A Space of My Own (My Desk Again)

Hello friends!

I am so glad that I set up a desk for myself in our bedroom several months ago.  Maybe you read the post I did on A Desk for Mom.  I've tweaked it since then, for both usefulness and aesthetics.  My inspiration? A trip to the public library...

A Space of My Own:
Inspirational Ideas for Home Offices,
Craft Rooms and Studies.
By Caroline Clifton-Mogg, it has a definite British feel!

"Peace and quiet are as important as seating and storage."
You know this lady has good sense.
I'm so glad my husband installed a new bedroom door for me.
It's sturdier, and has a lock that can only be opened
with a key from the outside -- or a person on the inside!
Gotta love that lock!
Sometimes a mom just needs some peace and quiet!

More good advice from the book!
What do I already have?
Let's put it to use!

I was getting frustrated because there didn't seem to be enough room for everything I needed on my desk.  I have a shelf in our kitchen that is 29" long that I would have loved to use behind my laptop -- but I couldn't spare it from its current use.  I tried finding another one at Walmart to no avail, and I didn't really want to spend the money anyway.  Maybe a piece of wood and two bricks?  No, I didn't do that either.  Instead, I found this wire shelf in the dining room, not really needed where it was.  Good enough.  That top basket (holding miscellaneous small items and papers) has always been behind my laptop, but the bottom one (under the shelf) came from across the room.  It holds my electrical outlet strip, computer power cable, and iPod charger. Very handy!   You can read the story of the vintage lamp (to the left in the picture) here: Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make It Do, Or Do Without.

At the corner of my desk, a built-in shelf holds a basket of sweet notes from friends and family, as well as pens and pencils and a cup of index cards.  Most of my office supplies, as well as some personal care items, are actually in a little drawer system on an adjacent bookshelf. 

While I was going through my basket of papers, I kept finding little things that I'd like to see more often.  I knew there was an unused bulletin board leaning against the wall in our storage room, so I claimed it for "a space of my own."  It rests on the edge of the desk, but is also anchored to the wall with a nail.  My inbox (paper, not digital) is just in front of it.

Some of the stuff on my board...

My mom recently found a postcard I bought
about 40 years ago in San Francisco,
as well as a bunch of other childhood papers.
I'll have to dig out some of my
elementary school poetry to share soon. :-)

"Only with winter-patience can we bring
the deep desired long awaited spring."
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
I am in the middle of reading (again)
her lovely, deep, poetic book
Gift from the Sea.

A pop-up Mother's Day card from a daughter.
Yes, you can do 3D on a bulletin board!

A favorite quote, printed out and "pinked" at the edges
with a pair of fancy scissors.
John Ruskin said it well about
the entire object of true education being from the heart.
I try to keep this in mind with my children and with others
whom I seek to influence. 

Cut from a greeting card, another poignant quote,
this by Maya Angelou about choosing 
to change our attitudes
about what has happened to us and within us.

Stamps from a package sent by
Rev. Headson Makazinga in Malawi.
We are producing a new Chichewa language
Bible tract.  You can read about the first one
(four years ago) here:
What in the World Is This?
The stamps are a visual reminder
to finish up quickly!

I did a few other things to spruce up the bedroom recently. This pretty bedside table is from a yard sale, one of two matching ones ($5 each) that my husband kindly brought home for me.  A large lace doily covers a multitude of sins, in this case minor blemishes on the wood surface.  My decorative ensemble: a pillar candle in a large goblet, a ceramic bird, a framed poem "Seven Blessings for One Marriage" (moved from the desk), and a small handful of acorns (brought back from my trip to Maryland a few weeks ago) in a ceramic container that usually has a flowered lid on it.  I love to have something pretty like this arrangement to look at when I first wake up in the morning.

I don't know what these are called,
but they are in the goblet 
with my pillar candle.

My mother has the matching one.
I am sentimental like that.

{Faith Grows in God's Love}

"Mighty oaks from little acorns grow."

I guess that's another reminder to be patient

in the midst of the challenges life!

More inspiration for decorating for the season: 

Autumn: A Pretty Home and Yummy Food on a Budget

Blessings,
Virginia Knowles

This posted will be linked at:

Ann Kroeker's Food on Fridays

Whole-Hearted Home

Simple Design's 
Share Your Thrift Haul
(last Monday of each month)

Domestically Divine Tuesday 

Funki Planet