My workspace
It’s been quite some time since I blogged about my workspace so I thought it would be a good idea to share some recent photos and details. I don’t have a large office, but it’s very functional and I love it. We took an extra bedroom on the main floor of our home and turned it into a shared workspace for me and our son Alex. This is where the magic happens folks!
All the desk and shelf pieces are from Ballard Designs Original Home Office collection. I originally had white countertops but I changed out to these zinc counters a few years ago and they are great. They don’t show any scratches and I love the contrast. They are metal so my magnetic iPad case does stick to them, but it’s not a problem, it just surprises me sometimes - lol!
The plush dog next to the scanner is Fang from our trip to Harry Potter world in Universal Studios. I fell in love with him and like having him there to watch over things.
My chair is an expensive one from Relax the Back but with all the hours I spend sitting at my computer, I need a good quality chair. I bought it about 5 years ago and I don’t see it on their website so I can’t link to it.
My board of photos is one of my favorite features in the room. I printed 4x4 photos using Persnickety Prints. Did you know that you can crop them right in the Persnickety ordering process? You can also add the white borders there as well so no Photoshop skills needed for this project!
Here are a few more details about the photo board:
I used this fancy linen pinboard from Pottery Barn, but you could honestly use any type of bulletin or fabric covered board since it really doesn’t show one you have the pictures on it. The reason I used a board is because I really regretted putting postcards and maps right on the wall surface in our old house once it came time to move. They were really hard to take down and parts of the wall and some of the maps and cards got damaged.
I used poster tape to hang up all the photos. It sticks nicely to the linen, but I can still easily remove the photos when I want to.
I selected the standard “matte” finish for all my pictures. There are 144 photos on this board!
The baskets in my desk are also from Ballard Designs and are part of the same Home Office collection. I can’t seem to find them on their website though so maybe they aren’t available anymore? I ordered all of this furniture about 5 years ago but they still have the main components.
I absolutely love the LEGO minifigure shelf on the wall. I ordered it custom made from this site and it is something that everyone who comes to visit me just raves about. There are more than 400 minifigs living on this shelf. It’s almost completely full. Hmmmm…. what should I do about that?
I have 2 scanners which is definitely a bit of overkill, but with my life’s work being focused all around photos and memory keeping, I get a lot of use out of both of them.
The large black scanner is an Epson Perfection V800 and it’s incredible. It’s a bit pricey (close to $800) but I wanted a nice high end scanner. After spending 6 months as a missionary in the family history center last year, I got spoiled by their amazing scanners there. I looked up the models they had in the library and they were close to $2,000. and that was just too much. I read comparisons between high end models and found that this one rated just about as well as much pricier scanners. I’m very happy with this.
The smaller white scanner next to the plant is an Epson DS -575W which is already outdated. The newer version is an Epson DS-780N. This is not really a photo scanner but it is meant for documents. It’s great for scanning large stacks of multi-sided documents and turning them into a pdf. This is something that I can use for memory keeping and also for keeping track of business documents for both me and my husband. It was a worthwhile investment for us, but if you only scan a few documents here and there, I would just suggest you use your phone. Did you know the Notes app has a scan feature? Totally great!
My computer screen is a LG and I can connect my Macbook Pro to it for a big beautiful display. I use a Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard and a Tecknet Wireless Ergonomic mouse. I can’t stand to use any other kind of mouse now because this one really reduces my wrist fatigue.
This hutch shelf from Ballard Designs has been a great piece. I’ve rearranged it many times over the years and my husband likes to tease me a bit about how often I change it. I love the flexibility though and it’s a fun way to display photos, special books, magazines, and scrapbooks. Right now it’s filled with wedding photos from our daughter’s wedding last August. I don’t know where the message board is from because it’s something that our wedding planner purchased for a display. The plants were wedding favors we gave out at the reception. The photo frames are all from Target. The clock is about 14 years old from Pottery Barn.
The books on the top left are My Social Book albums & The Fairy Tale Girl and Martha’s Vineyard - Isle of Dreams both by Susan Branch. They are such pretty books and such great examples of telling your personal story.
On the middle shelf, I have Spark Joy and The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up both by Marie Kondo, Modern Manners by Dorethea Johnson and Liv Tyler, and Craft a Life You Love by Amy Tangerine. I selected each of these books to display because they all inspire me in some way to live a better life.
The bottom shelf is filled with Art Journaling, Somerset Digital Studio, and Artful Blogging magazines. I actually own every issue of Artful Blogging but don’t have them all out on this shelf. I was really sad when they ceased publication last year.
The stack of Listography books is fun for journaling prompts and ideas. I have Parenthood, Food, Literary,Music, Film, and Travel Listographies. I also have Keri Smith’s How to be an Explorer of the World and a notebook + a photo album made by my daughter.
Finally, I have a stack of Chatbooks that I just recently ordered and love (I’ll be blogging about these soon) and a few completed photobooks from AdoramaPix. My goal is to someday have this entire bottom shelf populated with finished photobooks like these!
This awesome guy sits on the other side of the room. We do a lot of chatting with our backs to each other and he often wants me to turn around and see something funny that he found online. He makes this office so much more fun!
He uses a Dell laptop computer and has a Dell screen to plug into. He LOVES his BOSE noise-cancelling headphones that he got for Christmas and wears them often, even when he is in the room by himself. These are so great for people with autism who have a hard time with a lot of noise. We wish we had bought them years ago!
He likes to have several plush buddies around him and the collection changes depending on his current interests. Right now, Pokemon are big for him and he loves the little guys sitting on his desk.
The wall mounted magazine rack is from Ballard Designs as well but doesn’t seem to be available anymore. The board above Alex is filled with postcards from many years of travel + friends and family members. The board on the closet door is a vision board I made last year. It still makes me happy so I’m leaving it up. What’s in the closet you ask? That’s where years of photos, scrapbook pages, craft supplies, and other goodies live. Maybe I’ll cover that in another post someday.
Now I better get back to work in this fun office of mine!
