As I approach the end of my first week as a guest blogger here at Room Recipes, I find myself pondering next week’s crop of stories.  A renovation-turned-love-story, a big city transformation, an architect who’s building an entire green community, and the difficult lessons of a homeowner whose kitchen reno went awry not once but twice, are some of the ideas I have my eye on.

In the meantime, all is quiet this Sunday–folks have finished up their Thanksgiving leftovers and are traveling home to prepare for the week.  So I thought it was time for me to share one of my own room recipes.

If you’ve every tried to share a desk with someone, you know how impossible it can be.  My husband generously made space for me on his desk, and we elbowed for computer time semi-successfully for the past 5 years.  But it finally became apparent that I really needed my own space, especially for storage of books and other office supplies.  Since my netbook is not networked to our printer, I still find myself at his desk occasionally, but we finally put our heads together to create a work space for me.

My list of ingredients?  Well, a minimum of space to start with.  We rearranged our limited rooms, which enable us to free up the transitional room between one hallway and the kitchen.  By using on wall of this for my work space, the entire room is more open–it’s cleaner, neater, and uncluttered (when I keep my table clean, that is).

Next, I have a table from Ikea that I refuse to part with, mostly because I don’t think they’re made anymore.  It’s a rectangular table, the ends of which fold down.  Four folding chairs are hidden inside.  I keep it against the wall, with one leaf folded out, which makes for a great little work table, but I still had no storage or shelf space.

So I turned to my husband Andy, who is our resident carpenter-in-training. He built a shelf unit that stands over the table using some scrap wood that we had in the garage.  “I had to keep the design simple, because I’d never made anything like that,” he says. “But it’s such a joy to build something for a loved one.” Andy has become quite the woodworker.  Before this he crafted a lap desk for me based on one I had seen in a catalog.  Next, he’s promised me a spice rack, and he also plans on building a desk for our friends to replace the various pieces they’re using in their makeshift office.

My dream writing studio/library still awaits me one day (see Diane Keaton’s space in Something’s Gotta Give, with a desk that faces a huge picture window with a view of the ocean!)  In the meantime, I’m so grateful for some scrap wood, a little imagination, and a husband with handyman tendencies!

Last 5 posts by KellyThacher

• O Tannenbaum . . . - December 23rd, 2009
• Lighting a Candle - December 22nd, 2009
• All For Show - December 21st, 2009
• Faking it with Flowers - December 20th, 2009
• Color Clinic - December 19th, 2009

Author: Kelly Thacher

Kelly has been a writer since she was in grade school where she received early recognition for her Young Author's project. Magazines like Home Entertainment, Luxury Consumer Electronics, Vertical Living, Luxury Home and the Robb Report were happy to have Kelly's editing talents on various projects. A series of career twists and turns has offered her invaluable experience in journalism, magazine and book publishing, and fiction writing.

Kelly Thacher has written 30 articles for us.