My very own office

As I mentioned in my introductory post, Mr. Fraser and I just bought a house, and we're getting ready to move in three weeks. We've got a ton to do. Among other things, there's hardly a room in the house that doesn't need repainting, and we want to get it done before we move because it's so much easier to do before there's furniture to work around.

So we're living in a world of paint samples and bickering over color. For people with similar tastes, Mr. Fraser and I can get up a good argument over, say, whether Martha Stewart Bay Leaf is too dark for the kitchen. I say yes, because a kitchen should be a bright cheerful color, like yellow. He says I'm just saying that because my mom had a yellow kitchen. We agree on Wedgwood Blue for our bedroom, then send dueling emails about just what shade that is. Turns out I was thinking of the very darkest pieces of jasperware, while he was imagining a far softer hue.

One room, however, is mine. All mine. The smallest bedroom is to become my office. (Mr. Fraser gets an office too, a little bigger but with less natural light and doubling as the guest room, so I figure it's a fair trade.) I'm ridiculously excited about it--a true, dedicated writing space set up for my needs and decorated to my taste.

At first I was going to make the room dark, maybe a deep claret red or forest green. Those, along with black and navy, are my go-to colors for clothes, and I love the deep richness of them. But the more I looked at that tiny, tiny south-facing room, the more I thought that what's beautiful on a sweater or dress might be a bit oppressive in a small room--not to mention upping the temperature a few degrees during our rare Northwestern heat waves.

However, my Very Own Space cannot be pastel. No way, no how. So, despite having lived in rentals all my adult life, looking with longing to the day I can have walls that aren't white, I'm painting my office...cream. With white trim. Specifically Martha Stewart Rice Paper with Picket Fence trim. (The color names crack me up.) I'll bring in the rich colors with curtains and rugs and give it personality with what I choose to hang on the wall.

I think. I may change my mind between here and the paint store.