Like Mother, Like Daughter

As I wrote a few weeks ago, (see "Let the Inspiration Begin!" posted January 12th) my family responded to some complaining I had been doing by building a little workspace of my own for me.

A short time later, Katie decided she needed a workspace in her room. JP has his office, Jack has a desk, Andie has a desk, Mama now has a desk, so it's only fair that Katie should have her own also. Taking our inspiration from my new office, we created a cute little workspace for Katie in her room using her play table, a little chair, and a few other things we had hanging around the house. An hour or so of organizing and moving a few things around and voila -- twins!

Let The Inspiration Begin!

As I mentioned last week, I've decided to make only New Year's resolutions that will make my family happy, or will make my home a happier place. My family joined in this weekend and staged a fun surprise for me.

In a house like mine, where lots of time is spent building comfy and cozy spaces for every family member, Mom sometimes gets forgotten. Jack, Andie, JP and Katie all have workspaces of their own, but I have none. Combine that with the fact that my computer, my phone and my email address are all Williams-Sonoma property, and I have come to the verge of an identity crisis.

I mentioned that fact to my family before a recent trip to Florida, and came home to find that they had created a little corner of my own for me in a warm spot right next to the fireplace. Behold my new workspace:

Everyone pitched in with the project:

• Jack helped JP move my favorite table from the living room
• Andie made a linen board for me so I'd have all my pictures close by
• Katie went to the Apple store with JP to get me a MacBook and an iPhone of my own

I arrived home on Sunday night to find my nice little office corner all set up and ready to inspire my writing, reading, and other creative projects that typically get squeezed in where they can. My workday Monday was filled with thoughts of my new workspace waiting for me at home.

Thanks JP, for masterminding such a fun surprise. And thanks Furber family for helping. If you need me, I'll be in my office.

Thanks Santa (and Zoe)

Santa brought me the best present this year: a Royal manual typewriter.

It all started a month or so ago when I travelled to Austin, TX on an inspiration trip. My friend Zoe was on the hunt for a manual typewriter because she wanted to make her guest book a collection of typed notes from friends who stayed in her guest room. Of course, I decided to steal the idea and I put a typewriter on my Christmas list.

Santa outdid himself and delivered a restored vintage Royal Model 10 KH 957 circa 1934. The typewriter looks very cool in my family room, and has sparked an interest in literature for the whole family that I hadn't anticipated. The TV's barely been on, and the Furber kids have been lined up waiting to use the typewriter to write poems, stories, a few haikus, thank you notes, and notes to each other since the typewriter arrived.

My new typewriter is my favorite type of accessory -- it looks great, it's fairly indestructible, and fun for everyone.

Maybe I Need a Backup Plan

In order to secure my retirement, I've been planning to invent a universal charger that works with all rechargeable electronic devices. As retirement grows closer though, I'm realizing that I may not have the mental capacity to invent such an item for the approximately 100 million devices that need charging at any given time in my home. And I've just learned that someone has beat me to it. A new universal adapter is in the works and will be introduced in 2012 -- glory hallelujah.

I'll be first in line in 2012 to get my new universal adapter. Until then, we've got all of the following devices in regular use at all times in the Furber house:

Two Blackberries
One cell phone
Five cameras
Five iPods
One DSLite and one Gameboy (both Jack's)
Various remote control cars, planes and helicopters

And that's not counting all the things that only come out occasionally and therefore are separated from their chargers and become useless after a few months.

In order to keep the chargers at the ready, and keep my house from becoming a jungle of plugs, wires and devices snaking out from every available outlet, I've devised a system that works pretty well:

The big kids each have recharging stations in their rooms with enough plugs to handle all the devices used regularly by that child. Andie has this one for her phone, iPod and camera:

She likes it because she can close the lid and it looks nice on her desk.

Jack has this one for his gameboys, his iPod, and his remote control fleet:

He likes it because he can put pictures of cool cars, or whatever else is his current interest, in the front.

JP and I keep our chargers in our cars so our phones and iPods can be charging while we're driving.

For those things that aren't constantly in use or charging, we have a color coding system that works great: we mark each electronic thing with a sticker, and it's adapter with the same sticker, so we can match them up. We've been known to mark things with valentine stickers, basketball stickers, alphabet stickers. It doesn't really matter what kind we use, as long as we have two of them.

Every once in awhile I have to go through my house and tighten up the screws on our organizational system by unplugging things from random outlets and putting them back where I like them. But for the most part order reigns, and our system will hold us for the next three years until I can sleep on the sidewalk outside Best Buy to get my universal charger when it comes out.

You Can Have Your Table Back, We Have Some Better Ideas!

Study Nirvana, by Andie
Being an almost-8th Grader, I know I'm going to have A LOT of homework, projects, and tests to study for, so I'm going to want the best possible place to do it all. My ideal study space would have EVERYTHING I would possibly need. My desk right now is huge, and has lots of space to spread out my projects, so I think that would remain in my study nirvana. I'd have lots of fun colored bins to put pens, pencils, markers, scissors, and everything else in. There would be a fun colored lamp for late-night study sessions. The last thing that I would have is a bin for my folders, and put one for each subject. But a giant to-do list wouldn't be so bad either!
My study nirvana would be a place that's organized, colorful, and totally stocked with supplies. Even if I have my perfect study space in my room, I'd still want my whole family around me, so sorry Mom, I'd probably still study at the kitchen table!

My Crib's Already Boring Enough, by Jack
My dream study space would be a place where every kid can feel like a kid. There would be massages every day at 4 o'clock, an ice cream man, a mini fridge right next to my big vibrating chair, a slushee machine, and a churro machine, cubbies to hold all of my study stuff, my own bathroom and room service. I would be extra great if my little sister would bring me a pizza once in a while. If I had a study space like that, well then, Sayonara Mom! See you when I graduate.


I Can't Wait For Kindergarten, I'll Study All The Time, by Katie
In my kindergarten study space, there would be.....a notebook, a lamp, a comfy chair, and a homework book, and a pink table. And.....that's it.

Can I Have My Kitchen Table Back, Please?

School is approaching, and I have to say I'm looking forward to getting back into our school year routine. During the school year everyone wakes up and goes to bed at civilized hours, everyone eats three somewhat nutritious meals each day, and best of all, during the school year, everyone reads more and the TV doesn't seem to always be on.

As we get ready for the school year, study time seems to be the thing that takes us the longest to settle into. Each kid has a study space in their room, but the Furbers all like to be together, so they tend to gravitate toward the kitchen table looking for company. We have our family office, but that seems to be used more for pleasure than for business.

I will now turn Suburban Zen over to the three Furber kids to describe the perfect study spaces that would inspire them to retire to their rooms to do their homework each day.

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.

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.