Little Known Fact About the Author

When I was young, my parents used to either subscribe or frequently purchase home and garden magazines. There were always gorgeous pictures of flowers, dream houses, and floor plans or garden plotting of these places. It was the floor plans/plots that always captured my attention the most.

I recall sitting on the floor, paper and pencil in hand, meticulously designing my dream house's floor plans. No, none of it was to scale; I didn't care about that. All I cared about was making sure that it was obvious that there was a window seat in the master bedroom, a deck out back, and a three season porch (and, depending on my mood, multiple fire places, a balcony, and a sunken family room).

This "hobby" progressed into decorating each room in my dream home. I'd pour through catalogs, picking out furniture and decor in my mind. I'd be snobbish about it too--I knew what I liked and didn't like (dark woods for bookshelves and dining rooms, nothing flowery for curtains or rugs or bedding, stainless steel and black for the kitchen). Clean lines were good; ugly shaped chairs, not good. Color, good, but not over the top. Oh, yes, I knew what I liked. And I liked imagining the possibilities. I still do - I have way more fun walking around IKEA coming up with ideas than actually shopping there.

I never would have imagined that this quirk (obsession? compulsion? oddity?) would seep into my work environment...

And then I received this catalog in the mail...

I have now redone every office, every space, at work in my mind.

Starting with my office, of course.