A Desktop Explosion

Happy me

I now have a semi-professional cubbyhole to call my own.
I've been working on a Walmart special since I set up my little office and it's worked OK. But after I bought a real office chair last year, the tiny pressboard desk I bought years ago for a child has seemed inadequate.
It wobbled when I moved in too closely. It couldn't bear much weight.
There was no desk drawer, just a small cupboard space where I could put paper.
When I had a phone interview I had to move to the kitchen table so I had room to put down a writing pad.
Papers and notes were often flying.
I was kind of teetering on the brink of disaster most of the time since this room is also one of the playrooms for the grandchildren. You never knew what could get covered in hot pink marker.

An explosion out of the box

I mentioned to Marc that I might like to replace my $5 desk in the coming year, maybe with an antique rolltop or some such kind of furniture.
Bless his heart, he immediately seized upon the opportunity to help me find what I wanted.
We went out. We saw this cute little hutch/computer desk that was on sale and I fell in love.

A foolproof process

We bought it and then realized it came in parts in a big box with an instruction sheet detailing the 34 steps it would take to put it together.
It was a kind of Chinese Lego project where you can't really see where you are going until you're done and the picture didn't match the finished product.
For me, it was a nail-biter series of days filled with impatience watching Marc sort out the pieces, pound in nails and screw in 50 little tacks.
I gave away my existing workspace and worked wherever.
Meanwhile, Marc slaved.

He did it!

(To his credit, he only lost his temper once during the process when we discovered a broken and blistered top rail that I had to take back to the store — in Draper, but that's another blog.)
He'd go to his paying job and then come home to work on his knees in the playroom, sweating and huffing as these odd bits came together to form an actual piece of nice furniture.
It's beautiful and it defines my writing space.
It's peaceful and I'm pleased. I can be productive here.
Now I just need some chocolate and a little Il Divo in the background.