This is the house where I used to work. Too bad I didn't take any photos inside, but I think you'll be able to imagine the scene if I say we had three houses worth of furniture, equipment, books, office supplies and people in that one tiny house. We also had road dust, leaking pipes, poorly fitted windows, road noise that sounded as if the vehicles were going to drive through the front room (my office) at any moment. There were good noises, though - children from a near-by preschool program used to parade on the sidewalk in front of the office on their way to the park a few doors down. Their voices made me think of chirping birds, with laughter. I loved having them go by. If I weren't busy, I'd go to the front door and wave to them.
However, we needed to move, having long ago outgrown the space, and the expenses for repairs kept rising.
One of our Board members is a Vice-President at a local bank. When we started our search for a new place, he remembered that his bank owned an adjacent, attached building that had been sitting empty for more than ten years. Two years ago, the Board asked him to investigate our being allowed to use it, for as modest a fee as possible, of course, since we're a poor non-profit. After much negotiation and back-and-forth with the bank's corporate office in New York, all parties agreed and we had our lease. Above is our front façade.
We began packing up the old office in June, readying for a mid-July move. All that while we still conducted regular business, which was more stressful than any of us imagined it might be. We had to remodel the inside from front to back, mostly cosmetic work, to change it from a dark, dreary cave-like décor to something that would reflect the available light in all the rooms. (The windows are few, narrow and coated with some sort of sun screen material. Dark, dark, dark.)
This messy room (still unpacking and putting away - remember the three-rooms-worth of stuff?) is my new office. I was permitted to choose the wall color, design my new built-in desk area and choose the materials and new equipment. That wall where the clock is (as were all walls) used to be a dark brown. The new paint color is a light yellow-green that appears different depending upon how the light hits it. I wanted something light and cheery and had selected several shades for the Board to review and select. Fortunately, they picked the one I wanted most - called Hemingway. Shortly after moving in, the air-conditioning unit for my office died, hence the small fan. The bank is considering what to do. I might have A/C in December. The next two images are of my desktop - also messy and cluttered. Not for long, though. I'm going in this afternoon and doing some clean-up.
Our new space also houses our library, a much needed expansion. Our librarian has been asking for more space for years, but several people on the Board, and one weighty committee, have given the library short-shrift in the ten years I've been here. Our librarian has worked hard, under trying conditions, to organize and properly archive our burgeoning collection of documents and books with the smallest budget allotment ever. He's done a great job, and now has the space - and budget! - he needs to do it right.
That's it, folks.
If When I have everything put away, if things look any better, I'll post an update. (I know - hard for you to get excited over office space, right?)
Anyway, thanks for stopping by today. See you later!
(Well, what else would I have in my office for decoration?)
