My "Office"

Monday night I finished clearing out Christmas stuff and tidying up random junk that had accumulated behind our couch.

I drew up a little sketch to give you a better idea of our current living room layout.

I'll write up an "Our House" post about the living room sometime, but for now I'll just touch on the details that affect my work space.  After much experimentation, I've decided this is the best place for our couch to live.  Having it here 1) gives us a nice view out the huge window, B) is inviting by facing toward the entrance to the room, and 3) like I mentioned before, it shortens the awkwardly long room when placed here.  I am constantly shifting other things around the room, but the couch likes being riiiight here. 

Here's the view from the entrance to the room today:

If you look closely, you can see a slice of my silver laptop peaking over that middle sofa pillow.  You can get behind the couch around either side.

The two Ikea cabinets house office and craft supplies, files, wrapping supplies, and lots of other random stuff. Before EB came along, the nursery was my craft room/office.  I definitely had to downsize and get rid of a bunch of things.  Most of it is in these cabinets now. 

You'll see here my fabulous, sleek, modern choice of desk chair.  Ha. 

Let me explain.  I wanted something without a back, so it wouldn't be seen from the rest of the room.  And I was looking to improve my posture.  I picked this oldie up at the thrift store for a few bucks.  It's one of those yoga chairs, where your weight rests on your shins.  I'm trying it out, and if I decide to keep it, I'll surely paint and reupholster it.  Even if no one else sees it, I can't stand that old mustardy velvet.

The table I'm using as a desk has a bit of a story.  About a year ago when I was planning this space, I wanted a long, narrow console table to use as a desk.  I looked high and low, and couldn't find one that would work.  Most had shelves on the bottom or were not long enough.  One day at our Habitat ReStore, I spotted an oval dining table.  It was built as three sections lengthwise, and the two outside sections were leaves that dropped down.  Here's an old photo I took with my phone.  You can kind of see the rounded leaf dropped on the left side.

I had a vision of removing those leaves, and being left with that long narrow table I was looking for.  I snatched it up and brought it home.  After I unscrewed the leaves, Frank helped me prime and paint it. 

Voila...the perfect table for our needs.

I moved our "new" bench to the wall behind the desk.  We missed having our big coffee table over the holidays, so the coffee table came back and the bench moved here.  It works well here and holds a big basket of throws and a tray of meaningful books and frames.

In the past I've had the lamps on the desk, but I like them on these little tables.  It allows them to sit farther apart, and they seemed too tall when on the table.  I do think they seem too short on these, but perhaps I'll build them up with a stack of books.  That's my blue yoga mat there beside the lamp.  I still use this area to hide things, but now that I'm using it regularly, I hope it won't get as cluttered as before.

Here's the view from my desk:

I can watch TV, see the Bean bouncing in her Jenny Jump-up in the door frame, and look out the window to the right.  This space also works when it's time to sew.  I stash my laptop, and can sew or craft and watch TV at the same time.  And it's all kind of hidden by the couch!  Win win.

Is anyone else forced to squeeze their workspace into an unconventional spot?  I've seen some great closets turned office.

 

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