Top Decoration

Don't you love it when that happens?

I do!

And that's exactly what happened to our kitchen desk! We are so pleased with how our new Office in our Master Bedroom turned out and we love how simple, clean and organized it is. We wanted to achieve that same feeling in our kitchen.
Like many kitchens, we have a desk built right into our stretch of cabinets. It's nice to have...sometimes. But more often than not it becomes the dumping ground for mail, homework, magazines, toys, etc. If I had my way this desk would be turned into a BIG pantry! How great would that be? The more storage the better is how I feel about it!

But since that is not the case or even an option, we did the next best thing and transformed what we could.

Here is how it has looked for the past year and a half...
(sorry for the bad pictures, but this is all I've got. Proof that this is not a favorite spot of mine! These pictures are pre-Board and Batten)

This small space was weighed down with a monstrous printer/scanner as well as speakers, a monitor, keyboard, docking station for the camera, lamp, telephone, mouse...and underneath the desk was the oh-so-NOT-attractive computer tower.

Above the desk are cubbies which are great for storing papers and items that we use on a regular basis, but it all adds up to a really full and cluttered space.

Something needed to change and, naturally, the wheels started turning...

Here is a picture of my laundry room after all of my office and craft supplies were cleared out from it...
(you can see that makeover here)

And here it is now...

We have moved all of the ugly, but necessary computer parts into the laundry room which is just on the other side of the wall from the desk. All of the wires pass through a very small hole in the wall. I don't know why this idea didn't occur to us sooner!
(Oh wait...it's probably because the laundry room was already functioning as three rooms in one! It couldn't handle anything more!)

I've put up a simple curtain to hide it all so that I don't have to see it when I'm in there. But it's easily accessible if we need to get to it!

Now that we had that squared away it was time to deal with the cluttered cubbies. I had hoped my husband could build something that we could simply slide in and out, but the more we talked about it the more it seemed like too much work. The feeling that "time is more valuable than money" comes into play once in a while! I wanted to get pre-made magazine files, but the cubbies are shorter than magazine height so I couldn't find what I needed...until our visit to Ikea!

These wooden magazine files were the perfect solution! All my husband had to do was cut them down to the height we needed! Simple! A quick paint job and some character added to them and they worked perfectly!



Here is our kitchen desk as it is now...

We put all of the components that we didn't absolutely need to have on the counter back in the laundry room. We mounted the monitor on the wall so that it was one less thing we would have sitting on the desk. I plan to make a small sign to cover up the wires that are coming out from behind the monitor. My husband came across a saying the other night that we both really like:
"Use it up. Wear it out. Do without."
- Shaker adage

My favorite lamp...

A tall vase for the seashells we collect when we go to the beach. These one's are new! We were just there on Monday!

A sprig of Rosemary from the front yard and one of my favorite candles...

I made my own cork boards so they would fit the space perfectly. We cut some scrap beaded board to the size we needed and then cut the cork board to fit. I painted the beaded board the same blue that is throughout my family room and kitchen and spray painted the cork boards white. I drilled small holes into all four corners and attached them to the wall with dark brown furniture tacks. Much prettier than nails!

Everything is now labeled and has a specific purpose.
A place for everything and everything in it's place!

It is actually a nice place to sit and spend time at now! The boys think it's soooo cool that the monitor is hanging on the wall. Funny what simple things excite kids!

I want to say a big, huge THANK YOU to my husband for helping me make this project happen! I could not have done it without him...literally! Thankfully he likes the result just as much as I do, so he can see that it was all worth it!

I wonder what makeover this one will lead to...