and it’s one of my favorite parts of the room!

A few more details – drawers from Ikea, pineapple painting by me (yay! I should do more watercolor). Picture was found at a thrift shop years ago and part of the inspiration for a “green and white” room (along with my old pj shorts!).

I waited months to finally hang these pictures, but I’m so glad I finally did it. The pictures surrounding the lower half of the room bring me so much joy! I finally realized that I love being surrounded by things – I am so NOT a minimalist. I do have to try hard to make sure things coordinate though.

This room has a built-in bookcase, which is fantastic. It also amazingly leaves enough space on the remaining part of the wall for my Ikea cube bookshelf. So. perfect. I love using this built-in to display a collection of my favorite little items. Maybe one day it will become more practical, but for now, it’s purely for my own personal joy! (Sidenote about my coconut head collection – I have one from pretty much every island, and a few beaches, I’ve visited. Hooray!)

Said Ikea bookshelf. I claimed this for my room to keep with the green, black and white theme we had in our old office. I love that it has plenty of room to store my school papers as well as fun decorations.

I just made this terrarium – don’t you love it?! I forgot to add pebbles to the bottom though, so I don’t know how well the plants will do without drainage.

I was revved up a few years ago when I discovered art on etsy. I love watercolor and pictures of animal, or anything with a lot of color. This monkey print has all of the above! I got it for my birthday from Whit’s parents, along with another 16×20 (of an island!) – they were having a buy one get one free sale. Yes, please! I want to get more art, but even having this one makes me happy every time I see it. I also need to fix the frame on the left, and get pictures that are actually horizontal. Just being real! By the way, I picked up that striped pitcher from the Dollar Spot last week for $3 – go get it!!

Last but not least, my favorite shelf in the room (okay, the terrarium shelf is pretty good competition). My mom gave me the Boulangerie print for Christmas, and I bought the fern a few days ago. Love, love, love.

Well, that’s it for now, folks. So long!