A Room of One's Own

I have come to the conclusion that Virginia Woolf was right and every woman should have a room of one's own.  The man shed/cave or den has always been an accepted concept to get out of the way of 'er indoors' but a thought should be spared for women all over the world who do not consider that the kitchen fulfills this function.  

On the other side though I hate it when women inflict over-feminine bedrooms on their poor embarrassed partners who have to wade through a sea of fluffy pink just to get into bed.   Whatever sex you are wouldn't it would be wonderful to have a personal space where you do not have to embrace another person's needs or tastes? 

I am very lucky to live in a beautiful house but the room I use as my office, HQ for my Etsy business and general place for 'Nina' type trucs is a through room that leads to the staircase and the living room (Spike's domain with eating and watching TV being very much top of the agenda).  

My little office space in the corner of the room under the stairs

Being a very open and public space my office has several problems such as not being able to keep my stock to hand as not only would it look terrible but the cats have a horrible habit of getting into every box that's left lying around and either breaking things or covering them in hairs.  This means that my trucs have been distributed all around the ground floor of the house, in the barn and upstairs in the wardrobes of the spare bedrooms (not very convenient when people come to stay).  

Another issue I have come across since opening my Etsy shop is that I don't have a dedicated place to pack my orders.  I am therefore lugging the stock, packaging materials and paperwork into the kitchen from what feels like the four corners of the earth and using (and abusing) the poor old kitchen table that's becoming more and more scratched because I often use a craft knife to cut boxes down to size (must thank my glamorous box supplier, Karin, for keeping me stocked up).

However, for me, the most compelling reason to have my own special room is that I would love somewhere I can express my love of opulent period interiors and have a space that is really over the top without effecting the rest of the house.   

Fashion designer Iris Apfel's apartment in New York gives you an idea of the opulent yet comfortable space I would like to create in my room (although mine would have less expensive trucs in it and be much less tasteful - I mean to really go for it!).

Iris Apfel - A stylish lady that isn't afraid to do things her way

I am simply yearning to fill my room with Edwardiana, Victoriana, rich colours, oriental textiles and wallpaper (silk would be nice), gilded French clock garnitures (think 'After Eights') and perhaps an Art Nouveau dressing screen.  I have some beautiful silk curtains (they still make me wince when I think of how much I paid for the fabric) that would be perfect and I have always nursed a desire for a velvet or damask covered chaise longue complete with a matching tassled bolster cushion. 

Waiting to be auctioned off - a bit sad but with a bit of love a real beauty

The wonderful thing about the items I have described is that they couldn't be less fashionable at the moment, due to the current taste for minimalism and modern furnishing, so these unwanted trucs can be bought at a fraction of the price of what I consider to be their real value. 

I love the idea of stuffing my special room full of objets d'art and antiques but I am not brave enough to decorate the whole of my house in this way especially as Spike would probably run off, build a man cave in the workshop and take to living there (with the TV and a few snacks in tow of course!).

I am not sure whether my desire for these fussy objects bucks the trend or if a new interior design phase is on it's way and I'm a little ahead of time.  I'll have to not only wait to see if my hunch is right (I do hope so) but also wait with crossed fingers for a room that I can close the door on and truly call my own (how deliciously selfish!)