A Home Office Update for the New Year - Remodelista
January 1: I’m sitting with a cup of green tea (New Year’s Resolution No. Photography by Dalilah Arja. Over the past few years, I’ve spent a lot of time in this eight-by-eight-foot space, working at the same table that had served me well during my art school days, gouache stains included. Aside from a cat cameo and the chair, the old workspace was a bare-bones student’s setup. My first order of business was to replace the old table: I went with a white Parsons Desk currently on sale... ...for $179 (marked down from $199) at Home Decorators Collection (it works well with my old chair, an Eames molded plastic side chair). I’m happy to report that it took 15 minutes to assemble my new desk. Aside from the table’s simple design, my favorite feature is the discreet central drawer. My apartment came with unnecessarily long blinds that hung much lower than the window opening. I was happy to see that Home Decorators Collection sells a set of white Two-Inch Faux Wood Blinds in a range of sizes, and if you don’t see what you need, Home Decorators offers complimentary width trimming for most blinds. A coat of Behr Premium Plus Zero-VOC Paint ($25.96 a gallon from The Home Depot) in a shade of pale blue called Watery transformed a Two-by-Four-Foot Sanded Plywood Panel ($14.95 from The Home Depot) into a finished mood board. I added a Cargo Naturals Media Box to store all my USB and extension cords. A Royal Chenille Area Rug in natural ($95 for the five-by-eight-foot size) now anchors–and warms up–the space. After the addition of a Sherlock LED Desk Lamp ($149 at Home Decorators Collection), I’m not sure how I ever managed without a table light. I chose the satin steel finish; it’s also available in black nickel. I used a navy Amber Storage Basket (on sale for $48, marked down from $54, at Home Decorators Collection) to house books that overflowed from a nearby shelf.