the zen room

When we bought The Little Glass House ten years ago, we were excited that it had a home office. It turns out we never used it. The previous owners had two large built in desks that wrapped around the room with small halogen lights over them and a wall of shelves. For years it just became the place where junk accumulated…papers, magazines, extra home accessories, and furniture. I dubbed it the “junk room” and avoided it whenever possible.

The funny thing is, the room is off the second master bedroom (there are two small masters) and has the best view in the house! Fast forward to 2020 and the pandemic… I just couldn’t ignore this space any longer. My parents came to visit for a month, thinking we would be doing some projects at The Big Sur House. We got quite a bit accomplished there (future blog post) but then the Dolan Fire happened and we evacuated to Santa Barbara. It wasn’t part of the plan, but we made the most of it.

With my parents help, we tore out the desks, purged, and boxed up a rather large collection of cast iron dog doorstops. We removed a wall of discolored shelves and my contractor friend patched up the many large holes from the rooms past life…unwanted light fixtures, old electric radiator vents, and various others.

Now came the fun part! I had a cool live edge desk from Viva Terra (sadly no longer available) that I didn’t end up using at the Big Sur House. I love that its slender profile doesn’t block the view of the outdoors as I ended up placing it in front of the wall of windows. We already had the leather chaise lounge which is the only thing that remained from the old office. I found a weathered shelving unit at Habitat Home and Garden in Santa Barbara. With two drawers and a place for books and the printer, it solved the problem of some needed storage.

A trip to Pottery Barn to pick out a simple rug was fortuitous. While looking at rug samples, I noticed a small floor model sofa that would fit perfectly in the newly designed room. It was covered in performance oatmeal linen, on sale, and could be delivered the very next day! How lucky was that?

For other seating, I was in the possession of two wonderful lightweight chairs from Porch that had previously been in a corporate apartment in LA. When the apartment was downsized, they ended up in our garage. I threw the cushion covers in the washing machine and they look brand new. The small wood table between them is actually a left over piece from our Big Sur dining table. Use what you’ve got!

The pillows and other accessories were all shopped from the house (or the garage) including the metal bench. I purchased it when we first bought the house and thought it needed modern furniture). While it’s never been a favorite of mine, I now love it as a coffee table.

I’m so glad I decided to keep the small desk lights on the sofa wall. They look amazing at night and add a graphic punch to the white wall.

And yes, the elephant table (that has lived in many places within this house) has found a new home. It’s quite a mix of things, but I think they all work together to form a calm and comfortable room.

This went from a room I avoided to one that I now enjoy spending time in. I love writing at the desk gazing out at the yard and the mountains beyond. And the leather chaise is the perfect spot for a cat nap or a good read. From junk room to zen room, this may be my new favorite spot in The Little Glass House!