Saturday, August 08, 2020

Writing House

(This may be a temporary post because of the pictures, but I'm so happy that you want to hear about my little writing house.)

The New York Times recently posted an article about backyard offices, and for once I may be ahead of the curve.

You see, for decades I had talked about wanting a writing house. I looked at all the pictures online and dreamed about it, as longtime readers know. 


Finally, when we were out from under many years of paying off student loans, Spouse said, "If you want this, we should do it," so we saved up and got it built. It's a permanent Christmas/birthday/anniversary present and better than any other present could be.

I'm not Michael Pollan with acreage in the woods somewhere, so it's in the back yard. 

We decided on 12 x 16, the largest we could have without a permit in our area. We hired someone to build it, so it has frame construction, insulation, and tall ceilings. 

It's a functional 4-season space, with A/C, heat, and wifi. The lights inside are bright enough to illuminate the whole space, and it's quiet.  It's not an art studio filled with decorative elements like in the NYT piece and elsewhere online. (I've made quite a study of these little structures, clearly.) 

 It's meant for work, with 4 bookcases, a desk and desk chair, and two chairs for sitting, including the rocking chair.

Inside, I can sit at the desk and write, or pace back and forth, or read in the rocking chair. I can and do stay up late without bothering anybody, when the writing is going well, which is often late into the night rather than in the morning. 

What else to say about it? Having this space makes me happy every single day, no matter what else is going on. 

I'm clearly besotted with this little house, and although I have looked at a lot of them online, this one suits me right down to the ground. 

What would you have or want in your writing house?

 

 


8 comments:

gwinne said...

OMG I love your house and I want more pictures of the interior!

My home office (a room on the first floor) is one of the major reasons I bought the house I did. It needs updating (wood paneling, though it's growing on me) but it's a good size and has a large built-in bookcase (floor to ceiling, about 5 feet in width). It would be great if not for a pandemic and a door that doesn't always successfully close. I'm thinking about buying a standing desk to put in front of the window that faces the front yard (my desk isn't there now because that would involve electrical work)

Thanks for this post.

Dame Eleanor Hull said...

I would definitely want heat, a/c, and good insulation, so I could use the writing house year-round. Gazebos and airy structures look lovely, and would be fine in some areas, but not usable for more than a few months here. At least one big window, depending on the views; if I didn't have a good view, I'd plant an interesting tree and flowers. Bookshelves, of course. Some mementos; one or two pieces of art, if I could salvage the wall space from books.

I'm very happy with my current study. It's smaller than the last one, but feels cozy. Walls are lined with books, and the window looks out into a very nice tree, with the lawn behind it. I have one desk facing the window, not under it but "floating" in the middle of the room, and a smaller shelf-desk among the bookshelves, so that I can get the big monitor at a good height. This is not the optimum use of shelving w/r/t books, but is probably more ergonomically sound than trying to get the desktop computer set up at the floating desk. ATM I'm using my laptop at the desk that has the view, mainly b/c I haven't yet unpacked the desktop, but if I need a view, that will remain an option. Walls are a dull green, not what I would have picked but I wasn't up for painting, and with all the shelves up you don't see much of the paint anyway. I'll probably put some wrapping paper or something behind the monitor, one of the few spaces where the walls are visible. The green does extend the garden "feel," so it's okay. Colors I considered (mentally; didn't even get as far as collecting paint chips) were pale turquoise, lavender, sunny yellow, or just white, to get more light in. But I decided that (a) I'm lazy and (b) I want to see what the room feels like in all seasons before I paint.

Dame Eleanor Hull said...

And should have said: thank you for this post, and pictures! Lovely writing house.

xykademiqz said...

Your writing house is gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU for the description and pictures. If not too invasive I join others in saying please more pictures.
Your really gave me an emotional boost that I needed with this writing house.
THANK YOU AGAIN.

Z said...

That's fantastic. I want one too. I want it to have a bathroom, though, with a no-entry shower and a sauna. Can I afford it?

OMDG said...

Yeah this is amazing. Strong work! Does it have a toilet?

undine said...

Thanks so much, everybody!
Gwinne, a standing desk would be fantastic; I use the sort of breakfast-in-bed desk thing as a standing desk for now.
Dame Eleanor--the tree as a view sounds just right. As you say, you can always paint later, and green is garden-ish.
xykademiqz--thank you!
And thank you, Anonymous, for stopping by.
Z--I thought about a bathroom, but that would mean plumbing & pulling a permit & a larger than 16 x 12 space. That's tempting, though.