Remember how I said I couldn't write my manuscripts to publish my dissertation until I had a desk? Well I've had that excuse in my back pocket for too long now, so I decided to finally do something about it. I had always planned to put a desk under the long white shelf on the wall in the back of the dining room and I've had my eye on this desk from Ikea pretty much ever since I decided to buy a desk. Except I thought it would look much better under the white shelf if the desk top was also...white. The only problem was they didn't have the desk top in white. Or I didn't know how to search the site for it properly. Last week either they finally got it in white (unlikely), or I finally was smart enough to look for it the right way (more likely). The point is...once I found it - I rushed out and bought it.
And then I put it together.
This story is the most awesome story ever told.
I decided to let the "office" area get a little bit more color since it was pretty matchy-matchy with the pillows in the living room. This decision was inspired mostly by the place mats that I found at Ikea.
They had all the colors, or close variations, of what I'm already working with in the room plus some others that I really like. As soon as I saw them I got the idea to use them on the desktop as a way to bring some color to the surface.
I just used three side by side to create a sort of runner that I secured with some double stick tape. The problem with those place mats is that I found them at the entrance to the marketplace. Which means I then went on a spree through the rest of the marketplace looking for matching accessories to use on the desktop. I ended up with a small plate with a fun pink and red pattern on it, a plaid tray to corral a few of the 495861308475985 candles I have placed everywhere (excuse the black smoke spot on the pink vase below) and some tins that will eventually hold pens and such. I found the green letter trays at Target on clearance for 2.50 a pop.
I ended up buying 4 placemats because it seemed weird to only buy 3 - especially with how I tend to move things around throughout the year. I decided to frame the fourth one because from across the room you can't really see the pop of color on the desk, so I thought it would be nice to have something up top on the shelf. I also switched out a few of the candles to bring some more of the colors in.
Now all that's left is the writing of the manuscripts.
Or to find something else to use as a procrastinatory excuse.