Last July, 2 months after moving to the mountains, I decorated my office. A trip to IKEA equipped us with a bookcase and desk. And I grew out of that quickly.

Just a bit of background about this studio space: it's kinds of weird. It's not exactly a square, with a jutting closet in a corner. It leads outside via a sliding patio door. It connects to what should be a mini-kitchen, but has no appliances, only cabinets, which is where we make our wine and store our large kitchen things. It has the same pine walls that make up the rest of our log cabin, but - as evident in the not-finished mini-kitchen, this level of our 3-level house got skimped on. It has fake wood floors and drop ceiling. Two things that I hate.

It also has a full bath, which is the one we use when it's too cold to shower upstairs in the master bath. And it connects to the living room. It's big, at about 120 sq ft. It's a good studio space, with natural light and a potty. I just try not to look at the fake floor or eye-sore ceiling.

The studio is multifunctional. It is my main design studio, where I design, file, craft and sometimes hide, as well as David's home office. Sometimes. I mean, he has a huge office at school, but sometimes he kicks me out so he can do nerdy things, like research papers and printing out forests worth of academic articles.

It's also where we (mostly I) work out. Tony Horton and I work hard, P90X style. And the studio is where I tend to do this.

The first office configuration worked well for David. After a few months in the studio, I realized I needed more desk space. I needed more filing space. And I needed more breathing room.

So I started planning. I knew I wanted a counter-height workspace, so that I could bring over my folders and binders to file without having to lean over to do so. I wanted nothing to have to sit on the desk. I HATE things being on my workspace. And David and I needed a space that was big enough for us to both work in the same place, because I was tired of being kicked out.

And here's what happened:





We did a lot of rearranging. First, the bookcase moved to the opposite wall, and the desk came off. It now holds the same things, but with no desk attached. The desk is upstairs in our bedroom, in a nook I once thought would be great for reading.

Once the bookcase was moved and the desk detached, we had a TON of space. We got a 6.5 ft long table top with counter height legs, along with 2 counter-height chairs that are proving to be the best idea I have ever had. There is space for one of us to work on the iMac, and the other can file, read, or even work on the MacBook on the other side. And we don't bump elbows! I can walk back and forth from the bookcase with file folders and binders, and never have to stoop or sit, before returning things to their place. Best. Idea. Ever.

We also got some shelves so that nothing would ever have to sit on the desk. I have a file hanger next to the monitor, some drawers for iPod and camera cords, and some magazine boxes for notebooks, as well as sneaky storage for a multitude of wires.

My second favorite part (first is the desk height, of course) is the lighting under the shelves. Easily installed and adds a fantastic ambience to the space. I honestly turned them on and stared at the space for at least 10 minutes after everything was in place. And I continue to do so periodically.

My third favorite thing is that we now have easily double the space to work out, or sit Lily down with her mountains of puzzles.

More workspace, more play space, more storage. Definitely the best studio I've ever had.