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Until I hung a curtain in the doorway behind me, the number one question I've gotten on Zoom calls during this corona-quarantine has been, "Christi, are you in a closet?" My home office has been in the closet of our guest bedroom since I started seminary "full time" in 2014. I needed the ability to close a door and quiet household noise. Since we have relatively frequent overnight guests, I couldn't convert our guest bedroom entirely to an office. So I borrowed the closet. When the kiddos swapped rooms back in 2017, the guest bedroom moved into what had been Cassie's room and I got an upgrade to a walk in cloffice that I painted to match the bedroom. Walk in is a generous description--in reality there is just enough floor space for my desk and a chair.

It is an exceptionally efficient space because I've had to maximize every last inch of it. A hanging double shelf from Home Depot added space for hymnals and books used regularly in worship prep. A set of commentaries live on the floor with my work bags resting of top of them. IKEA closet organizers (meant for sweaters) hold files, paperwork, and even a home communion set! More books for work and binders for volunteer activities live on the shelves above. I truly only have room for the stuff that I need and use regularly or just love looking at. It may have started as a closet, but now the space brings a smile to my face every time I enter it.

I think in many ways, this space reflects the one who inhabits it: tiny, efficient, and gets the job done! Some day, I imagine that I'll have a whole room as my office--I can see it in my head, a space with real bookshelves, and a window and maybe even soft and inviting chairs for visitors. I pin ideas for this someday office on Pintrest. But I suspect that when that dream office comes to fruition, I will miss the efficiency of this cozy space and the way it reminds me that something beautiful can happen when we make the effort to claim space for ourselves. Whether that space is in our homes, or outside in the world--claim your space and make it your own.

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