A while back, I received this wonderful little package in the mail… a beautiful custom wood shelf from John Sundberg, owner of Walrus Woodworking. Walrus Woodworking is a local Utah business, and I’m all about promoting good local businesses. Full disclaimer here – I didn’t pay for the shelf, however, when I spoke with John on the phone we discussed that I was not obligated to blog about it, and if I did, I would be completely honest. So, here it is:
Install was simple. The instructions – plus a few basic tools – were all I needed, and I had it hanging and perfectly level in less than 30 minutes. (No, not all my tools are pink, but my mother and sister discovered a company called Tomboy Tools so over the last few holidays I’ve built up quite a collection of pink.)
A simple drywall anchor holds the screw firmly in place, and then a cleverly designed nail pokes from the back of the shelf into the drywall to keep the shelf bracket level.
Once the bracket is secure, the shelf easily slides into place.
I love the hand-made sculptural quality of the shelf, and the beautiful natural grain of the wood. For other examples of what Walrus Woodworking has done (including better photos of similar shelves), see their listing at localfirst.org
Now to segue into my next topic… where I put the shelf and why…
Being too small to stand alone anywhere in our home, it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with it. But after my trip to NY for Brizo Fashion Week, I knew exactly where to put it.
At Brizo Fashion Week, I met a wonderful woman named Jennifer Duchene, who has a book called “Le Chic Cocoon: 7 Steps to Creating your Selfish Space“. While Jennifer might argue that my chic cocoon should not be my office, at this point in my life, my office is where I spend a large part of my waking hours, and my business is my pride & joy because I built it and it’s an extension of me, so it’s important to me to have a piece of myself in my small office space. With dreams of my own real chic cocoon sometime in my future, for now, my selfish space is this little office.
I have these great thrift store milk glass vases, and my husband hates them. But guess what? This is MY space, so I can put anything I want in it, including my lovely milk glass vases! And I realized the shelf would display them perfectly, so they now have a place in my “selfish space”, right next to my 2012 vision board and stack of inspirational magazines and chair posters. During a busy day, when it’s so easy to lose my sense of self because of a daunting to-do list, all I have to do is look up at this wall full of my passion and personality and I remember who I am and what’s important to me. And then I can breathe deep and continue with the task at hand, rejuvenated by the reminder of why I do what I do.
from Paula Prass (love her colorful blog!)
A friend of mine lives in a great but tiny apartment with an incredible view of the city (if you call Salt Lake a city). She’s considering turning a closet off the main living area into an office. I’ve seen some great office-to-closet conversions so I was excited for the chance to do a post for her.
A common theme in all these photos is the use of wall space. Whether it’s shelves, fabric-covered bulletin boards, colorful clipboards, or peg board, don’t forget how useful walls can be in areas where you don’t have a lot of room for desktop space.
These old filing cabinets were given new life with spray paint.
source unknown (sorry anonymous lady with super fun office!)
Organization is key, and cardboard storage boxes can be a very inexpensive way to get organized.
from flickr
I love the bulletin boards here, and the stacked drawer units.
from flickr
A simpler desk space. The black & white look great, though there’s not a lot of “hiding” space here.
from doorsixteen
The pegboard and floating shelves are functional, and I love the wallpaper on the back wall.
from Country Living via The Inspired Room
This photo isn’t great, but I like the candy jars!
from cnn.com
Another example of the of organizing with cardboard magazine boxes, which minimize clutter by hiding the various colors of magazine stacks.
from cnn.com
More beneficial bulletin boards and peg boards. The mirror is interesting too, though I’m not sold on it yet. I guess it probably gives that illusion of more space, but I’m hesitant to use mirrors in areas where it can also give the illusion of more clutter.
from Willow Decor
I love the clipboards and color here (had this image saved specifically for my own office). I’m guessing you can use wallpaper, fabric, or maybe scrapbooking paper to cover boring old clipboards.
source unknown
The picture ledges (I assume from Ikea) also make great ledges for office accessories. I love the chalkboard paint here too.
source unknown
I like the use of these canisters (or mailing tubes?) and an old shutter with binder clips for mail organization.
source unknown
For slightly larger spaces, the Ikea Expedit units are a great (and inexpensive) way to keep things organized.
from Making it Lovely
Jen, I hope you’re inspired. Let me know when the project starts – I want to help!
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