Quiet Corners: The New Desk

 

Today I want to introduce you to a quiet corner of our new home. It’s one of the spots I loved most when we first toured the place, and it remains one of my favorite corners. I don’t know that I’m prepared to call it finished, partly because I realize I may yet uncover some more packed items that somehow need to find a place in here. But I also don’t have much more room in this corner, so it has to be just about complete. It’s certainly complete enough for my work days and the stimulation of all the creativity.

            This desk is built into a corner of the kitchen, and while I know (via the magic of Pinterest articles) that desks in kitchens can be somewhat controversial (aka dated), I like it. I’ve never had a kitchen desk before, so it feels new to me, even if it’s not trendy.

            The cabinets around the desk hold kitchen items, though I did claim a few of the drawers for office purposes. The chair came with the house and is actually a little piece of town history! It apparently belonged to the old schoolhouse, which I would guess isn’t even standing anymore. It’s a solid, heavy chair with a ton of character, and I’m so glad the previous owners left it. It doesn’t have any padding, however, so I found a nice pillow we already owned and threw it on the seat for a little extra cushion.

            I put the blinds down for the photo, because you can see it’s a bright day here, but normally I leave those wide open so I can enjoy the view! 

We also didn’t change anything in this space other than putting a fresh coat of paint on the walls.

            Here’s a tour of the desk! All my pen and pencil holders make such great décor. The Flair Pen holder on the left was a gift to me from my friend Amber (pictured with me in the frame) and came stocked with the pens. What a magnificent gift! The typewriter pen holder was a very sweet gift from Ryan on my first day of my temp job at the church back when we lived in Kokomo. He wanted me to have something on my desk that was mine, since I was merely borrowing the desk space and chose not to personalize it while I worked there. And is a desk even a desk without a family photo?

            The wall art was a gift to me years ago from Lynnette. I love it. I love the work of the artist who created it – and even interviewed her on Mid-Morning! I love what the piece says, and I love the reminder it brings to my days.

            Remember my tenth anniversary gift from Ryan? It was this little card catalog, which I adore. I’ve filled it with office supplies like paper clips and rubber bands. It’s perfection in this space.

            The sign around my colored pencil holder is a piece of art Amber made for me one year. She meant it as a half-joke, but I actually love it and always have it displayed in my office space. The hot air balloon piece is actually just a black and white (printed on office paper) free printable I found on a blog back when I worked at WBCL. An author made it as a gift for her readers, and I loved it. If you can’t read it, it says, “My impossible dreams…aren’t.”

            The tiny pitcher was from a retreat I spoke at a few years ago, where the theme was “Pouring In, Pouring Out.” I keep it there to remind me to pour into others even when I’m tired or feel like my efforts are in vain.

            The Proverbs 31 art was a gift from Ryan on my last day at WBCL, and I love the message it offers. I need these words every day. The little lamp in the corner brightens the desk in the early morning and late evening hours and is one we already had from many years ago. I’m not sure it’s the best fit for right there, but it’s what we had, so it works! Maybe someday, along the way, I’ll find something that fits the area a bit better. For now, this works just fine.

            Those little flowers down in the corner are almost two weeks old and are still going strong! They were a housewarming gift from some friends of ours. I love flowers so much and have appreciated the joy they’ve brought to this corner for almost two weeks!

            Last Saturday I talked about the plants I’ve kept alive, and this is one of them! This one has a story to it, so let me share. The little white pot it sits in says “Rooted for Success” and was a gift to us from Rob when we worked at WillowBridge. We took that trip out west a couple of summers ago, and when we returned home, we found it in our apartment with a great succulent in it. You know how you’re not supposed to be able to kill succulents? I did. I killed the unkillable plant in a pot that said “Rooted for success.” I felt it might have been telling of my life right about then, actually. But I loved the pot, so before we left Grabill last March, I went to the local plant shop and purchased two tiny little “missionary plants.” (They’re called by other names too, but that was the one that was meaningful to me.) I gifted one to our support couple as we left our work with them, and I kept this one as a reminder that new life and ministry can come from endings, too. This thing has grown significantly in the past year, and I’m pretty sure there are a couple of starts growing in there, too. I need to figure out what to do with those.

            I keep this plant right here to remind me I can be rooted for success and my work, no matter what it looks like in detail, can be a ministry.

            The little file cabinet is actually a business card holder. Isn’t it adorable? And the “Wish” art is a print on a wooden block made by – can you guess? Amber! I love supporting her art whenever I can. I chose this one because I’ve written a yet-unpublished book called A Dandelion in September. This reminded me of it.

            This little corner has some fun gadgets provided by my job! See that white piece? The flat part is actually a white board you can scribble notes on! It lifts up to reveal a small organizing space that holds little supplies. You can see that in the back, you can store notebooks and pens, too. It is the coolest thing. I’d never seen one before my first day of work. My boss has one and after she saw my face light up, she ordered me one too! And beside it is my work phone holder, which I love. It elevates the phone so I can see the screen easily.

            I have a wedding picture I plan to hang up on the wall there, but we didn’t have the right hardware for hanging it, so it hasn’t been added just yet.

            Like I said, I may yet uncover another thing or two that should go in this space, but for the most part, my desk feels complete! It provides a beautiful space for creating, and I dearly love it.

            Lexi also says hi from her perch. Most of the time, when I’m working, she hangs out beside me in her little bed. Sometimes she goes to hang out with Braeya or to stretch out on the couch, but most of the time, she wants to be right beside me.

            Thanks for visiting my quiet corner!