My home office

Recently, I created a home office for myself in the Cozy Room. The Cozy Room is the former dining room in our home, a room entirely too small for our dining room furniture. Originally, this room had one window on the north wall that looked out onto a large back screened-in porch that ran the entire length of the house. Needless to say, there wasn't much of a view or much light, either. When we decided to use the screened in porch for a formal dining room and an enlarged kitchen, we lost the window, leaving an interior room without any windows. Since the house already had a study and a family room, Bill came up with the name "Cozy Room."

My mom used to call our furniture style "Early Reed." The Cozy Room is a collection of Early Reed and Late Sam's Club and, well, portraits of dead people. Above the desk below is a portrait of my paternal grandfather, the doctor. The wedding picture on the right is of Bill's maternal grandparents who emigrated from Italy and settled in New Jersey. The chair is Eastlake. Bill bought the rug in Syria although it's a Persian rug from Naim, Iran. He had a little difficulty getting it through Customs but was insistent on it being a Syrian rug and finally wore down the Customs official with his stubborness. I guess we own contraband.






Below is a shot taken from the kitchen looking toward the living room. That old family portrait on the wall is that of Uncle Jack and his family. Uncle Jack was married to my great aunt. Apparently, he was quite a pianist and even owned a concert Steinway. Sadly, when he moved into the home with his bride, Aunt Mamie, the piano didn't fit, so he bought the piano you see in the living room. When Uncle Jack's father died, he willed Uncle Jack's Steinway to Uncle Jack's sister, who, by the way, didn't play the piano. Well, for that matter, I don't play, either. Still, it's kind of a poignant story.



Here's a view from the living room door towards the kitchen. There's little Daisy peaking around the door. Incidentally, she's over 17 years old! On the top shelf of the bookcase is my hard hat. Haven't had much use for it during this recession except during the ice storm; it protected me from the icicles once the sun came out!



Not everybody hanging on the wall is dead! There's my portrait painted when I was four years old. I still remember the photo shoot for that portrait. I was given something like a paperclip to hold in a very unnatural position. Maybe the artist didn't like to paint hands!



So that's my office--a windowless garden, but at least a cozy one!