Assortment

With What You Have | 11

 

Words about contentment inspired this series that celebrates ingenuity, creativity, and resourcefulness. Join me in the comments and share what you've done with what you have.  

 

It really is a one-drawer wonder, the diminutive desk I scored that day at the thrift shop for just one dollar. One deep drawer - the right size for files and such. And the desk top? At 30 x 42 inches, it's a single-task size.

It's large enough for the drafting board, yes, or, it's large enough for the laptop when it's time to write (and when I saw this photo of author E.B. White sitting at his small desk, I knew I was in good company).

Is it large enough for the drafting board and the laptop? Not so much. 

Here, loves, is when you need a good design book. 

 

 

 

Specifically, you'll need The Great American House*. Not only because it's a tome chock-full of inspiration and valuable insight from architect Gil Shafer (see photos below - some of my favorites from the book), but because it happens to be the exact size to fit neatly over the top of the open desk drawer, effectively creating an extention of the workspace - a place to set the laptop while the drafting board has center stage on top of the desk. 

 

 

 

I knew you'd like these peeks!

 

 

I could go all kinds of crazy, designing a new desk for this space, one with, say, three or maybe four drawers, which would actually open, and maybe I'd include a pull-out tray in the design, just for the laptop to sit on, and the desk would still have a modern aesthetic, like this one, but would be made from a darker wood instead - let's say, walnut, for instance.

I could do that. But, for now? With a nod to the L-shaped secretary's desk, this situation works for me.

Do what you can with what you have.  

 

Have you been looking for a tastefully designed, small house plan that lives large? You may just find what you've been seeking in the newly-released Shelter Collection - four small floor plans designed for gracious living in 900-1400 square feet, the first & second just recently released, the third, and fourth coming soon. Peruse the collection here. 

 

 *Not an affilliate link. I just like the book.

Here's to Rest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodness, the rain! Wringing our hands, we were, and biting our lower lips, worried, after the very dry winter, that there would be a very dry summer. But, now the rain has come, soaking and deep. Rivers are flooding (my heart breaks for the flooding tragedies in Texas). More rain comes. 

I watch the creek outside my kitchen window rushing by, a frothed muddy brown, higher than I've ever seen it. We hope and watch, casting glances about the sky for breaks in the precipitation so we (the boys) can hop on the mowers and race around the lawn (and the next and the next - they've got quite the collection of lawns to mow). 

And, yes, May showers are bringing May flowers - in abundance. Grin.

Speaking of showers, May seemed to shower more than just rain for us. It's been a very full month, soaked with much - characteristic, I suppose, of the end of one season and the beginning of another.

But, as June approaches, I've been thinking. Thinking about the things you do when summer is on your mind. You know. But, I've also been thinking about rest. Needing rest. And maybe gaining a new understanding of what that is and hearing it's translation for me.

Sometimes putting your mind to a different task is restful. Sometimes having an unscheduled day, letting it unfold as it will, is restful. Sometimes sleep, whenever you need it (I'm looking at you, afternoon nap), is restful. Sometimes those twenty minutes beside the creek with a good chapter book is just the right boost. 

Rest is yes, and rest is no. 

Here's to the coming June. Here's to rest. 

 

Have you been looking for a tastefully designed, small house plan that lives large? You may just find what you've been seeking in the newly-released Shelter Collection - four small floor plans designed for gracious living in 900-1400 square feet, the first & second just recently released, the third, and fourth coming soon. Peruse the collection here. 

 

 

With What You Have | 10

 

Words about contentment inspired this series that celebrates ingenuity, creativity, and resourcefulness. Join me in the comments and share what you've done with what you have. 

 

The headphones, cord, and iPod were often tossed across the table, then tossed across his bed, then back to the table. A kind of tag, I guess. Messy tag.  

 

The ball caps, too, ended up in a heap at the foot of his bed for lack of place. Nomads. 

In order to maintain sanity in the boy loft, we needed a solution, a home for these homeless things.

 

Of course, I went straight to check the shed and see what hooks we had around - they might not all match, I said, might need to get screws for them, but they might work okay...

He said, Mom, let's just use screws, the long ones. No hooks.

 

Of course. Just screws into the wall. Boom! Homes for the homeless things. 

 

Do what you can with what you have. 

 

Want to see the rest of the boy loft? Go here.  

Also, I'm over at The Art of Simple today, meet me there?

 

 

Have you been looking for a tastefully designed, small house plan that lives large? You may just find what you've been seeking in the newly-released Shelter Collection - four small floor plans designed for gracious living in 900-1400 square feet, the first & second just recently released, the third, and fourth coming soon. Peruse the collection here.