Computer Desk

When we moved to Charlottesville, we originally set up the family room to look like this:

Yes, they're all staring at the TV.

The high chair didn't normally go there (obviously) and the table in the corner was a little weird, but it worked for us.  I was super excited that I'd FINALLY convinced Craig to buy an "expidit" from IKEA (see it there behind Camille?).  And then we'd also gotten a small table and chairs from IKEA to go in the breakfast nook.  And I thought that worked pretty well.

But then when Bentley started middle school last September, he was issued a school laptop and we felt like we needed a centralized place for computers.  Additionally, we'd bought a laptop and a monitor to go with it, and those didn't fit on the table with the Mac.  So we swapped the corner table with the breakfast nook one and rearranged a bit and... voilà!

This new set up was a good try, but it didn't really work.  The table was too small for all the computers to really fit on it, so it was mostly a tangled mess of cords.  We made do, but I didn't love it, and Craig liked it even less.

So, being Craig, he decided to BUILD a computer desk.  And, as Craig always does when he comes up with a scheme like this, he did a totally awesome job!  He just finished and installed it this week and I LOVE IT.  I love how it fits in the room, I love the space it gives me to work in, I love how it looks.  It's perfect.

It's bolted to the wall so it can't tip over.  And look-- the expidit fits in the corner now!

There are three small drawers at each station

These hinged pieces hide a trough where all the power cords go

Ta daaaaa!

All that mess can be out of sight now

So neat and tidy!

Obviously, keeping it clean will be a challenge because this will naturally want to collect everyone's junk important school work and papers and everything.  But that's the problem with any flat surface-- at least when I do clean up, this one will look lovely!


As always, Good work, Craig!!!!



And on a somewhat related note, I have to point out that I'm finally admitting that I TOTALLY LOVE REARRANGING FURNITURE.  I get all excited, and even though it's a big pain to do it, I love that we get things cleaned up a bit and it forces me to throw away junk that's accumulated.  And I like feeling like things are new and different even if it's the same old stuff just rearranged.  Poor Craig.  I'm constantly coming up with a new way to change up the kids' bedrooms and then he gets stuck taking all the furniture apart and putting it back together.  (I do help with all the heavy lifting, at least!)  But it's just so fun!!!