Half of this room is a home office where I work remotely Monday through Friday. The other half is a “candle studio” where I spend my weekends making the candles you see all over this blog. I’ve been slowly decorating this room over the three years we’ve lived in this house and I still have a long to do list, but I’m finally ready to share some of my progress.
Before & After
This is what the room looked like when my husband and I moved in a few years ago. We are the first people to live in this house after a complete re-model so we got to avoid having to paint over someone else’s color selections. We truly had a blank slate.
I never would have guessed that I’d paint a room pink, but after browsing through what felt like every single paint sample in the world, I finally settled on a light pink because I knew that I would move my blue couch into this room and I liked the light pink/navy blue combination.
The blue couch was the first real “big girl” purchase I made after graduating from college and I have been hauling it around ever since. It’s lived in 6 different apartments with me. I briefly considered re-homing it so that I wouldn’t have to move it from Austin back to Houston several years ago, but I couldn’t part with it. It doesn’t fit in our living room downstairs so it lives up here.
I put several samples on the wall and polled a few of my family members to see which one they liked best. My niece and my mom both voted for the shade closest to hot pink, but ultimately I went with a light peach-y pink shade called Heirloom by Benjamin Moore.
Getting Inspired by Dopamine Decor
I needed this to be a bright, cozy, inviting space so that I’d want to spend a lot of time in here. Between the 40 hours of work each week and the hours long candle making sessions on the weekend, I spend more time in this room than any other room in the house.
A TikTok rabbit hole led me to the “dopamine decor” trend awhile back. It’s a decor style with a heavy emphasis on vibrant colors and patterns. Some of these rooms are literally exploding with color and it feels impossible not to be happy just staring at all of it. This is the antithesis to the beige-everything trend and I’m here for it.
That said, I don’t think my office has enough color yet. I feel like I’m off to a good start with the pink walls, blue couch, mustard yellow curtains, and plenty of greenery, but I’d like to add more color through a rug, more wall decor, and several more plants. I’d also like to add a few more patterns and textures through pillows and other small accents.
My Candlemaking Setup
I make my candles on a big wooden IKEA table. I chose to place it in front of this particular window so that I can stare at my neighbor’s pink crepe myrtle while I work. I used to make candles in my kitchen, but quickly realized that I wanted a dedicated space for it. All you really need for a candle making setup is a heat source (in my case – a double burner that plugs into the wall) and some space to pour the candles. I spill a lot of wax while I’m pouring so I put down silicone baking mats on the table to make clean up easier.
There’s a lot of stuff that goes into candle making – various tools, ingredients, and gadgets. My candle supplies live in drawers and bins along the wall. These containers house my fragrance oils, dyes, wicks, wick stickers, melting pitchers, digital scale, etc. If you are curious about all of the items needed to start candle making, you can read more about that right here.
Future Plans
I have a lot more layering to do – adding art to the walls, a rug or two to the floors, pillows for the couch, and lots more plants. There is also another half of this room that is not pictured here – it has the desk for my day job and a couple of closets that are stuffed with craft supplies. I desperately need to organize those closets and de-clutter my work desk before I share that half of the room. Stay tuned!
