At some point this year I have decided that I will be staying in my current place for a while, as opposed to a rather nomadic life I had been living for a couple years before. What followed was the simple constatation that I needed a proper working space. While I had a banana-shaped desk bought for pennies from some company sell-out of used furniture, the fragment of which you can see in the photo below, I wanted something more.
I wanted to have an organised space for all my working needs, with a set of most often used books, my computer and its accessories placed within reach, as well as some storage space for the numerous papers and various other paraphernalia - all neatly composed and aesthetically pleasing. Having read an article on Lifehacker on using Google SketchUp for modeling one's home some time earlier, I decided to use it for the purpose of design and spatial planning. The program itself turned out to be extremely simple and user-friendly and my vision materialized itself in a form that can be observed in the screenshot below.
Having the preliminary design in hand, I have called local companies making customized furniture. I am not very skilled at DIY projects and I wanted it to be done nicely and, if possible, quickly, both of which would probable not be the case if I were to do it myself.
Out of three companies I contacted, I chose the folks that were not late for the initial meeting. Not surprisingly, they also sounded the most professional when we chatted about the project - they have measured all the nooks and crannies of the corner where my desk and cupboards would be placed and presented me with a rough order of magnitude pricing. They have also suggested some changes, such as not using roller blinds due to the cost of this solution, as well as altering the shape of the table top to make it more usable and not obstruct access to upper parts .
As a result of the discussion, I have sat down and made changes to the project. Funnily enough, I didn't have problem with resigning from some of the features I have initially designed. The experience of having worked with iterative software development made it natural for me to acknowledge that the process would be an iterative one. So, having introduced the changes, we have met once again for the final preparation, after which the gentlemen left with specifications, ordered appropriate parts and a few days later spent a couple of hours assembling them together, the result of which can be seen in the photo below.
I have added a corkboard on the wall behind the monitor, because I find it incredibly useful to be able to pin something up, either in order not to forget it (katakana and hiragana charts for my JLPT exam) or simply because it is pleasing to the eye (a postcard from Japan with three pretty ladies wearing skimpy Santa costumes). As for the one hundred computer cables, I have used some of the advice from numerous Lifehacker posts on cable managment and wrapped them together with small pieces of wire. My old laser printer found its shelter on the upper shelf, and it fits there perfectly. The smallish desk space on the left can be used for stacking books on the "to read" list, as well as for putting down a drink when sitting on the sofa.
I am really happy with how it turned out. Instead of using standard desk and cupboards, I now have custom-tailored workspace that is exactly how I wanted it to be: pretty, efficient and neat. What's more, the pleasure of designing the furniture and working place layout from the scratch was truly immense. Of course, I am now thinking about some upgrades, but nevertheless the overall outcome is very satisfying.
I wanted to have an organised space for all my working needs, with a set of most often used books, my computer and its accessories placed within reach, as well as some storage space for the numerous papers and various other paraphernalia - all neatly composed and aesthetically pleasing. Having read an article on Lifehacker on using Google SketchUp for modeling one's home some time earlier, I decided to use it for the purpose of design and spatial planning. The program itself turned out to be extremely simple and user-friendly and my vision materialized itself in a form that can be observed in the screenshot below.
Having the preliminary design in hand, I have called local companies making customized furniture. I am not very skilled at DIY projects and I wanted it to be done nicely and, if possible, quickly, both of which would probable not be the case if I were to do it myself.
Out of three companies I contacted, I chose the folks that were not late for the initial meeting. Not surprisingly, they also sounded the most professional when we chatted about the project - they have measured all the nooks and crannies of the corner where my desk and cupboards would be placed and presented me with a rough order of magnitude pricing. They have also suggested some changes, such as not using roller blinds due to the cost of this solution, as well as altering the shape of the table top to make it more usable and not obstruct access to upper parts .
As a result of the discussion, I have sat down and made changes to the project. Funnily enough, I didn't have problem with resigning from some of the features I have initially designed. The experience of having worked with iterative software development made it natural for me to acknowledge that the process would be an iterative one. So, having introduced the changes, we have met once again for the final preparation, after which the gentlemen left with specifications, ordered appropriate parts and a few days later spent a couple of hours assembling them together, the result of which can be seen in the photo below.
I have added a corkboard on the wall behind the monitor, because I find it incredibly useful to be able to pin something up, either in order not to forget it (katakana and hiragana charts for my JLPT exam) or simply because it is pleasing to the eye (a postcard from Japan with three pretty ladies wearing skimpy Santa costumes). As for the one hundred computer cables, I have used some of the advice from numerous Lifehacker posts on cable managment and wrapped them together with small pieces of wire. My old laser printer found its shelter on the upper shelf, and it fits there perfectly. The smallish desk space on the left can be used for stacking books on the "to read" list, as well as for putting down a drink when sitting on the sofa.
I am really happy with how it turned out. Instead of using standard desk and cupboards, I now have custom-tailored workspace that is exactly how I wanted it to be: pretty, efficient and neat. What's more, the pleasure of designing the furniture and working place layout from the scratch was truly immense. Of course, I am now thinking about some upgrades, but nevertheless the overall outcome is very satisfying.
