{me}longings Love

I want to give a shout out and a hearty thank you to {me}longings. I recently noticed a certain Etsy username had favorited a number of my shop's items, and I found the blog associated with the username: {me}longings. I also found the Flickr account, and between the two sites, I was highly impressed with the aesthetic and the ecologically responsible theme. I bookmarked the sites for further exploration. Within a day, I checked back in, and to my surprise, I had been featured! This fantastic blogger wrote possibly the nicest words ever said about me. I couldn't believe the number of sources she pulled from to gather her profile of me. I like myself better in her words. I will definitely be keeping an eye on this blog and her associated Flickr album, and I encourage you to do so as well.

A Study of the Home Library

During yesterday's President's Day holiday, I spent a good part of the day organizing our home ofice. We call it the study, but it could also be called a library, I suppose. I haven't quite finished, so it isn't ready for photos, but I was inspired to look for great home offices. So between now and when I can take some pictures (to finish organizing and to wait for some light during the hours I'm home), feast your eyes on these rooms. I love the view and the shelves in this room.

Great wall decor above.

Rustic and simple, and another great view. These shelves are similar to mine, both in form and the many non-book items scattered about.

Speaking of non-books on the shelves... I doubt I could cram the mastiff into any of our shelves.

Sheer luxury, right? Space, lots of shelves, plenty of comfortable seating.

I doubt I could ever exercise the restraint necessary for a single item on a shelf, but it does elevate each piece, doesn't it?

Functional and utilitarian.

Another luxurious study with a wall of shelves, lounging chair, and a great rug.

This home office has Office Depot furniture, but I found it appealing. (Perhaps that praise is too faint. The desk very much reminds me of the current desk in our study. We inherited it from the previous owners, but someday I want a lovelier one.)

More like this desk. I want a beautiful, large expanse of workspace, and accommodating two chairs on either side. I love the rug, too.

Talk about accommodating plenty of people. Great shelves here, too, and beams on the ceiling. And a fireplace?!

But small can be lovely, too. I love a desk that can close and hide your mess. And live plants are always great.

Another well-organized, charming desk.

Big room, small desk. Beautiful from tray ceiling to hardwood floors.

I love library ladders, and this room is so warm.

Another library ladder, though it's at a university. I couldn't resist.

A handsome library in Manchester.

This image of shelving and a ladder is from an abandoned school. I can't believe someone hasn't broken in and stolen it all. If you've enjoyed this selection, I encourage you to pop over to everyeskimo, where she has a collection of desks. I often find that she and I are on similar wavelengths, and today is another instance.

Re-Industry

Lately industrial decor has been catching my eye. There is something so heartwarming about pieces that once worked hard coming out of retirement to serve again. I pulled together an industrial collection to tickle your fancy.  This factory cart (above) has new life as a coffee table in the restored barn chronicled in the maya*made blog.

(chhowlett3)

 (HudsonGoods)

(ColoradoCustomWood)

(brandmojointeriors)

(jlsherman)

(HudsonGoods)

(TLSbyDesign)

(UrbanAccentHome)

(TopsyDesign)

(industrialrelic)

(sadieolive)

(dkgeneralstore)

(stevenhaverdesigns)

(mayamade)

(JodyDigger)

(threepotatofour)

 (threepotatofour)

(threepotatofour)

(UrbanAccentHome)

(phdconceptions)

(mikeyB81)

Bureaucratic Chic

The inspiration for my [long delayed] post today is this teal blue filing cabinet. It sits behind me every day at my office job. When I first started here 6 years ago, my government office was filled with ancient, bureaucratic government-issue furniture. Not much has changed. I work in what is supposed to be a fairly high profile office, but somehow we have the worst space and furnishings. Sometimes the people in our property management division will stop by and be horrified by what we're stuck with. Trying to be helpful, they'll offer to take away some of our rubbish and replace it with better-looking furniture. Sometimes I'll let them. But I've never been able to part with this teal file cabinet. To me, it's a screaming blue reminder that a) we're no better than any of the theoretically low profile offices, and b) sometimes something is so bad it's cool. I've collected some other retro office furnishings to share today.

A row of mismatched filing cabinets from flickr.

A variety of colored filing drawers from flickr.

Perfect patina in situ, from flickr.

A filing cabinet, right at home, from flickr. Vintage vignette from flickr. Silver filing cabinet from flickr.

Green and white filing... on wheels... from flickr.

Teal metal storage pockets from flickr.

Vintage Swingline turquoise stapler from TheFancyLamb. (I also have one of the oldest staplers known to man at my office.)

A mini Swingline stapler from nostalgictreasures.

Vintage 1950s turquoise typewriter from thefancytail.

Green metal file box (above) and teal check file box (below), both from retroology.

Vintage school chair from postroadvintage.

Retro office file organizers from backhomeagain.

Metal desk files from backgarage.

I find it ironic that if I let our property management folks take away my teal filing cabinet, it would probably wind up in a surplus sale, and it might go for $5. If I bought it, I could probably sell it for a few hundred dollars to a customer who would appreciate its history, sturdiness, and retro bureaucratic chic.