home – monadnock mama

admin / February 6, 2013

a project // cloffice for lillia

I haven’t blogged in ages, and I apologize. A couple of weeks ago I started my last undergraduate course, and I have been spending all of my free time reading for my independent study — Women in Culture & Society in Medieval Scandinavia.

I just wanted to share this amusing little anecdote. As I mentioned, I am working on turning our closet into an office for myself. But, of course, anything that mommy has, Lillia has to have, too. So, I made her a cloffice!

Her closet was easy to transform because it has just one shelf, and we already had the desk. Now she has somewhere to do her schoolwork and play WolfQuest in privacy (a.k.a. without her little brother).

Follow:

admin / January 24, 2013

a project // cloffice

I am planning to create a super-amazingly-awesome craft area for me and the kids in the basement but, at the speed that renovations happen around here, the kids will probably be in college before that happens. Enter: the cloffice.

If you’ve spent any time browsing blogs or Pinterest, you probably know what a cloffice is. But, for those of you who don’t, it’s basically a closet that has been transformed into an office area. There are many varieties of cloffices out there, and I’ve decided that I want/need one of my own.

Last year we installed two IKEA Botne wardrobes (weirdly enough, a HUGE amount of the traffic to my blog comes from people searching for info about the Botne). That freed up our regular closet, which has been used to store everything from sewing supplies, to homeschooling materials, to paper towels and the vacuum cleaner. Here it is in its current state:

Wouldn’t it make an excellent cloffice? I think so! All it needs is a little paint, some sturdy shelves, and a desk. I can’t wait to blog, work on homeschool plans, and do some serious research for my last(!) undergraduate course in my own little space.

Here are a few examples of really nice cloffices that I will be referring to for inspiration:

From Shoestring:

From IHeart Organizing:

And, from The Mustard Ceiling Blog:

Follow:

admin / December 28, 2012

settling in

As the remains of Christmas are starting to be tidied up and put away, it feels as if the time has come to hibernate. The snow is draped over our little corner of the world, and I am a mother bear settling down for a long winter’s nap. Life continues, perhaps even thrives, but it moves more slowly, more peacefully, more simply. I’m sending out my thank you cards, letting my little ones sleep late and nap when they please, and looking forward to some warm winter baking. How does winter feel to you right now?

Follow:

admin / December 11, 2012

what we’ve been up to lately

Follow:

admin / October 13, 2012

a project // the basement part 2

I last blogged about our basement almost a year ago. At the time, we were in the process of cleaning it up. It seemed an impossible task. But, it’s looking pretty good now, as the before & after photos (below) illustrate. The next step is priming the walls so that we can finally be rid of that hideous John Deere green. I’m hoping to start with the priming this week.

After that, we are going to curtain off the unsightly areas. We have decided not to construct real walls at this point, for a variety of reasons. After the walls are painted and the curtains are up, we can get to the fun stuff! I am really looking forward to creating a little office/craft area for myself (a.k.a. a place where I can hide from my children!). Between being home with my kids full-time and homeschooling the oldest, sometimes I feel like I work 24/7 with no breaks. My creative energy needs a place where it can be free, and I think this little area in the basement will do nicely for that.

Here are some photos I’m using as inspiration for my space: