>>>>

Friday, December 23, 2011

Office Area Redo!

Santa made his way to my basement!

I’ve been working out of an old armoire/desk since moving to NC almost 4 years ago.  ((Can it really be nearly 4 years?  Yep!  February it will be!))  The desk thing was functional, but really limited me to the size of monitor I could have, I couldn’t put my legs “Under” it like a desk, and even though the keyboard tray could extend a bit, it just wasn’t comfortable.

Besides that-- it had seen BETTER days!  A couple of weeks ago I was vacuuming, and I kept wondering WHO had spilled BB’s all over the floor in here…they sure made a racket being sucked up into the vacuum!  Turns out they weren’t BB’s --- they were the ball bearings from the slide out desk keyboard shelf thing.  It was time for this thing to GO!

I’d checked IKEA when I was there with Jason last week --- Everything was very “Minimalist” with no shelves, no cubby holes, no nothing --- and just didn’t fit the kind of furniture I wanted for down here.  I wanted a large desk surface area, and I still wanted drawers.

We wound up at Colfax Furniture Outlet --- they buy the floor samples from the Furniture Market that goes on here in High Point twice a year.  You have heard that NC is #1 in great furniture, yeah?  Well –—what you see above is what we found! Floor model, as is --- GREAT PRICE.  I got the desk, the file cabinet, and a side book case.

studio 008

The basement itself is NOT “house beautiful”  It’s an older house, and the basement is more functional space wise than it is aesthetics wise, but I love my space down here!

We moved the other desk/armoire out --- vacuumed ----A LOT! ((boy does stuff get yucky underneath immovable furniture in places you can’t see!!)) and set me up.  The biggest challenge? ALL THE CORDS!  Good grief.  How many cords are there?  We did our best to organize everything in a non-tangled way ---and most of it is hidden.  The other cords --- the ones that go to the surround sound for my audio---are “mostly” hidden by the quilt on the wall!  The armoire kept most of that hidden, but the quilt does its job in brightening up the wall much better.

The ugly thing to the left of the photo is my very small design wall….what was left of a peach colored flannel sheet that has fit the bill just fine.

The desktop is protected by a vintage child’s 4-patch quilt.  It will protect from scratches, etc…and I get to enjoy looking at every stitch while I type :c)

On the future to-do list?  Cleaning out the book shelves and culling stuff I don’t want/need anymore.  Same with the magazines that have accumulated.  I let them sit “whole” until the basket is full, and then I spend a couple evenings going through them and removing the  pictures/ideas I want --- putting them in page protectors and filing them in binders that I call my “inspiration” books –And the rest? Bye bye ---I need to do some more minimizing in that area!

This makes such a HUGE difference in my space down here……now they’ll NEVER get me to go upstairs unless I need a drink or a bathroom break..LOL!

Oh --- and needless to say….NO cookies got baked today!  Maybe tomorrow --- The Hubster is still clamoring for “PLAIN” Chocolate Chip --- with no oatmeal, no raisins, no nuts, no “funny” stuff as he puts it!  I think I can do that ----


17 comments:

  1. A clean slate! May the new ideas start to flow :0)

    Looks divine, Happy Sewing

    ReplyDelete
  2. That looks wonderful,Bonnie!! My space is more functional than aesthetic,but I love it.
    I am wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and a very prosperous New Year. Again, thank you for all the marvelous projects you provide for us. I appreciate your generosity! -sandi in TN

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love the new desk, you can come do mine necxt. :)
    I have a son who clamors for the same kind of chocolate chip cookies. I love oatmeal in mine.

    ReplyDelete
  4. looks great all the cords do get in the way don't they, I wish we could do without them but we do seem to need cords to operate everything! Have a merry Christmas.
    Karen

    ReplyDelete
  5. looks great, nice feeling isn't it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. NC furniture is the best. Looks great. Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I've also got a husband who wants plain choc chip cookies! He says, "Please don't pUt weird, healthy stuff in them!"

    ReplyDelete
  8. Cookies Idea... Use for the hard candy you get during Halloween... unwrap and put it into a plastic ziplock...use a hammer and pound, okay, hit, it to pieces.

    Use a basic sugar cookie mix (or any other type you think would work), mix some of your candy pieces in with it and have some goodie cookies....

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mission style furniture!! Love it. That is the style furniture I have in my living room and bedroom. Not that I shop in NC, but it is a good thing you got to that desk before I did. : )

    ReplyDelete
  10. That's a fabulous desk and book case Bonnie. Much nicer than anything you could have bought at ikea !!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. A room makeover in time for the New year - what a good idea! Have a Happy Christmas and enjoy your lovely new desk in 2012.

    ReplyDelete
  12. THe office really looks great...can't tell it is a basement from the pic. Would like to go to that furniture place if I needed and furniture! Going to show your new mystery quilt to my 10 year old granddaughter who is coming tomorrow and bringing her first quilt for us to put together and bind. It is a string quilt so this new mystery may interest her. By the by she is making it for her best friends grandfather who is sick :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. what a delicious work space; got me drooling here big time.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous9:49 AM EST

    You can get a clear desk matt to put over the vintage 4-patch to protect it. I also cut up my quilt magazines and keep only the articles/patterns that interest me. The only problem: I have 8 big binders of "saved" articles! Although I don't have a blog site myself, I love reading yours. Cheryl
    jckup@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. The new desk and work area looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  16. If anyone deserves a new work space - it is you! Very beautiful pieces - now think of those pieces as if they are the beinning of a new quilt design and design yourself a gorgeous work space! You spend a lot of time there and should surround yourself with beauty!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Your new desk set looks great all set and ready to go. I need to clear out some stuff in my quilt room too. Either that or I need more room (not gonna happen). I pull out what I want freom my magazines too and put the pattern into a sleeve and then into a binder.
    I might just get around to a few of those projects. LOL
    Have a great Christmas

    ReplyDelete

If you are commenting as "anonymous" please leave your name at the end of your comment.

Did you know that ad space on this blog provides for all of the free patterns and free mysteries and challenges at no cost to you? Without ads, this blog would not be possible.

Thank you for understanding the many hours that go into this blog 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year. :)