I mentioned that the den was oddly laid out. I swear, it totally is. It’s tiny, has three entrances, a huge built in desk and most importantly houses the precious cable and television that our lives and decor must revolve around. I watch TV unashamedly and I love it.
Check out the small walking gap between the desk and the chair. This is precise reason the sofa is always in the corner – there is physically no other place it can go. I know, it’s not ideal, but it’s all the space allows for. Suck it den.
This office half of the den is one of my least favorite parts of our home, but ironically, also the place where I spend insane amounts of time. I’m not bitter. I’m not totally seething with fury over this.
When we bought the house the first thing I wanted to do was rip out the desk. This plan was vetoed, but every time I clip that desk edge with my upper thigh I dream of taking a sledge hammer to this thing.
This stupid effing desk. This ugly bulky poorly laid out terrible crappy built in desk. I try to avoid photographing it since its dumb and ugly and I hate it – and normally its covered in paper – because yeah, bloggers lie. My desk is this clean on photograph day or like once a month for special guests.
We can’t tear it out because all the flooring would have to be replaced and frankly, I’m just not willing to dump a bunch of cash into the desks removal and the repair that goes with it (because, oh yeah, there is even more stupid effing wainscoting that would have to be dealt with and the last thing I’m paying for is to fix that hot mess).
I would like to put a door on the weird open section since its stupid. Also, I need to move the electrical outlet down inside the desk, because WHY IS IT OUT THERE ANYWAYS? Then all the ugly cables could be hidden, and not by loose papers, but by being smarter than a desk.
Does this very simplified floor plan explain what the layout dealio is? There isn’t a lot of leeway for another type of furniture layout – although I have tried and failed – so our biggest hope is to just get the right pieces and live harmoniously with the awkward space through sheer perseverance and willpower.
On a happier note, I did recently acquire this vintage Eames DCM chair. This has been on my must have list for forever and I’m ecstatic to report that it is much more comfortable than the Eames shell chair I was rocking before. My big ol’ booty is supported and lower back is enjoying the scoopyness.
I actually picked the chair up on the same trip that I found the lotus pendant. I grabbed it in a little antique store along with this vintage Winnebago toy as a gift for The Boy. He loves motor homes? I guess that’s something you can love right? He’s always trying to convince me we need to get one and is constantly showing me craigslist postings, but if we go traveling via a car I want a vehicle we can stuff furniture into. Talk to me about a box van, honey pants.
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52 Comments
I’ve always liked your desk corner, the few times I’ve spied it. But I understand the desire to take a sledge hammer to a built in. The idiot previous owners of our house thought that builder’s grade kitchen cabinets worked great as a desk base and upper “bookshelf” in the den.
The thing about the desk is that it’s just not that nice or well built. Sort of ordinary and not as functionally designed as it could be. I don’t mind built ins when they are made and laid out well, but this desk just reminds me of like a 1970′s teenagers room. Like someone should be drawing pot leafs on it or something.
I love a good rant every once in a while. Do you feel better now? I kind of do. So thanks!
Heather
loveyourspace.blogspot.com
I do. I kind of really do.
A bar near my house just did a refit and have a bunch of “inspired by” Eames DCM covered in fake cow hide.
While there’s a lot of faux-ing going on, I gotta say – those chairs are DAMN comfy. Surprisingly so. I’ve always sort of dimissed them, assuming they wouldn’t be. So likewise, a DCM is now on my wish list.
could you use something smaller/multi purpose in place of the sling chair? eg just the ottoman for if people want to sit there, but it doesn’t clog up the space like the sling chair does?
I think I could will myself to deal with the built-in desk, but those outlets at eye level would do my head in.
Scored a DCM for a DOLLOR a while back. Yes a dollor. I was at a ghetto garage sale and was buying these cool old tool boxs’ and saw it in there side yard just glowing. Asked about it. She said “you really want that old chair?” haha she said I could have it for a buck. I was happy to say the least. Mines a little less nice, though for a buck?
oh for the love of a DCM. congrats on that score!
