Oft-neglected Office Overhaul

Dear Reader, if you have ever seen photos of the my home interior you will not recall photos of our office. Our office is that place, that place inside the home of any family with young children where the children are not allowed. It is the, how you say, dumping ground of all things we do not want them to eat, tear apart or stab each other with (I do acknowledge there isn’t anything I would like to stab each other with).

You may also know, perhaps, that I am not very good at taking before pictures. I can take a thousand after pictures, but I somehow get so very excited about the process of overhauling that before pictures never cross my mind. I prefer to avoid looking at the before situation, why photograph it? Here is the best I could find of our office.

This was when we first moved in. As of two weeks ago, a wood antique desk was there at the open wall above; the circular table has its second home since moving out of the office; and I use, rather, store the chair that had no home (not the one pictured, that one is now blocking the fireplace).

My husband’s side was largely the same as what you see here.

I avoided the office. I could not sit and type while holding the baby so I used the kitchen counter to read, distract, write emails. My desk became so cluttered I rarely went in there. In anticipation of our tax return, I began planning.

There were a series of options. I realized I needed a counter-height desk and my husband needed more surface area. We would use 100-year old wood my father possessed to create book shelves to go all the way up to the ceiling and to form desk tops for us. I decided I could buy kitchen cabinets from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore to use as the base of my desk. We would buy Ikea parts for my husband’s desk base.

Then came a night of insomnia. I gave up on sleeping, went online and found this guide on turning an Expedit 2×4 shelf (of which we have three) into a standing desk.

The next day, thanks to pre-planned grandparent-babysitters, we made the 90-minute drive to Ikea, took the short cut to the marketplace and made it out in a little over an hour. Once home, I emptied our desk and antique dresser (used it for storage) contents into drawers and emptied the antique dresser. After a rant about not being sentimental about out furniture, selling these chairs which I reupholstered in preparation for marriage…

I decided to hold onto the dresser (used for storage) and keep it at my parents house, where they have unlimited storage space.

I bought it at a estate sale just before marrying. The woman I bought it from recalled being at her grandmother’s house as a child, opening the drawers, and handling the delicate linens she stored there. How a child could open those bottom drawers I’ll never know because they are heavy. It isn’t a very functional piece, but I realize I am sentimental about these pieces and will be careful what I choose to sell/give away.

Now, we’ve only got the books stacked on the floor, Expedit shelves on there sides with drawer inserts (mine on legs, my husbands without feet thus far). The room, for all it’s floor clutter, feels more open and clean to me. My storage system is taking shape with room for my sewing machine, cubby for my sewing box, a craft cubby. I am thinking I want a small filing cabinet next to my desk, but I want to move slowly.