The fine folks at Houzz recently included our home office in their Readers Choice: Top 20 Home Offices of 2011. Neato! I have to be honest though that I'm surprised the office is the room that resonates with so many people. Its a nice room, but our tastes have changed since we redecorated it. Its a little more modern and bold, a little more hard-edged than what we go for these days.

So we're gonna shake things up.

That's right, we're turning the home office into Chloe's big girl bedroom! But wait, doesn't Chloe already have a bedroom? Yes, well we have plans for that as well.



Our house is a 3-bedroom house, but we've decorated it as a 2-bedroom plus home office. We're bringing back that 3rd bedroom. Since I've been working from home, I've come to realize that I don't need a big office to work in. I'm usually on my laptop at the dining table or sitting on the sofa. I'd be fine with just a little sliver of a desk. So where is that new & improved (& tinier) home office going to be?

Yup. The basement plans are back on. We had a few hiccups, like a fallout with our contractor, then a shift in priorities and redecorating the living room first, and then my change in work situation. But when all was said and done, we realized that doing the basement is not only a necessity (i.e. I need a home for all Chloe's toys!), but its a sound investment. We live in a family-friendly neighbourhood and the majority of houses here have nice, newly finished basements. Should we choose to sell anytime soon (and no, that's not in the plans), we would recoup the majority of our costs.

So that's the plans. We could have kept Chloe where she is, but that would mean putting a twin or daybed in the small old office. Since most of our overnight guests have been a couple of adults, or adults with children, that won't work. To recap: Chloe gets a small room more suited to her scale, we keep a guest bedroom with a double bed, and we get a new basement with a craft room, laundry room, storage room, and bathroom. Yippee! More renos, more posts, more drywall dust coming your way!