Sunday, July 27, 2008

I AM Like My Home Office-Helpful and Colorful by Guest Blogger Andie Furber

Well, it's not really a home office. It's just a desk in a corner of my room. But still, it has many uses and I love it. It's not just used for studying and projects. It's the central collecting area for all my stuff in my room.

I have the PERFECT desk for someone in their last year of middle school. You have WAY too much stuff to know where to put it all! You have your textbooks, your papers, handouts, homework, supplies, and also just books to read. Normally, I'd think there's no WAY that I can put it all in one little desk. But mine, is perfect to hold all these things.

This desk is from Pottery Barn, and is the same one that I have. It's perfect for everyone.

My desk has 9 little square compartments on each side, so I have 18 places to put everything!! I put all my school supplies in one side, and all my other things in the other. The thing that takes up the most space, believe it or not, is books! I have 7 compartments all devoted to books!

But sometimes, there isn't enough room to hold everything! If that happens, put some jars on top! I have 3 that hold markers, pens, and other things on top of my desk.

And also to organize everything, use colorful bins to hold everything, like these, from PBteen:
For everyone who likes color, these are perfect!

My desk is good for everything: storage, school, books, and supplies. The best thing about my desk is that next year, when I go to high school, it will still be super great. I may replace my markers with ballpoint pens, and my Harry Potter books with more serious literature (no, maybe not), but I'll still spend many hours hunkered over my fun desk, working, thinking and reading, just like now.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

I want to be More Like My Home Office -- Smart, Gorgeous, and Organized

If the kitchen is the heart of my home, the home office is the brains. Like most families, we've got homework, bills to pay, projects to do, research to complete, and varying special interests that come and go, most centering around the computer or office supplies of some sort. Jack went through a paper cutting phase a few years ago that involved multiple reams of construction paper and a box full of scissors. Now that's a project that needs its own special room!

When my husband and I bought our house five years ago, the two rooms that sealed the deal for us were the family room and the home office. We were moving from a house that had huge rooms, but not very many of them, so our home office had to be squeezed into our master bedroom. The excitement of having a room dedicated just to our home office was so exciting, we made an offer that day!

We started out thinking the home office would be just for the grownups, but then we quickly came to our senses and created a family office with a place to do serious stuff for the grownups, a place for the kids to do their stuff, and most importantly a place where any Internet surfing would be done out in the open under our watchful eyes. We knew we needed two workstations, lots of storage, and a central area that could be shared by everyone. We started by lining three walls of the office with modular file cabinets. We love the Bedford collection from Pottery Barn for a few reasons:


It has a corner desktop that allows us to go all around the room with our desk
The file cases are cheap and very functional
The system is modular so we can keep adding to it as our needs evolve
The black finish is great because it doesn't show dirt or marks

We've posted the grownups in one corner with the grownup computer, and storage for all the grownup stuff, kids in the other corner with the kids computer and storage for all the kid stuff, and shared storage in the center for office supplies, stationary and other important stuff.

Right in the center of the room, we have a big black dining table with a bench on one side that has become the central gathering place when everyone's in the office.

We love our home office for all its' functional qualities, but we also love that the kids tend to gravitate toward that room when we're in there working. Andie is kneeling on the floor next to me right now helping me write this post. Our office will continue to evolve as our lives evolve, but it will always be smart, gorgeous and organized. Just like me.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Who Needs Walls?

Since it's high summer, I thought I'd dedicate a few posts to the outside of the house. My family is lucky to live in California, where it's summer most of the year, so our backyard has become an extension of our family room. We eat, lounge, sleep, and play outside almost all year round. My favorite feature in our backyard is a doublewide chaise that's situated by the pool. My three children and I can all fit very comfortably in the chaise together, and have spent many sunny afternoons lounging and reading in that spot. In order to make it perfectly perfect, we have a big umbrella to shade us from the sun, big beach towels to cover the cushion and make it nice and soft, and nice, big pillows to make it extra comfy.

So far this summer, my family has logged approx. 1,962 hours in the back yard, most of them on the double chaise by the pool. I'm thinking about treating my backyard like a fine resort and charging my children for the use of the chaise. Perhaps I should charge them for towel service also.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Athens Beach, Where the Water is Cold and the Women are Hot

I just spent ten days with my family at my in-laws' house on the beach. There's nothing like the peaceful sound of waves, and the smell of the salt air to relax a girl. Those of us lucky enough to have a family house on a beach somewhere know that there is a unique decorating challenge that goes along with the sea and salt air: how to make the house comfortable and usable for the whole family along with their sandy feet and wet swimsuits.

My sister-in-law Kristen has a simple, but failproof formula that's worked for years. It's a combination of easy care materials inside the house, and tricks to minimize the traffic in and out of the house.

When the summer starts, and the families start to invade the beach house, Kristen sets up the following:

A big galvanized bucket by the back door that serves as both a place to collect shoes, and a reminder to everyone to remove their shoes before entering the house

A bucket of clean water at the top of the stairs leading from the beach -- from the time they can walk up the stairs by themselves, the kids know to stop and dip their feet to remove the sand before coming up to the house

The outdoor shower is stocked with shampoo, soap and big beach towels

The outdoor refrigerator is stocked with drinks, fruit and popsicles so the three major summer food groups can be accessed without entering the house

A hammock hanging under the deck right on the beach, so afternoon naps can be taken outside instead of inside. My son Jack and I have spent many hours swinging in that hammock and reading. Last summer we both spent a week in that hammock reading Harry Potter 7.

Kristen has made the outside of the house an extension of the inside, with many of the same conveniences. My mother-in-law is happy because the invasion of sand and saltwater in the house is kept to a minimum, the kids are even happier, because they don't have to interrupt their beach time for boring pursuits like food, water, or rest, and Kristen and I are especially happy, because our bikini time far outweighs our housekeeping time.

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