Posts in Personal
Before and Now: Office

One of my favorite things to browse through on Pinterest and Instagram is home offices - simple, clean, crisp, and organized. Make them black and white and I will drool all day long!! Office envy is a real thing, ya'll. 

In the 7+ plus years I've been running my business, I've never had a dedicated home office. I'd set up my computer in the living room of our apartment, in the guest bedroom of our duplex, at the table in our kitchen, and anywhere else we had extra space. And you know what? It worked. I've never been one to need lots of storage space; in fact, I LOVE living a minimal and simple lifestyle, and that includes my office space! But when we bought our first house a few years ago, one of the requirements for us was to have an extra room that could double as my office.... or JUST be my office. 

Well, we found a house with 3 bedrooms! This is what the smallest bedroom looked like when we bought it, and we immediately made plans to make it my very own and very first home office. 

Yay peach walls! (not. ew.)

Since my business colors are black and white, I made a bold move and painted one wall black (chalkboard paint!), and the rest light grey. I love clean, white, modern furniture, so basically... Ikea is my happy place. 

Even a monochromatic office needs pops of color! Fake plants make me feel confident and BB-8 is a little droid I won for attending a tech meeting with my husband! Pretty fitting for today being May the 4th, right? 

Writing on the wall done by my talented friend Jessica! Because my handwriting looks terrible. True story. 

Jess also gifted us a set of these Minnesotan coasters not long after we were married, so I keep one in my office to remember my homegrown roots! 

I also keep a high school photo of my hubby hiding in a plant because it reminds me what he looked like when I first met him. (He legitimately looks like a different person!) He's still my favorite. 

Yay clean desks!! 

Here's how lazy I am. Those curtains (Ikea!) are too long and drags on the ground, so I simply draped them over the rods in the most carefree way. And I'm not even sorry.... :) 

Washi tape is my best friend. I use it in every room of the house and it allows me to hang free printed designs from Pinterest without ruining my paint or tearing my decor! I got this tape set from (can you guess?) Ikea! All prints are from Pinterest - for free! 

Somehow having shelves and shelves of books makes me feel smart and accomplished. Someday I'd love to own a whole room of bookshelves packed to overflowing!! 

Look how light and pretty it is!! 

My new iMac is so happy here... :) 

2016 Self Portraits | Kansas City Lifestyle Family Photographer

Each year for our anniversary I try to set up my camera and take a self portrait of me and my favorite Indian for our never-ending photo frame. Sometimes we're on the ball and get our photo done within a few weeks of our anniversary, and other times it doesn't happen for six months. This year, as a tribute to our growing family (not pregnant!), we decided to add in our adorable little pup - #PixelOurBeagle - because she's cute and we like her (enough to have her own hashtag).

It usually takes many attempts to get it right.... especially now that we have a puppy in the mix. But I always love the result: me and my husband and my pup and our very own home and our journey encased in a little 8x10 frame. 

Taking self portraits always makes me extra reflective, and so today I'm reflecting on how incredibly thankful I am to be taking a journey with this man, how thrilled I am to have a home that I can open to those in need, and how much I love having a snuggly puppy who teaches me how immeasurably impatient I am (and how I'm SO not ready for kids). 

Have a lovely Wednesday!