Home Office Ideas: Staples Makeover Contest

For those who don't know, Philip has been working out of our home for 2 months now! It wasn't a planned transition, but it's going great so far! Staples is currently running a contest (check out details here), and it seemed to fit with this transition in our life and figuring out how to create a beautiful and functional workspace for his new business to grow. 

I started out with the basics: a desk & chair. Without those the office would be a little less than functional for us. I loved the storage this desk has to offer, while still maintaining a sleek look. The chair looks comfortable, and doesn't have torn apart arm rests like our current chair does (why does this happen?!?). 

After filling in those basic essentials. I got to the fun stuff. I'm crazy into this bird print. Who knew Staples had decor options? I also happened across the fact that they have sewing machines, outdoor stuff, all kinds of non-office goods. Anyway, this bird art floats my boat and would look happy on an office wall. Or any wall for that matter :). For function and prettiness I also decided to include these cork boards, feminine and functional.

To warm the feet, Philip & I can battle between these 2 rugs...

I've been thinking of a new filing system for us, right now we have a beige hand-me-down filing cabinet, but this could work out really nice for doing a lot of paperwork in our second office - the living room. Just a quick jaunt down the hall and we'd be ready to go with a mobile filing system. I also like the baskets underneath for holding file folders and papers that are waiting to be filed. 

Last but certainly not least, one of our "needs" right now (if you can call it a need) is that Philip is working a lot in evenings and weekends, and his work is always on the computer. If I had an iPad I could easily do some of my computer work in the living room without disturbing him. This is definitely on our to buy list next time we have some extra cash waiting to be spent - if that ever happens!

This is how I would spend my winnings if we get the prize!

Meet Sampson

We had a new home owning experience this weekend. It involved a squirrel. Inside the house.

I hope it never happens again. At first it was funny, but until we figure out how he got in I'm sleeping with one eye open...

We've officially started closing our bedroom door constantly just in case (with clothes at the bottom so he can't get in the gap), I disinfected everything he touched, and I'm super paranoid at the slightest noise.

It happened on Saturday. Philip was exercising and I was in the living room, I was hearing some weird sounds by the wall and so I called Philip to see if I was imagining it. We didn't see anything that could explain it so assumed maybe there was a neighbour outside doing something by our house. About half an hour later, I spotted the bushy tail coming out from behind our TV. I freaked out, as you might expect. Philip was just getting out of the shower at this point, so he told me to go in the spare room and close the door, he went to put on some clothes and then we were on the hunt. 

At this point, we scared him off and couldn't find him for the life of us. We were hunting the house with a laundry basket and broom handle in tow to get him out from behind stuff and then trap him. It was a genius plan. Finally some friends came over, and within about 3 minutes he'd been spotted behind the oven. Just a tiny hint of his tail was showing. He was a cute little guy, but still not a welcome addition in our house. We got him out and he proceeded to leap from the window sill to the kitchen table (which has now been thoroughly lysol'd) to my foot (followed by screaming) and down the hall. All the doors were closed so he quickly returned to the kitchen after being cornered there. The laundry basket prison was thrown down and he was captured. After shimmying the basket onto a board, he was set free outside. I hope never to see him again. 

We can't find anywhere outside where he could have really gotten in, but we were in and out of the house a fair bit that day so maybe he just crept in when we weren't looking. We still have to do a bit more thorough search to be certain, but it seems to be a fluke incident since this will be our 3rd summer here and we've never had any unwelcome pests before. 

Wish us luck & squirrel free happiness this week! We pulled the trigger on a kitchen reno this weekend, purchasing flooring for our whole main floor (that's going to be quite the DIY project that may require an on-site marriage counselor) and a contractor to deal with structural integrity when removing our walls. Our house could be looking a lot different by the end of summer!