Now that I am a full-time editor at DiabetesMine.com, I occasionally have people ask me where I work. Well, I am one of those lucky few who gets to work from home, day in and day out.

While I do love working from home, I haven’t really liked working in my particular apartment. Why? Because it’s boring. When we moved in, I was still unemployed, and that means there isn’t a lot of money coming in to spend on big purchases. Erik and I spent a ton just to buy a couch, a dining table, a TV stand, and my desk. Let alone any artwork or knick-knacks to make this place something other than a garage for all of our stuff!

It has been an agonizingly slow process for me, because I spend so many hours here. Looking around at all these bare walls was mind-numbing. On top of that, all the furniture we bought? Brown. The couch? Gray. Boring boring boring. There was hardly any color or prettyness to look at.

It was driving me mad. (Erik can testify to the amount of bitching I did).

Over the last month or so, we have finally been collecting and devoting some more resources to making our living room / home office a place I can actually stand being in for long stretches of time. It took a few iterations and some buyer’s remorse, but I think the place is finally starting to come together.

This is my desk, which we bought at Macy’s. The lamp is from IKEA, the ribbon board is from Target, and the artwork is from AI Friedman. The coaster is from the same collection we bought at Pier 1 Imports, and the little knick-knacks are my own.

The long wall in our apartment. The brown chair, from IKEA, is in the corner next to my desk. The comfy, microfiber couch is from Macy’s. The brown pillow is from Bed, Bath and Beyond, the red ones are from Target, and the other multicolored ones are from Pier 1 Imports. All three pieces of artwork are from HomeGoods. The ottoman is from Target, and we have a matching one that isn’t shown. The lamp and end table are also from HomeGoods.

This is a better view of the lamp and end table from HomeGoods. I absolutely love the detailing on it. It was the first non-brown piece of furniture we bought for the apartment! I was so excited.

This is a close up of the artwork above the IKEA chair. We didn’t notice that they came in two different frames until we got them home. One is dark brown, and the other one is a dark metal. We looked into reframing one of them, but the total cost would have been twice what they are worth! The possibility of returning one of them was considered, but by then I was pretty attached to both. We figured no one would notice or care, so we are leaving them the way they are.

Despite the fact I have been dying to get more color into the living room, I fell in love with this carpet. Amazingly, it’s actually really soft, which most cheap carpets aren’t. We bought this at HomeGoods, too. It might be my favorite thing in the entire apartment, actually.

The overall color scheme for the living area is a mix of reds and purples, touches of oranges and blues, and dark wood for the furniture. Now that I finally know what I’m doing, it’s so much easier to find things! And like Nate Berkus says, it’s not so much about having things match, but loving what you have.

It’s so nice to actually love to work where you live!