Surviving Ikea

What I’m Wearing // TOPSHOP Parka // VICTORIA’S SECRET Jeggings // H&M Tee // CORNELIA GUEST Bag // MIA Boots // NYC STREET VENDOR Beanie

After the snowstorm this past weekend, Jim and I spent the entire day on Saturday doing nothing and enjoying the snow day. We actually watched around 6 back to back episodes of Shark Tank. OMG I totally love that show now.

Sunday we were back to business on operation Clean House, so it meant we had to do a run to IKEA. Each time we go to IKEA, we know our marriage is meant to last forever because we always survive the trip. We have our arguments and spats while there, but we’ve learned to instantly identify when it’s “Ikea Fever” and scale it back a bit. We persevered, and made it home not only with a new cabinet for our kitchen but also a new rug for our living room and a few other items.

Bringing our IKEA goods out of our car and up the stairs into our apartment was a good test of my recent Crossfit training. There was several larger items that were over 50 pounds that I carried up the stairs with no issues at all. In the past, it would have been a major ordeal getting all that stuff into the apartment! This time around it was almost easy.

Speaking of Crossfit, I wanted to mention really quick how much I totally love these new Victoria’s Secret Jeggings. Since I started Crossfit none of my pants fit because although my waist is much smaller, my quads are now huge. After searching high and low on the internet for the best types of jeans for athletic builds, the common answer was anything with stretch, so I invested in a few pairs of these mid-rise jeggings and don’t know why I ever wore normal jeans. They are so comfortable and look the same as skinny jeans.

This post is getting really random. Let’s keep on this roll. I think this is the first debut of my new hair color on the blog. What do you think?

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Office Desk Makeover

My original design concept I created on my Moodboard App

One of my big 2012 intentions was to re-design my work spaces, both at my office and at home. Since I’m a very visual person, and since I spend so much of my time working, it was important to me to create a space that was visually exciting to me that I’d be exited going to spend 8-10 hours a day in.

My work (i.e. real, not home) office is somewhat unique, in that it’s housed in a warehouse. The last design overhaul of the space was done in the late 80’s, so it’s in dire need of updating. While I’d love to entirely re-design the entire office right now, now’s not the best time considering the economy and other factors. I’m continuing to collect ideas and formulate an inexpensive plan to refresh everything, but in the meantime took on my individual workspace as a challenge to see what I could us utilizing what we already had in place.

Luckily the colors of my office are shades of gray, which I’m drawn to anyway. Pretty much my entire apartment is painted in a warm, gray tone. It’s my preferred neutral. Our office is also set up that there’s built in desks and cubicles, so no matter how much I may love to have a beautiful, white parsons desk, it ain’t happening. So I tackled my own corner first as a project to see what I could do to freshen things up a bit while working with what I have.

First thing I decided on was a color palette. Starting with gray as my base, I decided I also wanted to include black and white, introduce graphic stripes as a pattern, and use silver as my metal (since my computer monitor was already silver). I could later accent with bright colors should I want to, without being stuck with those colors forever.

Here’s the overall space before, and then after.

Most of the items I purchased at Ikea, including the magnet board (which I painted the stripes on), magnets, potted plant, pencil cup (which is really a vase), and tissue box. The small white desk organizer I found on Etsy. I also changed out my file sorter, which is a must have for me with an old vintage steel one I found in our supply closet that was being unused. Lucky for me it looks nicer than my old one and is black, which goes with my color scheme.

Looking at these photos now, I see what a cluttered nightmare my original desk was (at least for me). Everything was very haphazard. As you can see in the photos, when I’d have a cold I’d use toilet paper I’d steal from the bathroom instead of real tissues. What kind of impression does that set for my colleagues! Gross.

Eventually once I get through archiving everything in the notebooks next to the file sorter, those will be off my desk and clearing up more space. I’m all about having less clutter lately.

I cleared all the junk off the shelf near the ugly blinds so as not to draw more attention to the blinds. Seems to work. I also got a cute potted plant to improve my desk’s feng shui, and got an actual tissue box. So no more toilet paper for me! I’m so thankful for this now that it’s allergy season.

Probably one of the most dramatic changes I made was my message board and how I use it. I had an ugly, maroon pin board I had inherited when I took over the space, and I cluttered it with images of past work trips, time with my husband, random family images, and other crap.

Quite frankly after a while I got annoyed looking at photos of myself looking so “young”.  I not too long ago read a great article on photos people display in their workspace and how it relates to feng shui and your goals and aspirations. Snapshots of past events have a tendency to keep you there, in the past. Why waste that space on the past and why not focus it instead on the future? So I replaced that board with a great, graphic striped magnet board that now stores photos of destinations I’ll be visiting later this year, various visual reminders and images of goals (owning a brownstone in Brooklyn!), as well as various important work reference materials.

The finishing touches included my desk organizers. My pencil cup is absolutely adorable and was actually a tiny vase I found at Ikea. I also love my vintage mod desk organizer. It spirals out and you can use it to store everything from white out, post its, paper clips, and more. I love that it keeps everything concealed, yet accessible.

Surprisingly enough, my entire re-design was incredibly inexpensive.  Makes me upset at myself I didn’t finish this project sooner!

So I think I’ve geeked out enough on my workspace. My next project is my home office, which is getting the same exact design attention.

What have you guys done to make your work space more “you”?