Desk Decorating

I got a couple of questions about the things on my desk after Friday's post. Most of what I have isn't anything that is available for purchase online (except the Graphic Image Crocodile Leather Small Post Flip Pad and Kaweco Fountain Pen shown below) but I thought could at least share a bit on the assortment in general.

I'm a neat freak and get flustered by clutter so I've tried to streamline my set of tools and accessories as much as possible. I firmly believe in creating a workspace that functions well and looks pretty.  To achieve this form/function balance I abide by two basic rules:

1. Only keep tools that are used everyday out. Everything else can be put away.
2. The tools that are kept out need to be aesthetically pleasing.

So with those guidelines in mind, I keep the following ten items on my desktop:

• Cup full of pens/markers
• Lamp
• Box for business cards
• Notepad
• Paperweight
• Box for paper clips, rubber bands, and flash drives
• Kleneex
• Candle
• Letter tray
• Monitor + wireless keyboard and mouse

The useful tools that aren't so pretty are put in less conspicuous places. For instance, on the trestle shelf of my desk, I keep a tea tin for storing USB cords and a huge tape measure sits on top of that. Just behind the desk there is a bookcase that holds a desktop file box (with neat looking file folders), a printer, and lots of storage boxes that contain and hide everything from paint fan decks to samples and fabric remnants. This area is about to change though...will keep you posted on that plan. Anyhow, the idea is that I try to keep it simple, edit out anything I don't use often, and hide the stuff that isn't nice to look at.

Anyhow, if you're dying to make your workspace more snazzy (and bright), I've put together some different iterations of my essentials...plus a huge magnetic dry erase board that is on my wish list:

Reactive Glass Lamp Ensemble - Anthro

Lacquer Tissue Box - Jonathan Adler

Acrylic Desktop Sorter - Container Store

Lineation File Folders - Anthro
Metallic Lacquer Box - C. Wonder

Dragon Rice Bowl Candle - Market Street Candles

(for pens and pencils) Plimpton Peony Vase - Jill Rosenwald

Russell+Hazel People+Places Tab Set-Color - Amazon

Poppin Signature Ballpoint Pens

Crocodile Leather Small Post Flip Pad - Graphic Image 

Bright Stockholm Stacking Letter Tray - Container Store

5 Days Knock Knock Doodle Mousepads - Paper Source

Color Dot Magnets - Paper Source

Glass Magnetic Dry Erase Board - Poppin

Obviously I like a little color for a workspace! I think it's fun and cheerful and can make working more of a pleasure...it's the little things, right? So, what are your workspace essentials? What do you keep on your desk? Are you particular about how everything looks?

How to Style a Bookcase - Part 1

Most homes have at least one bookcase or TV unit that needs to be strategically styled and accessorized so I thought it would be helpful to provide some tips on the matter. There are a few steps in the process and I have lots to say about each one, so it'll take more than one post. I'll use this example that I digitally styled to walk through the process...

*I don't typically post about client projects since they pay for my services and it seems wrong to share that work with everyone, but I can talk about this example because I did this for my cousin...and she's not an official client :)

To give you an idea of the starting point, here is the before shot:

To begin, let's talk about an important step: accumulating and organizing the books. You'll notice that there are well over a hundred books in the image at the top. The biggest challenge for most of my clients is that they don't have enough books...or they have a high percentage of tattered paperbacks.

Hardcover books are key to achieving a sharp looking display. If your stock is low, I'm a HUGE fan of Coralie Bickford-Smith's hardback classics sets. They are a terrific investment...not only for their beauty but also for their content. The clothbound ones sell for about $12 per book on Amazon and the F. Scott Fitzgerald ones are just a bit more.

If going on a book-buying spree isn't in the budget, hardcover books can be bought in lots on Ebay, at estate sales, or from book resellers like Half-Price Books. As a book-lover, I hate that it's a shallow, quick-n-dirty way of "collecting" books, but hey, it takes years (and money) to build up a solid library and an empty bookcase looks pretty sad!

Once you have a whole lotta books, sort them. Aside from the sets (like above), I usually sort by color because it's visually pleasing. A bookcase is a great place for color, however, you might not want every color of the rainbow represented in your shelves.

Say you have a whole bunch of burgundy books (which is pretty common) and you would rather not have blocks of burgundy in the case. My advice is to cover those ugly books with some fabulous paper that coordinates with your desired color scheme. Wallpaper remnants are great to use or you can shop the fine paper section at Paper Source. Here are some of the ones I like, including the neutral cherry blossom one that I put in the design above to tie in with their grey walls...

Covered books can be labeled on the spines with pretty handwriting or if your penmanship isn't display-worthy, print out book titles on labels like these ones with notched corners. Etsy seller Neapolitan created these gorgeous covers with marbleized paper and stunning calligraphy...

This part of the process can definitely take time, so start tackling it immediately if you want your bookcase to look pretty sooner rather than later!

So, what is your book collection like? Do you own lots of hardback books? I only buy hardcovers now because I had the too-many-paperbacks dilemma. Luckily my parents read constantly and have way more books than they could ever display so I get their hand-me-downs too. 

If you don't have enough hardbacks, would you ever buy a big lot of them? And would you try to recover books to make them more suitable for display?