family workspace redo!

i was using a regular desk, but quickly ran out of space so we tried these folding tables. the cloth drove me crazy, but the look of the folding tables uncovered drove the surfer guy crazy.

i decided to start looking at dining tables instead of desks for the length and the depth they have. i wanted to be able to sew, blog, iron, write letters, cut prints, design, help my girls with homework, scrapbook, draw, ponder, plan, cut playdate cards, package, ship, and learn all at my desk.

another space cheerfully upgraded, organized, and saved by 

the budget friendly and smart IKEA.

the basket on my desk holds file folders, journal, 

and my much ado about you planner :)

the flowered box holds scissors, pens, pencils, and gluesticks.

my "desk" measures 84 5/8 inches long

at work: ironing and shipping out an order will updating my mac to mountain lion.

i love the cart!

• there is a drawer under the printer that holds my stapler, 3 hole punch, ruler, camera USB cord, tacks, and printer ink - i love not seeing all these things out!
• i kept a cafeteria tray to set printer papers on when printing multiple things, and a little stack of notepads. 
• i have art supplies in buckets for the kids - crayons, chalk, and paint brushes with a roll of art paper behind.

yay! thank you IKEA!

.....

behind the scenes...
deciding on the table was easy, it has a super smooth top, i love that it's white and it was the perfect size. the chairs took me forever to decide on, my little shopping partner for the day, Francesca, was growing impatient with my wavering between styles and colors, "if they only had an aqua or turquoise swivel!" i had said. there was a turquoise folding chair that was great but i could just see the boy getting snapped up in it. i liked the green, but i worried about the green and my red accessories looking like Christmas all the time, but Francesca reminded me how cool it would look with the aqua i have and the white desk - she's savvy. once we decided and wrote our numbers down we went to the warehouse - if you've never been to an IKEA (you are slightly deprived, something to look forward to someday for you) there is a showroom and you write down the aisle number and bin number of where to find your stuff in their warehouse. we got to the warehouse grabbed the forklift-like cart and found our items and loaded them. 

this is where i realized i needed a man to help, but my stubbornness prevailed and with a rush of adrenaline i was able to load the heavy items into my cart and slide them into the back of the swagger wagon. once we got home i thought i could open the box of the dining table and unload small pieces a bit at a time... nope. it was the table top in one box and the legs and leaf in another. the top was impossible for me to unload without that cool forklift-like cart at home. so i knocked on the door of my barbie-like neighbor and she foolishly, and a little over enthusiastically, said, "of course". i told her my plans to unload it bit by bit didn't work and to let me know if it's too heavy. we carried it into the house successfully with two stops along the way. we both almost died. my arms were sore for days after. i felt guilty and later made her and her roommate chocolate chip cookies. the surfer guy usually works super late and i didn't want him to come home to more work, my plans were to set everything up and then have dinner on the table for him. however, my plans don't always go so well. at least i was able to get started putting it together with the help of a certain 3 year old boy, he loves tools. and i had put dinner in the oven already, successfully heating up the house to a sticky and cranky 87 degrees. boxes were everywhere the table was put together and standing in it's place, as the boy and i were putting the cart together, in walked the surfer guy home early from work, on the phone, tripping over boxes into a hot house with a sweaty, disheveled wife and a boy playing with his father's tools. a blank stare and he headed upstairs. well, the boy and i cleaned up, got everything put away, and got dinner on the table. all was well, just not exactly as planned - he only comes home early when i am not ready for him, hahaha. does that ever happen to you? does any of this sound familiar to you or am i the only capricious wife?

xoxo,

krystina