The room doesn’t have a bad layout per se, it has to do with too much cramped inside. You may want to remove the chair, keep the ottoman and move the shelving further away down the hallway. The coat rack also encourages visual clutter.
I beg of you…please let me buy your ottoman from you. Pretty please?
Dang, you are so funny. I’m very happy I stumbled upon your blog. I love reading it daily – thank you!
Can you move the TV to another bigger room? I know you like too move and swith things around.
the double dutch bus!!
You KNOW the desk has to go, it’s CHEWING up that corner…
Have you thought of using that “desk” as your media center? Then the sofa could be in front of the patio-side window and the chair/ottoman could be to the right of the sofa. You might be able to find something smaller to use as a desk on the wall where the media cabinet is now or, perhaps, near the shelving. The media credenza would have to go, but it could probably be repurposed as a bureau or buffet. p.s. you could leave that electrical socket where it is and pretend it doesn’t exist – that’s what I do with the one I have 7′ up on the wall in a bedroom (WHY??) Just have some others wired where you want them – not too hard to do.
Okay lady. I know it’s going to cause trouble but everything you are saying and showing screams that you you need to get rid of that built-in desk. Just hack the heck out of it and deal with what’s left when you have to. What about tiling the corner to deal with the wainscotting and floor problems and then putting in one of those super cool hanging fireplaces in the corner. mmmmm.
Oh dear. I know that den is your own personal hell and I’m not trying to negate that but…you’ve done wonders with it and by my untrained eye it really looks great. The desk may blow but it is functional. As for awkward, well, yeah…hell yeah. But here in NYC people pay $1.5 million for that one little room and call it a junior 1 (your desk would be the “sleeping alcove”). Hopefully, with enough inter-web encouragement you’ll find the serenity to accept the desk that can’t be changed, change the sofas that can be changed, and learn to know the difference. LOL!
Pretend you have your own hgtv show and take everything outside, add your grey paint, then have one of your design pals take out the desk and move everything back in while you’re eating ice cream.
You know, even without that desk there, it’s still a pretty awkwardly shaped room.
I hate to say it, but I agree with some others that you are trying to make this room into something it isn’t, and cramming in too much furniture. In my way tiny living room the desk chair is big and comfy and on casters. That way we can turn it around or even roll it over to join the sofa when we need extra seating. Love the sling chair but it is in the way. You DO have a big living room that you admit rarely using. Would it be such a crime to try fitting the tv in there? You love the tv, why not spend the most time in the best room?
Have you actually checked where the flooring ends? Possible they built the stoopid desk on TOP of the flooring, and that your Sledgehammer Fantasy could really happen! Oh, and is there no other door to the patio? ‘Cause eliminating that door (turn it into a window or something) would give you a wall on that side of the room . . .
But you really, really have done magick in a crappy-laid-out space.
What type of shelving unit is that? Is that a Cado rosewood unit or something else. I really have always admired it.
slap a trailer on that ‘bago and have your own american thrifting fantasy trip…
What desk? That sexy chair and monitor is all I see…
Seriously though, it kinda recedes into the background (in the photos at least…maybe your upper thigh would disagree).
I saw your lotus pendant on a Tastemake Tag Sale on One King’s Lane for $695.00. There were wall sconces too. You may still be able to see it. I’m thinking you got a hell of a deal!
I wish you guys could see stuff in real life. It doesn’t seem that cramped in here, but might look a little squished in the pictures.
I think once the sling chair is reupholstered in a more open simplified seat and I get a wee credenza instead of the shelving unit then the layout will make more sense.
We totally need all the seating we can get in here. The living room lacks a real place to have a television or else we would have moved it in there years ago.
Never realized how tight that space is, until seeing these photos. When I first saw your new office chair I wondered if it would be comfortable enough, glad to hear its very comfortable, and it looks great!
