This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
I love DIY, staging, and redesign. When I’m not writing, I’m on the hunt for the perfect piece to sand, distress, and repurpose with chalky paint for my French Country Cottage obsession. I’m addicted to home improvement shows and love to get my hands dirty with do it yourself projects! Here’s a few of my latest – The first photo is homemade barn door hardware using garage door rollers and tongue and groove wood to hang shutters I salvaged and painted for the guest bath. The second is my son’s nursery dresser. (He’s now 18 and a US Marine) For sentimental reasons, I wanted to repurpose it into our home’s décor and decided it’d make a perfect rustic whitewashed planter in the sun room. I found both ideas on Pinterest—my absolute addiction—although I didn’t exactly follow the directions. What do you think?
When Novelicious asked me to share my WRITING ROOM, I was thrilled because I just redid my space. Before, it wasn’t bad, but it blended in with the rest of the house. It felt as if I never left home and I could get easily distracted with home chores or by visits to the barn. (We live on a small hobby farm with various animals.) So my plan was to create a WRITING ROOM completely different from the rest of the house, almost as if I left for work and entered an office. Albeit a creative, comfy one because I’m still dressed in joggers with my hair twisted in a top knot. My office, my dress code, right?
I took to Pinterest for inspiration and started pinning everything that caught my eye. What surprised me was my boards consistent color combination of lime green and hot pink. What? I’m a French Country girl: soft whites and cream, pale blues and blush rose. This was bright and electric and . . . exactly what I needed to set my WRITING ROOM apart, so I got to work.
I repurposed a large square project table by removing the top and pushing the two base shelves together (painting the inside backs to have a peek-a-boo pop of green as well as the top), then covered in clear Plexiglas and slid next to my desk to act as a room divider. My oversized chalkboard was hung behind my desk and fitted with magnetic squares and cork to better utilize as a story board.
And although the side walls remained white, I added bursts of color and whimsy with vinyl decals-love these! They’re removable and won’t damage the walls. My only real investment (besides paint) was a beautiful framed floral art piece I found. Since it didn’t have any companion prints I had to get creative to create the grouping. The smaller pieces are actually a gift bag cut up and framed. To really finish off the room, I painted the main focal wall/s electric lime green. The first coat had me panicked, but as it dried I fell in love with its vibrancy. Now, when I enter my writing room, I feel as though I’ve stepped away from home and am ready to work.
If you love DIY and design, follow me on Pinterest. I also have boards for HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO and other things writerly.
Holding Out for a Hero by Victoria Van Tiem is out this Thursday!