My Desk

It all started about 12 years ago. Really. I had checked out a book from the library on painting with chalk pastels (one of the many, many mediums I read up about when I was a teenager. What, didn’t you?) The subject was fascinating, but the part that really caught my attention was at the very beginning of the book. It was a schematic plan for building your own desk. But not just any desk, a desk for an artist: large, flat drawers for paper, and side drawers for all the other supplies you would need. That book started a dream that I’ve had to this day: a custom made desk that would hold all my art supplies.

Flash forward a dozen years, and I’m living in the Galapagos Islands, living a whole other dream. But hey, my super supportive husband who never forgets anything I tell him, remembers this other dream I had. And he says, you know, you could get a desk built here. Just like you want it. You draw it up, and someone makes it. My response was, are you serious?! And my second response was to start drawing something up. Like, before we were even living in a regular home and had unpacked any suitcases or anything, I had a working drawing for the desk I wanted. And then super supportive husband helped me out again, introducing me to Google SketchUp, which made it a lot easier to get together a precise drawing of exactly what I wanted, so I wouldn’t have to worry about the carpenter getting confused. After hours of fine tuning, this is what I cam e up with:

Yes, I added a side table so I could have more storage and more work space. Of course, I still don’t have room for everything. But it’s so wonderful anyways.

And here’s the finished product, complete with clutter and evidence of working order.

It’s all solid wood, all handmade, following my specifications, by a local craftsman, and it is pure awesomeness. And it’s big. The desk and side table combined are about 8 feet long and 3 feet deep.  And even though it was custom made, it was very affordable. So that was a big plus, too.

Of course, here is the real owner of this desk. I don’t mind sharing with her, too much.

With the gift of this desk from my sweet husband, I finally have a studio space in my home. Of course, it’s not usually this clean. In fact, it’s usually much worse. But that’s another story.

But I still love it. My favorite part are the extra wide drawers that fit my big watercolor paper. So nice.

Have a wonderful weekend!