This room quickly became the Brown room, I have a brown Barcelona ottoman that would look good in their. My Green Womb Chair is coming next week =) There’s pics on my Blog
Yeah, I think you need a new sofa actually.
I like my sofa. So comfy.
Bonus!…The lotus lamp hanging in the hallway moves all eyes right past the big, white built-in until you decide to do something about it.
FWIW, I think that whatever dissatisfaction you have with the room, it still looks awesome.
WTF is up with mid-wall outlets – I’ve got those in my house too, they make me crazy. I need to learn how to relocate them, everywhere I turn they are in my face, mocking me. I also live with an underwhelming built-in cabinet/desk situation, it happens to be floor-to-ceiling and covers about 12 ft of wall. It was dingy, dirty white when we moved in, and I made the mistake of painting it brown shortly after. TOTAL BROWN TOWN. For the last 6 years I have dreamed of sanding the whole thing down and painting it back to white (or better yet, rebuilding it) but…it’s a huge job.
While the walkway may be a bit tight, your shit is hot!
Note: Not like hot shit in a paper bag, set on fire…and not actually “your” shit.
I am cracking up at the comment, “find the serenity to accept the desk that can’t be changed, change the sofas that can be changed, and learn to know the difference.”
Thank you for acknowledging that it’s okay to have a space where you watch tv. It drives me crazy to see living rooms with the tv shunted off to a side or somewhere that is totally not within comfortable eyeline of the seating. I like crashing on the couch with a movie and my husband. If we have company over, we are probably watching a movie.
And ugh the built in desk. My old house had one in a room that was something like 8′ by 8′. It went all the way to the ceiling, and the light switch for the room was *inside* the bookshelf. So you couldn’t walk in and flip the lights on, you had to walk into the dark room and reach back into the bookcase and knock everything down while you tried to find the switch. There were also *no* outlets on that wall. Power cords had to be run along the back of the desk, dodge a little wall from the bookcase and then down to the middle of perpendicular room wall. So much hate. If we owned, that sucker would have been gone and damn the consequences.
Could you round the corners of the desk, at least? It might mitigate some of the thigh bruising.
Hi there, I never post, but love reading the blog. I was looking at the layout and wondered if you slid the shelving unit more toward the door and then scooted the couch and coffee table that way also, maybe the chair would fit nicely against the wall with the window and patio door. It seems that might open the room up. If you were worried about tele viewing you could move that to the right side of the credenza… just a thought.
For all your seething fury, you always manage to make it look really great in the pictures. Outstanding camerawork, I guess.
You probably know your place and its possibilities plus its limitations best, and there seems to be no small solution to the problems you describe. However, have you ever thought about altering the situation radically? You have guest bedroom. Do you need it, do many people stay over? Could you have your den or your workspace there? I’m just fishing in the dark here, but you know what I mean? Couldn’t you send the tv signal wireless and use a beamer instead of a tv?
Probably all rot. I think you will have to get rid of that inbuilt desk.
I think I might have to stop reading your blog. You moaning about this room just comes across as moaning about your diamond shoes being too tight. Get a grip.
Tootles! I’m heading to Target to get another pair of diamond sandals. Size 10.
Thanks for taking time out of your life to share your trials, tribulations and successes! Your blog is very interesting and relatable.
i love your diamond shoes!
The desk looks great even though you say the quality isn’t so good. I agree a door over the open space would be a good idea and not so difficult or expensive. Moving the outlets will clean up the look if you can do something about the holes left in the wainscoting. Depending upon how long you plan on living in the house, you have to weigh the time and cost of labor and materials on ripping out the desk, matching the wood on the floor, installing it and doing the same with the wainscoting, and decide if it’s worth it. The person who mentioned rounding the corners of the top of the desk is something I would do because I always have bruised upper thighs and I’m not really a klutz…things just get in my way. A little crazy artwork on the walls above the desk would add some zing to all the white. Then your eyes and others would hardly notice the desk. I agree with another comment about moving the shelf unit more toward the door which would allow the chair and ottoman to be moved a little further back. Oh, and most important, if you come across another one of those Winnebagos please sell it to me since I never did get one of those from the “Breaking Bad” series. Your house looks fantastic, inside and out! I’m what you would refer to as a senior citizen and had never before heard the expression ‘hot mess’, but now it’s my new favorite.
