CJ Carmichael - The Home Office of My Dreams

Are you addicted to home improvement projects? I am. My kids claim there isn’t a room in our house that hasn’t been changed since they were little. Until this year they were wrong—my office was the one room in our house that hadn’t been touched (other than with paint.)

When we moved into our house about eighteen years ago I considered myself lucky that I had an office—my own separate room with a door and a window—where I could write. I didn’t have to write on the kitchen table or lock myself in the bathroom to get a little privacy. No, I was fortunate enough to have my own space and so I didn’t fuss too much about the sticky drawers, the poor lighting, the lack of storage. Over the years I added more and more stuff into my space, all the time dreaming of one day designing my perfect office.

Year after year I sat in this place and wrote books. In fact, about 32 of them. During this time we renovated almost every other room in our house. We redid the kitchen and bathrooms. Updated the basement. Replaced carpet with hardwood.

Finally this year I decided it was time to tackle the office. I made a list of what I wanted: more storage, better lighting, a huge bulletin board so I could map out my stories and put up inspirational pictures. I wanted a pretty, feminine space. A comfy chair and footstool for reading and editing.

I enlisted some help. Rose-ann from Normandeau Interiors consulted on the design and the cabinetry was designed and constructed by Sean at Athena Industries in Calgary.

The end result was this: Fabulous new desk, bookshelves, and file storeage—and check out the glitzy new light fixture:

My new story board takes up one entire wall and gives me lots of space for planning my stories and putting up inspirational photos.

And my pretty new chair is a great, comfy spot for reading, relaxing and enjoying my lovely new office!

Thanks to Rose-Ann and Sean for helping me achieve the office of my dream!

And thanks to my guy Mike for putting up with all the chaos we went through to get here. ;)

Which room in your house would you most like to renovate? Tell me about your renovation dreams and I’ll select one random winner to receive a copy of Cathy McDavid’s Harlequin American: Aidan: Rodeo Cowboy.

The year I worked with Cathy and 4 other super talented authors to create the 6 book Harts of the Rodeo series. You can see an amazing book trailer introducing the series here: http://bit.ly/NwmmRx

My book, Colton: Rodeo Cowboy (written in my ‘old’ office) will be available on August 7.

CJ Carmichael

www.cjcarmichael.com