When we moved into this house in Florida over seven years ago, I knew I would be painting most of the rooms. The first was this office, where I spend eight hours a day when I’m not traveling for my clinical career. Originally this office had the color brown everywhere from the walls and even the ceiling! I’m a cheerful personality, and that is what this space needed to represent. I need pops of color and openness. It appeals to my artistic side and helps me be creative. Immediately I painted this space and what you see below is what I did within one month of moving into the house. This office is more me, colorful and bright.
What has adapted, besides moving furniture around, are the bookshelves; they no longer hold work notebooks and instruction manuals. Now the bookshelves hold my favorite fiction books, including my books!
I recently added a colorful rug that my dog, Finn, mostly uses for his nap times. Ever since Finn was a puppy, we go to my office every morning to work. It’s our routine, he’s my shadow and my writing colleague.
I’ve adapted this space to be more than my “work” office. It is also my “creative” office. My father bought me the contraption that sits on my desk; it allows me the flexibility to stand while working on my computer. This is so good for me because working on a computer all day is less than ideal versus being active. I brainstorm best when I’m walking around. In the evening hours, I will get into that lazy boy chair and kick up my feet. That lovely chair also gets used when my teenagers pop in and chat with me after school, which I cherish as they’ve gotten older.
Although I love my routine with Finn every day and my happy, colorful office, I sometimes need to getaway. After a long hard day of working, going back into this office is the last thing I want to do. When the weather is cooler, I love using our lanai and typing on my iPad. I like being mobile when I can in the evenings; for example, this post is from my living room couch with my iPad in my lap, as I watch the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team try for the Stanley Cup. My Write Place is wherever it needs to be. I think that’s an essential tip for other writers, routines are important, but so is flexibility.
Mira Monroe is an award-winning YA fantasy author, receiving the 2016 New Apple Fantasy Award for her debut novel Magick in The Unwanted Series.
Mira is a lover of all things fantasy and fairytale, especially the twisted ones. She loves to write strong female characters who don’t fall victim to circumstance but instead rise above. Mira prefers a world where a princess can save herself.
Originally from Tennessee and a nomad from various states and countries, Mira now calls home to sunny Florida with her family.
