😉

Other than the kitchen, this is the room where I spend most of my time. I have big dreams for this space but it’s going to cost me a pretty penny. While I’m saving up the money (this could take a while!), I’ve been making small improvements to fix the little irritations.

Ok, so I know some of you might be thinking “What’s wrong with the space to begin with? It looks great!”. Yes, my friends. I agree. I’ve made this space work pretty hard and it was a miracle that my desk from the Arkansas house happened to fit perfectly right here in this corner…

I’ve tweaked the space and shelving a few times while living here over the last year. However, while the big desk and shelving haven’t been moved, the issue I struggle with is the color of the desk / shelving. I want a bright, uplifting space to work in and think a light-colored desk will completely transform the space. The floors are on the darker side. The desk and chairs are black. And my 2 wall shelves on the wall opposite the desk are dark too…

Until I’m able to pay for create the custom built-in office of my dreams, I tweaked the office yet again today by brightening my desktop with gift wrap under the plexiglass. It was an easy update and I’m super thrilled with the outcome!

You can see here how the top of the desk is dark…

Oh, and you can also see the handprints of 3 little people that “work” upstairs with me…

I almost hated cleaning this desktop during the project. Yes, it’s germy, but I sorta love seeing these prints on the desk. On my walls? No. Desk? Kinda cute because it’s a hidden away space that visitors don’t walk through…

Back to the project though.

You can see above how dark the desktop is. Sometimes when I’m photographing something for the blog, I use my desktop. So not only would brightening the desk lighten the overall mood in here for me while I work, but it would help with my backdrops for items I’m snapping pics of.

Today I ended up with 15 free minutes and walked right past a Paper Source store in our area. And noooooow I know the reason I resisted walking through their doors before. I knew I would fall in love. I knew they would have awesome papers and crafting items I’d want to buy. And I knew their prices would be ridiculously high.

I was correct. In all of the above.

But, I treated myself today buying just 6 sheets of their fancy paper…

There were too many choices and it was hard to choose one design. But I reminded myself, the beauty in this solution is that it isn’t a permanent detail. I can change the paper anytime I wish! So I grabbed a paper that made me feel happy…

It’s a cream colored background with a beautiful shiny gold design…quatrefoil? Is this the fancy word for this design?…

I removed the plexiglass pieces, secured the gift wrap with command adhesive (some areas needed trimming or adding – especially the corner unit of the desk where my computer sits), cleaned the glass and added it back on top. Easy…

Done!…

The gift wrap brightened my desktop…

While also adding something pretty…

Love this design!

It’s made me happy today to look down as I work on the computer. Each time I look at the paper I smile…

It also helped the little details on top of the desk pop a bit more. Like this cute hand-painted / decorated rock my daughter made for me. I use it as a paper-weight…

My frames look pretty on top of the desk and even my little office supplies look a bit nicer!

If you have the ability to add gift wrap to your desktop, do this! It’s an inexpensive and easy way to brighten your desktop…and will make you happy! What’s better than being happy while you work?

Have a great day!