OK my two cents:
do you use the outside door often?
(Because in my mind your den suffers from the same problems as Daniels livingroom in The Manhattan nest. Too many ways of walking through it.)
If not I would lock that outside door, treat it like a window and place my (wonderful) sofa in front of that outside wall. I’d put the Eames coatrack near another exit and make a bookcase that covers the coatrack wall as well as the end of your desk right behind it. It would make you see the workplace less and would make the feeling of the room less oblong so to speak.
PAINT THE DESK BLACK.
Oh poor desk, what’s it ever done to you?
Use the other living room and turn this room into a diamond shoe closet, Imelda!
Or hey! Swap with the dining room. Ooh, that would be great. Could you fit a dining table in there?
Although I totally love a good rant, I’d don’t think a person has truly seen an awkward space until hanging out in my weird L shaped (tiny) living/dining room with patio doors and corner fireplace. There is literally only one space for a sofa and getting around the room requires quite the dance. Your space and layout is gorgeous and I even love your built in desk. Grrrr. So jealous. Sigh.
Hmm, you mean the floor is laid in around the drawer banks? That’s messed up. Maybe some inset pulls on the drawers, and tops that are flush all around with no overhang would help? Good luck
i love that desk, at least in your photos i do. i say buy some metal chaps and call it a day ; )
ps i’m with the boy, winnies rule!
I agree with getting rid of the desk and the patio door. Too much going on in too small a space.
That would cost a fortune I don’t have, in a neighborhood that could never support that kind of renovation unfortunately.
i’m jealous of your DCM chair. and your womb chair. those are my two dream chairs! also, i think you should get a winnebago. you could fit WAY more furniture in there than you could a van. also, those desert ones are totally made so that the whole back door comes off i think. not as cool as a vintage winnie but boy oh boy would the boy love that for some dirt bike action. AND you could fit a couple of couches in one of those bad boys. just sayin.
p.s. people are getting hostile up in here. the room layout is kinda awkward, yes. morgan does a kick ass job of making it work, yes. i really like modernhaus’ suggestion. try trading rooms!! oh the boys will love that one.
It is like I wrote the last paragraph in this post!. I mean to a T. I am constantly being called over to the computer to “check out” all of these luxury homes with wheels. My guy wants one so *we* can tour around BC and ski all winter, and then *we* can drive all the way down to burning man in the summer. The best one i’ve seen so far would be a lovely late 70′s white and blue Dodge van, with blue velour to boot on the inside. It even had a tolet, right next to a closet….ummmm yeah.
OKay so about your weed problem in the driveway……I used the plain old white vinegar from the grocery as you did. I however, live in Idaho. We get more rain, the weeds came back within a month of me spraying them. I eventually sprang for the more expensive ultra potent vinegar (it is concentrate so you mix with water) sold at the farm and feed store. It was a hefty price at around 70 bucks but it goes a long way and WORKS……….it also burns your skin, so beware. Hope this helps!
I really enjoy your blog, and I LOVE your brick house.
Good catch on that DCM. I have two of them and I love them, but I don’t sit in them. Smart, huh? When I bought my two from Craigslist I thought I got ripped off on one of them (got them for a great price, so even if one was a knock-off I still came out ahead) and did tons of research on the DCM’s. What threw me was the rubber-collared feet and the solid legs instead of the plastic feet/tubular legs on most DCM’s. I received official word from the Eames estate that the solid-based/rubber-collar-footed ones are pre-1956, from the first couple years of production. So, you have one of the early ones, too. I think mine has the same wood that yours has. Any idea what it might be? That was the only thing I wasn’t able to figure out.
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