The Cloffice

I'm hijacking the term 'cloffice' from my ever-clever friend, Ingrid. It's the perfect word, for a closet + office. The 3rd and smallest bedroom (11.5' x 8') is my home office/extra closet and I have plenty of storage space for turtlenecks and tees, computer/peripherals, linens, office supplies, stationery, camera stuff and my file cabinet. The view from the top-floor window is very pleasant, overlooking the yard. The posters and prints are an homage to Old New York, with some views of this neighborhood, when it was industrial and gritty at the turn of the 20th century. The large poster over the desk is by Georgia O'Keeffe, believe it or not! It's called "The View from the Shelton Hotel 1923" and is a view of my neighborhood, from Midtown Manhattan.

After 10 years, the pewter-gray paint is looking very tired, and the quart of touch-up paint that I got was just "off" enough that the repainted areas look obvious and horrible. A new paint job is unavoidable. I'm going with deep red walls and bright white trim. The existing gray carpet and desktop are fine, and the white cabinets along the back wall will stand out nicely.

I purge/shred papers regularly but the desk tends to get piled up and the poster frame has become a catch-all for photos, thank you notes and the cheat-sheets I tape up there for phone interviews. This paint job is another good opportunity for me to get more organized. A clean space = a clear head.

The existing lighting, wall clock, desk accessories and curtain rod are brushed nickel, and last week I painted the convex mirror I already owned, from gold to matte silver. I'm going to freshen up the window treatment and ditch the curtains. They are two cotton shower curtains (!) with beige/white stripes that will no longer match the paint. I got my money's worth, amortized over 10 years...

 I dashed off this update while the ceiling and trim are drying. The completed project is posted under "The Cloffice Part Deux: Repainting Project."

Never completely "off the grid!"