Desk Tour
Step in to my office...
Before we moved into our house, our previous flat was a one bed, which meant our ‘study’ was in the lounge. Our desks were at either end of the room and though it worked in the space we had, it meant any clutter or work would be on show to visitors. We’ve been in our ‘new’ house for a year and 9 months now and I can’t really imagine how we managed before! The room is full to the brim with bookcases, printers, screens and all the other stuff that comes with a home office. I’m not quite sure where we placed it all in the flat or whether I’ve slowly just been buying more and more things ever since we moved!
I’ve been meaning to do a post on my desk space for a while now but actually decided to change things round a few months back. When we moved we brought everything with us from where we lived as students – so they didn’t match. I’d never been a fan of Graham’s desk (it was big, dark and industrial looking) whereas I had a patterned glass top with the art easel legs. This worked great for me and meant I had a big space to work on, though I found myself cluttering it up far too often. So, we decided to ditch these desks and go for matching ones – they suit the space a lot better and really makes the room feel more finished and complete. We bought two ‘Linnmon’s from IKEA – they are corner desks and the curved edges mean our desk chairs (‘Malkom’s, also from IKEA) tuck in neatly and shows a lot more floor space in the office than it did before.
The main reason for updating our desks was for Graham’s need to have three monitors, and my need to just have more space! The idea with my new desk it that I have my monitors and computer bits on the left, and space for drawing on the right. I built a little ‘Lack’ shelf and have that on the top to maximise space and store my countless pots of paintbrushes, pens and pencils. The white dotty cup is from Tiger, the large pencil and pens holders are either cutlery holders or plant pots from IKEA and the little pink cup with a face on is by House of Rym. The white drawer tidy is from TK Maxx though I’ve not totally utilised this in a way I’m happy with yet. Under the shelf is my turquoise basket that holds my punches and all my glues (glue sticks, double-sided tape and tape runners), and the turquoise dotty boxes (from IKEA) hold my large stamps and die-cuts. To the right is my tape dispenser, pencil sharpener and a couple of bowls from Tiger that holds lots of little odds and ends. I've also got my little memo holders that I shared a DIY on last year. On the wall above my monitors is a white frame filled with a collage of photos that my sister made me for Christmas, and the wall above the shelf has a print from Lizzy Stewart and OhNoRachio. The floral cup on my desk is a recent purchase from Matalan and the wire basket full of my washi is from TK Maxx. I've also got my glass square cutting mat in front of my keyboard where I do my scrapbooking. Underneath my desk is a little wooden shelf unit (originally a shoe tidy from Argos) that holds my larger paper pads, scrapbook wallets and scrapbook album. I've also got a computer tower, printer, graphics tablet and scanner hiding under there!
To the right are some mustard-coloured boxes that are also from IKEA, and a jam-packed Billy bookcase next to that. The top shelf holds some decorative boxes which are full of paper scraps, letter stickers and 6x6 paper pads, along with other bits like a few odd notebooks and list pads. Underneath are all our creative books (my reading books live somewhere else). This is pretty full too, with sketchbooks and drawing pads, sewing books, art and design books and portfolio bits crammed on here to the brim. I keep trying to organize this but I can never find anything I want to part with! The top of the bookcase has another little drawer set which is from Homesense and holds my small scrapbooking bits – like ink pads, small paper scraps, wood veneer, sequins and stamps. There's another photo frame on there and a vase with some fake flowers, plus a little cupcake I crocheted years ago!
I’m toying with the idea of adding a larger shelving unit to the desk instead of the single shelf – I think it will definitely help me organise my bits and add space but I’m worried it will look too busy and ‘close in’ the work area. Let me know what you think of my workspace, and if you’ve done your own little desk tour then I’d love to see!
