Does your desk inspire you? No, it's not a rhetorical question... we really want to know! We see so many desk and workspace makeovers on Pinterest and are obsessed with them, that we were inspired to give ours a spring makeover, thanks to the super-duper awesome folks at Russell + Hazel. Which got us thinking, does our desk reflect our inner selves and how we work? What does it mean if your desk is immaculate or messy; sparse or stuffed to the gills; bright and cheery, or monotone?
Since Chloe and I have completely different personalities and work differently, we took a look at our desks and our desk accessories to see if they reflected how we work or our personalities. The only thing we have in common is that we love pretty things, we both work in silence, and we both work (or go to school, in her case) at home! Here's what we found out:
Kim: My house & home have to be immaculate. Perfectly organized. Everything has it's place and it better be in it. But my desk and work area are another story. They are where I gather my inspiration, or just procrastinate & think, work, pay bills, and manage the household. My work area is not picture-worthy, which is why the photos we've taken are of Chloe's desk, because my desk is a jumbled up mess of notes + papers + notebooks + sticky notes.
Everyone in the house fusses at me about my messy desk, but nobody dares touch it, because they know, to me, my desk is absolutely organized! It's color-coded and organized in sections.
The desk accessory I use constantly is an acrylic collator. All of my papers are visible in one place so nothing, absolutely nothing, gets lost of forgotten on the bottom of the pile. It has saved me! All of my desk accessories are color coded:
- sticky notes coded by household, work, personal, ASAP
- mini binders are awesome for also separating tasks and I have a notebook (in each color) for each project I have going on. They fit in almost any purse, so I can throw the right one in for the right meeting and not have to lug a big notebook.
- file folders to gather scraps and loose leaf, to do notes, etc. Of course the tabs are color coded!
The verdict: My desk IS a visual sign of how my mind works: nothing is linear, everything sprouts from a central idea in a zillion directions because I"m usually working on zillions of things at a time. If my mind was mapped, it would be my desk. It's organized to me in sections, but it's kind of hectic in there. It's how I roll, and I think I like it kind of busy like that!
Chloe: My room and closet are ALWAYS messy. Always. But, my desk and my computer desktop are almost always spotless. I can handle my room and closet being messy, but when my desk and computer desktop aren’t organized and inspiring, I can’t concentrate. One of my favorite things that I love about my desk is that it’s bright and cheery. It might sound cheesy, but I really do think that a person’s desk should motivate them and my bright desk does! Since I go to an online school, I need my desk to be organized and I keep it perfectly clean so that I can start each day fresh. I use to-do lists and leather desk accessories to organize my pens and pencils. My favorite is the gold leather laptop case. Talk about functional chic - it's perfect for school and work.
The verdict: So, yeah, I think my desk represents a part of me. I like bright and cheery, I am a total "color" person, and I like to start each day fresh.
Pretty interesting and something we didn't realize until we jotted it down in this post! We'd love to hear your thoughts! How about you? What motivates you while you work? What does your workspace look like, is it a visual representation of you?