So far this weekend has been mostly composed of starting to put the house back together after the flooring project. In some respects it looks and feels like we just moved in because, you know, a little redecorating is in order and a new furniture arrangement.
Part of the project has always been to get me a new desk afterwards. The desk I had was made of particleboard and wood veneer and purchased from Office Max something like 13 or 14 years ago. We moved with this monster desk from the townhouse we were living in to the house we are in currently. We aren’t sure how we got the desk into the my red room because it is bigger than the door and as wide as the short hallway the room is entered from. We think we may have taken some of the desk apart and we think we also took the door off the red room. We were not in the mood to do the same to get it out and then back into the room again once the floors were done. Besides, it was showing its years. So we took a hammer to the desk and removed it from the room piece-by piece. I took a photo before we had begun beating it up too badly:
It was a faithful desk
The new desk, I decided, should be smaller and simpler. So I went with this:
So very Zen
Just kidding! That’s the little table my computer sat on after the desk was destroyed.
For the real thing we went to Ikea. How I love that store! It is an organizer’s paradise. I had the desk picked out before we got there. Ikea does mix and match desktops and legs. I knew I wanted the sawhorse style legs. I thought I knew what desktop I wanted. Then we got there and I am looking at the desktop I wanted trying to decide smallest size or medium size? When I spy the tops next to it and fell head-over-heals in love with something entirely different.
We defied the laws of physics getting the new desk into the Honda hybrid, but we did it. I brought home the sawhorse legs too, and a bunch organizer stuff and now I am sitting at my new desk typing this post. Here she is:
It was love at first sight
And here is a close up of the top:
Flowers, butterflies and a ladybugs
Tempered glass. And I love how I can see the color of the wall through it and the floor too. It is bigger than my old desk but because of the miracle that is Ikea, all we had to fit through the red room door was the glass top and when we stood it on end and it having no legs sticking out, we got into the room without a problem.
I decided while still at Ikea that this was a desk that would not be crowded with stuff so got all kinds of organizers to hang on a bar on the wall above the desk for pens and mail and all that. So now the only things on my desk are my computer and a desk lamp and the lamp may end up being replaced with a light mounted to the wall or the shelf above the desk. Oh and cats. Can’t forget Waldo and Dickens.
I expect this new desk will serve me well and will see years of blogging and other writing done at it.
Sorry no books news today. Back to business tomorrow!
Oh, how lovely! That surface is so gorgeous. There’s so way I’d keep the surface uncluttered, unfortunately. (My desk is not so much a desk as a receptacle for stuff. I could never actually work there!)
oh, I love it! It is gorgeous! just FYI, I think we *might* have chosen our bedroom color — one wall a deep garnet (the other a very light coffee-cream). Not red-red like yours, but still. So pretty!
How fun! I thought it was a red & black desk at first.
What a wonderful top to your desk – how beautiful! I might spend all my doodling time obsessed with picking out all the different patterns in it, though! Years ago, when Mister Litlove said he’d make me a new desk (still waiting – have the patience of a saint) we discussed having a glass top and putting a map of the world underneath it. But I think I like the top of your desk better – it’s got such a great contemporary feel.
Love the story, love the desk … but I hope you are better at keeping tidy desk resolutions than I am!
Did you go back again and again to admire your lovely new desk? That is what I find myself doing when having acquired something BIG and NEW in my home. I can be found stroking it too
, (happens to books too) how about you?
I ‘m wishing you many happy hours at THE DESK writing inspiring blogposts and other works there.
I’m surprised but what a wonderful choice! Now, I’m just wondering, would such a beautiful desk offer a different working/reading experience?
Ooh, congratulations on your new desk! So lovely. Mine is a solid but decidedly un-glamorous object that my great-grandmother bought sometime back in the 40′s or 50′s. I feel something of a sentimental attachment to it but also sometimes hanker after something fancier or more modern. Good call on getting all the organizers & de-cluttering stuff at the same time – starting out on the right foot.
Never been a fan of sawhorse legs for desks, but the desktop is fascinating.
We just got moved on Saturday; and Sunday and Monday involved unpacking, arranging and home improvement projects of the “simple” variety. I wish we’d taken a photo when I was cutting the stainless clothes rods on the grinder: looked like the fourth of July.
that desk is just gorgeous – such an inspiring place to work! I am finally getting the motivation and confidence to work on our house (we took it off the market – long explanation that may be blogged about, may not) and one of the things I am most looking forward to is creating a gorgeous work space!
Teresa, thanks! My previous desk tended to be a catch-all for things and it drove me crazy so I am turning over a new leaf
Daphne, thanks! And congrats on choosing a color for your bedroom! It sounds like it will be gorgeous!
Eva, heh, the magic of glass
Litlove, thanks! I like your world map idea. It’d have to definitely be an antique map though since borders change now and then. I hope Mr. Litlove surprises you with a new desk one of these days. His woodworking skills are getting quite good. I think a desk for you would be a good challenge!
Whisperinggums, thanks! So far so good with the tidy desk resolution, but then it’s only been a few days. We’ll see how it is when I am feeling stressed and pressed for time, that’s when things usually go to pot!
Catharina, there has been lots of admiring going on! And obsessively wiping off finger smudges and specks of dust. Thanks for the good wishes!
Arti, I was surprised too, believe me. The desk feels a little intimidating at the moment but I hope we become accustomed to each other soon.
Emily, thanks! Your desk may be unglamorous but it has a history which beats glamor every time in my opinion. I’m generally not very good at figuring out my organizing needs prior to something like this but I took a leap this time and I am glad I did.
Bikkuri, I like the sawhorse legs because it’s different and open, the desk is big but it doesn’t feel hulking which I like.Grinding metal would have produce a marvelously sparkly photo! Sounds like your move went well though. Hope you get settled in soon.
Courtney, thanks! I hope it will be inspiring, right now it feels too new and a bit awkward, but that will pass. Sorry to hear you took your house off the market but I hope undertaking improvements will make you glad to be there. And when you do your workspace, be sure to take before and after photos!
Lovely new desk. Wishing you many hours of writing, reading, thinking at it.
I love the new desk top! Especially with the red walls. I’d spend all my time staring at the flowers and ladybugs rather than working!
AnneCamille, thank you, thank you!
Softdrink, thanks! My two cats have been kind enough to sprawl over the desk to keep me from zoning out on the pattern. They are so thoughtful, those cats.
I LOVE your new desk!!! enjoy!!!
And I LOVE IKEA. who doesn’t?
What a pretty desk! Do the cats approve?
Open is definitely good. My issue with sawhorses comes from my masculine oafishness: I end out kicking them a lot. With a large desk, the horses can be set back a little without creating a precarious disaster waiting to happen, resulting in far less kicking of what needs not be kicked. I hope you are fairer than I and have good experiences all around.