An Ideal Desk Space - Part 3: The Look

In creating my new work space, I want to merge three concepts - how the space feels, how it functions, and how it looks.

I posted about how it feels in Part 1. 
Part 2 focused on how the space functions.

Now I am ready for the icing on the cake, so to speak...

THE LOOK

I want my desk space to look nice.  Pilers spaces can look messy, but they don't have to. See post 2 for an explanation of a piler. I just need to organize and contain my piles so they look nice.  Helen suggests bins, baskets, and trays.  

The look I most enjoy could be described as colorful vintage.

The vintage look can be pulled in with old furniture pieces.  The containers can pull in a bit more vintage and some color. Old wooden boxes, pottery, and wire baskets make functional and attractive containers. It's easy to re-purpose things like drawers for creative containers. 

Plus, I want pleasing color.  I love to look at white on white rooms - they are beautiful!  I truly appreciate sleek modern design.  I enjoy completely coordinated looks with a limited color palette.   I really enjoy those looks in other people's homes, but for me - I want an eclectic mix of color. I do not want to be locked in too much. 

For now, I have gathered what works from what I have on hand. The setup is functional but really unattractive.

This is just a mess. Cords are showing. The colors are all wrong.  The shelf is ugly.  There's no continuity to any of the containers. I keep telling myself to be patient.  I'm just trying out different things so I'll know what works and what doesn't.  Pretty much anything I do will be be an improvement, don't you think?  I am a little hesitant to go wild getting nicer containers at this point.  The first thing I need to do is to find a better piece of furniture to replace the shelf.  Then I'll get containers to fit the space.

I have a feeling that getting my desk space just right is going to be a long process... probably never-ending.  Whenever I go to yard sales or second hand stores, I will be on the lookout for things that are both functional and pretty. 

Meanwhile, there's lots of inspiration to be found.
 
The blogging queen of organizing, in my humble opinion is Benita at Chez Larsson.  I don't even need to link to a particular post.  Everything in her small house in Sweden  has a place and she keeps it very very neat.  She's quite creative with her containers and no matter what your decorating style, you can get plenty of ideas.

 This is Benita's home office. 

I've always been a big fan of the way Susan at T-Cozy uses colorful vintage items to contain her stuff.  This look can go horribly wrong and just look like a bunch of clutter, but Susan is a master.  I never tire of looking at her studio.   Here are some examples:

There are some very good examples in this post I did about the studio area from Snapshots of a Good Life. I especially love her drawer on wheels.

I'll need folders and ways to contain papers.  There are so many options.  Here are a few interesting ones.

 If I need to have folders out, they could still look nice, 

like in this photo from Out of the Attic.

Or like this.

I can't remember where I found this photo.

I promise there will be more posts about my desk area in the future. It's high on my list of things to improve!