Brooklyn Pre-War: Home Office Update
Fresh workspace for a fresh design career
Before
My "home office" first lived in the abnormally large entry way to my apartment. It held not one, but two desks, I was convinced I needed at 24. One for computing, one for drawing and all the screen printing I was going to do.
But, thing about putting your desk in the least happy area of your house? You use it about twice total.
It was so isolated. So dark. So not usable.
So I moved my computer setup into a nook in my livingroom. That way, I thought, I could watch TV and sit at my desk, so surely I'd sit at my desk more.
It sort of worked.
Iteration #1 - Moving workspace to the living room nook
The First Iteration
The real turning point came when I started freelancing over the past few years
I needed a real space to sit and do work out of my house, and there's a nice little tax deduction if you have a home office.
The first iteration of the new workspace wasn't bad!
I had a nice desk, good file cabinet, excellent desktop trinkets. But, a glass top desk does not play nicely with an optical mouse. And I needed a monitor to really work at home. And (as evidenced by the photos above depicting the least cluttered that surface has ever been), I had about a foot of working surface space, which just wasn't going to cut it.
It is time for an upgrade.
New Needs
Functionally, I need a few things:
New desk - deeper top surface to accommodate a monitor, non-glass surface, maybe a keyboard tray to maximize the space
Improved computer setup - monitor, keyboard, mouse. A real working setup so I can actually work from home
Shelf to hold books & things - about half of the items on my desk are decorative, inspirational bits that I don't need ready access to at a moments notice. A nice wall shelf would be awesome to keep the surface clear, but also not let my magic 8 ball wander too far
De-Cluttered drawers - that big white flat file? Full. Of. Shit. It needs to be cleared out. Badly.
Better Lighting - a better task lamp of some kind, especially now that I'm working in the wee morning hours on this here blog
The Progress
This project was pretty quick to come together. I found a beautiful, perfectly sized desk from BluDot (they're based in Minneapolis, love a midwestern company!), and made a few other strategic purchases.
I did have a few issues with the BluDot desk (the finish on the top was a bit dinged up on the first one they shipped), but they have the best customer service of all time and worked with me to get it all sorted out! Will definitely buy from them again personally, and for clients.
The rest was a mix of things I had already purchased and a few new bits (detailed below)
The Bits:
Desk: BluDot Desk 51 in white
Chair: Eames® Molded Plastic Dowel-Leg Armchair from DWR in black and walnut
Drawers: IKEA Alex in white (I removed the casters)
Lamp: IKEA Tertial in white
Shelf: Ekby Brackets from IKEA, shelf custom cut plywood by my dad
Monitor: HP Envy 27" 4K (one of the only ones that had USB-C connection)
Bulletin Board: Piece of homasote cut to a square. My mom happened to have it, but any home depot-esque place will carry it in big sheets. It's a great material!
Poster: Favorite print from Anthony Burrill, definitely a life motto!
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