The Om Home: My Calm + Creative Home Office
This is it, folks! My very first dedicated home office tour, comin’ atcha from inside our Austin, TX abode! I’ve been self-employed since January 2017, and since then my work space has had quite the evolution. My work-from-home life began in a dark bedroom corner of an old Brooklyn walk-up (I WISH I HAD PICTURES…), and while each year keeps getting better, my desk has always been located within a shared living space like a bedroom or living room. This is the first time I’ve ever had an entire room dedicated to solely my office. I can’t even express how incredible it feels to finally create a space where I can really harness my focus and let my creativity thrive.
You can peep the full video tour + intention behind the space below or you can keep on reading for a bit of the emotional backstory on what this home office means to me and how it represents a milestone in my journey as an entrepreneur.
Take the Tour ~
Pssst… make sure you’re caught up and have seen our master bedroom, as well as our kitchen and living room reveal! We go through how we budgeted to furnish our home, along with our design process with Decorist (@decoristofficial). Remember, Om & The City readers get 30% off a Decorist room makeover with the code: 'JULES30'.
Shop all Home Office products below:
How Dreams Take Sacrifice + Where I’m Headed Next
While having my own office is certainly a dream come true, it didn’t come easy nor did it happen overnight. We often see photos of someone’s current life on Instagram and not understand the full context of what it took to get to that point. I wish I had more photos documented of the early days + the journey I’ve been on since I published my first blog post December 31, 2013, but sadly I don’t.
Buying our first house + designing it is truly a product of all the years both Andrew and I chose hustle over play. What’s not documented are the countless nights spent writing and researching until 2am, the sacrificed evenings and weekends, the money invested, the feelings of overwhelm, fear and self-doubt, and the inevitable growing list of things I missed out on, because I put my career first.
Do I regret any of it? No, not a chance. Growing my business from side-hustle to what it is now has been the absolute best, brightest, and fullest years of my life. It’s also been the most challenging years of my life. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Then, why am I telling you all this? Because, I think transparency, backstory, and context is vital in a world where comparison is inevitable, and everyone seems to have their sh*t together.
I want you to know, it wasn’t just ‘poof, here I am’. And I most certainly don’t always have my sh*t together. It took experiencing utter burnout and anxiety while living in NYC to take a step back and reevaluate my priorities. I call this the beginning of my Healthy Hustle era. It’s when I started to simplify my life, and I think you’ve seen that shift in the way I approach my content these days. But, simplifying is an imperfect and ongoing practice that ebbs and flows.
I’m entering a new season, where I want to live my life more than I want to document it. I’m even more purposeful about when I show up and why. I want to explore my curiosities I pushed to the backlog. I want to sing, volunteer my time, get married!, hang out with friends, travel just because, and all the while, I want to continue to bring value, inspiration, and joy to your screens, inboxes, and social feeds.
In order to do so, I need focus, boundaries, and a safe space for my creativity to flourish. HENCE, MY HOME OFFICE.
This entire space is truly a dream, and it’s a place that I’m excited to wake up and work from everyday. When 3pm hits, my disco ball planter is activated by the sun and it makes the entire room sparkle. It’s truly magical. It gives me the extra oomph of energy I need to finish out my work day. And I just love being in here… surrounded by plants that purify the air and uplift my mood, the big windows with lots of natural light pouring in, the open space to be able to meditate or roll out my mat whenever it’s calling me.
^Peep the renderings from designer Erika Dale from Decorist (@decoristofficial).
This office, and our entire house is a true blessing, and it marks the beginning of new season of our lives. So, with that said, I’m excited to continue exploring my curiosities, creating with purpose, and being in alignment with what lights me up. Thank you all so much for touring my home office!
If you liked this post, be sure to check out our other room reveals:
The Om Home: Our Modern + Minimal Master Bedroom
The Om Home: Tour Our New Kitchen + Living Room
And big thanks to...
Decorist and My City Plants for gifting your products/services to make our dream home a reality! Don't forget you get 30% off of a Decorist room makeover with 'JULES30'.
