Hygge Nook

Desperately Seeking Desk

How was your weekend folks? It's been a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK which generally means no work and a long, lazy weekend with Monday thrown in for good measure. Not for freelancers like me though. No, I had a book to finish writing (exciting!) an article to file, my first cinema visit in an age and lunch out with a friend. All was completed just in time for the school half term holiday. Phew!

As for the title of this post, yes I'm still searching for a desk. What I really want is this Parsons desk. I love the polished white, the chunky legs and the slim surface and the twin flush drawers.

However, knowing that I can't get one here, I'm thinking of going Ikea for a quick, cheapie desk that will provide what I need without being exactly what I want. I like the Besta Burs desk - the cherry red and black gloss versions are equally nice - but it's too long for the space I have in mind and is £189. Then there's the Vika Amon/ Alex option which has some useful drawer space and is a wallet friendly £66 and finally there's the millionth best option, the Vika Amon/ Curry which at £15.99 is super cheap - it's got the white surface that I crave though I'm not keen on the cyclinder legs but it can be recycled anywhere in the house after I do find the perfect desk. I think I've finally found a way of fitting a desk in to my living room.

 

Of course if I get a desk, I am going to have to get a chair so I don't have to continually move one back and forth from the dining room. I don't want a traditional desk chair with foam seat and legs on casters. That would not look good in my living room. These are my options -
The Kartell Louis Ghost chair is on the left and retails around £179 which is fairly pricey and there's my other firm favourite, the Panton S chair, which retails anywhere from £45.

What do you think? Should I go for the cheap desk just so I can finally have some desk space. And what about the chairs? Should I stick with the cheapie options (or even go for free with an existing dining room chair) or splash out on the more expensive one?

Offices that came out of the closet

It seems like I may have finally found myself some space for a home office (only five years after starting to work from home). Our house is fairly average sized but with two adults and three children, space is at a premium so there isn't a whole lot of room for individual space. I try to work as virtually as possible with very little paper trail other than what is absolutely necessary, but still a desk and a proper chair would be heaven sent.

How much do you really need though? These office spaces have been very cleverly carved out of closet space to fit in a desk, shelving and plenty of storage by way of boxes, magazine holders or door hangers. A chair can be tucked to one side and crucially there's an electricity socket for your laptop's juice.

 

Country Living magazine
This is a very DIY friendly space utilizing Staples filing cabinets and spray paint, paired with floral Graham & Brown wallpaper for a glam backdrop and lots of white elements such as the Ikea swivel chair, floating shevels and lamp to keep the whole look fresh. And at the end of the day, just shut it all away behind those double doors.

 

[Image origin unknown]
Perhaps carved out of a living room cupboard, the white shelving looks so fresh against those hardwood floors and the turquoise accents could easily be swopped out for new colours as you please.

 
Paula Prass via Unplggd
The office nook is carved out of the closet in this multi-functioning room. While the white and green pairing looks fresh, the check carpet stops the look becoming overtly feminine.

 
Apartment Therapy
Can you imagine having such a fun workspace? The shades of ochre and lemon are so warming and the pompom curtains give it a luxe edge.

Massuco Warner Miller [via Decor8]
I love the way the desk is just tucked into the closet with extra storage space added in the form of floating shelves on one wall. The glossy white desk and chair keep the whole look feminine and unobtrusive. 

Are these spaces making you rethink where you could fit in a home office and how you could make it look? That, and for me, also a little bit jealous, but still very enthused about my eventual workspace.

Laptop tidy

I work from home so my laptop is very important to me. I don't have one fixed workspace so I might end up working on the dining table, from my bed, or my favourite spot in the corner of the living room. Due to the lack of dedicated work space it does mean that I have to pack up my laptop, papers, notepads and anything else I'm using when I'm done. For a long time now, I've just shoved everything in to my laptop bag but it isn't really ideal. My OH spotted this laptop tidy in an electricals store we were browsing and I just knew that it would be perfect.

 

It has enough space for my laptop, space to safely store my adaptor and plug and a compartment for notepads, folders and my latest magazines (did you spot my weekend reading?). I love the chocolate brown microfibre exterior paired with the tourmaline blue padded inside and the handle makes it super easy to just pack up and move room. I wouldn't ever use it outside due to the open top but it's great for indoors. I hunted around for the best price and snagged it for £20.77 on Amazon.

Do you work from home? How do you keep your stuff neat if you don't have a dedicated workspace?

Laura Ashley's lace memo board

I do so wish that so many functional items had more thought paid to their design. Take memo boards. Dull things as a rule. However, this one has had some great treatment to give it a pretty lacy border and butterfly magnets. It's just gone out of stock (grrr) but let's hope it's back soon.

Want it? £20 at Laura Ashley.

Panton S chairs

Did you know Vernor Panton was Danish? Really this is just another excuse for me to post the S chairs - following last week's series of Danish themed posts - that I love so much and still don't have. One day. I spotted the S chairs being used in a garden which I found quite inspiring (see it on p97 of Real Homes' June issue). They're £49 each here and I'm wondering if I could sneak in one for the desk I also don't yet have?

Garden pod - the coolest garden office ever?

This isn't any old home office. It's quite simply, beautiful. I love the curves, the sheets of glass, the sheer elegance of the structure both inside and out. I don't know the surface space but it looks like it could be fitted into most modestly sized gardens.

OfficePOD [source: Smitten]

Semikolon document boxes from The Container Store

I wish we had a Container Store in England. I'd probably move in, such is my lust for storage boxes.

These Semikolon boxes would look neat on a desk. They're colourful but not garish and are made of sturdy fibreboard so could store files, papers and all the other junk cluttering your desk plus there's a bunch of co-ordinating items. They come in lime, pink and navy for $17.99 each here.

Like this? More storage ideas

Custom Tuvan desk from The Dormy House

I've been searching for the perfect desk pretty much ever since I went freelance and I've failed month after month. Until now. I just haven't wanted some run of the mill wood veneer thing and even the Ikea Jonas bureau I spotted wasn't quite right. This Turvan desk is though (though the stool is a little too chintzy for me). It comes unpainted so you can customise it to your own colour scheme (I orginally spotted it in Ideal Home, July 08, in chocolate brown with neat little handles and lime green accessories. Divine) or they can paint and add handles for an extra cost. Unpainted the desk is £190.

I'd also have to get the pictured storage hutch, £80 unpainted, to perch on top as I'm obsessed with the idea of little drawers and nooks. I wish there was a secret drawer, that would be perfect.

Ikea's twist on the writing bureau - meet the Jonas

When the lid is up, this £99 Jonas bureau looks very similar to the Malm bedroom range except the drawers aren't quite as deep and it has little pulls to help you open them up. The top area has enough space for a flatscreen monitor and a small PC or a laptop plus there's a cord outlet at the back so you can keep those nuisance cables out of the way.

If you want to keep magazine files, you'll probably need to get something else to keep them in - a Billy bookcase if you can fit one in to your home office - but this will do for working and you can shut the lid and not see your laptop at the end of the day.

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