Hello friends!
As I complete this manuscript and turn it in, I am looking forward to dancing around the house and then crashing for a much-needed nap. Once I ‘recover’ from the long, intense weeks leading up to deadline, I have what I like to term ‘Organize my Life Week.’ It’s ambitious but given I dive into revisions within a week or two of turning in my rough draft, that’s about all I’ve got.
My family can attest to the fact that this is not how my office usually looks. During launch time, which oh so helpfully coincides with the next book’s due date, there are boxes of books everywhere, author swag, mailing packages, and notes from my current work-in-progress.
Here’s a glimpse of my office after massive cleaning and the items that make my work space special to me.
As you can see, I like to be surrounded by things that make me happy. I have two pictures of Positano, Italy to the left of my computer. The bottom one was a painting my mom bought and the top one is a photograph my husband took of me and mom walking under the beautiful trellis of flowers.
On the wall behind my desk is my bulletin board where I keep cards, pictures, funny sayings, etc. It’s been the same for a good number of years, so I plan to freshen it up during this year’s ‘Organize My Life Week.’
I love the typewriter photo holder. It originally came with calendar quote cards, but that year has long passed so now I keep a picture of me and Little Man making the same expression.
I have a very long desk. It used to be our kitchen table and when it came time to replace it, instead of trashing it, I painted it white and made it my desk. My kids grew up doing homeschool around this table. Many science experiments and art projects went awry on this table as well. But having such a large desk allows me room for gifts.
This is my favorite section. The coaster was a gift from my oldest daughter, the wookie and Groot from my youngest. Whenever I’m getting fed up with my story or my characters are going a completley different direction than I’d planned, I turn Groot on. He dances as the music plays. So fun! And the cards behind the gifts are all encouraging notes from writer friends.
Last but not least is the fan-girl side of me. Yes, writers fan-girl too!
Sue Grafton was kind enough to send me a handful of the cool pens she used for autographing books and was sweet enough to write me a letter of encouragement and enclose a pen inside the shadow box with instructions to break the glass in case of a pen emergency.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this tour of my office!
Reader Question: What is your favorite item in your work space?
Blessings,
Dani
Latest posts by Dani Pettrey (see all)
- Top Ten Gifts - November 13, 2024
- Outpouring of Love - October 23, 2024
- For the Love of Travel - September 25, 2024
Love it ❤️
Thanks so much, Marti 🙂
Your desk looks quite neat and tidy, though I can imagine how it looked before your massive cleaning.
My desk is sort of like yours (not in the size aspect, mine is much smaller), it is usually quite messy but for the week after I tidy it up – and I do that only once a few months.
One of my nice things is an A4 sized blackboard which I can take down to write on and hang it back up on the cupboard next to my desk. I usually write down the things I need to do with a piece of chalk.
Another thing is a piece of scrap paper that is always on my desk, I sometimes write down notes on it, and sometimes doodle on it. When it’s full, I throw it away and get another piece of paper to serve the same purpose. Some of my previous pieces of scrap are very colourful.
Then there is a periodic table I won in a competition when I was in junior secondary. It is a poster that looks different from different angles. The elements pop up when you look at them. I now keep it under the transparent plastic film on my desk.
And there are those very nice stationery holders. I don’t know what they are called, but they are useful. I have found some pics online that better describe those holders than I do. But I must say that I em not using them well. Even with 7 of them, my pens are still strewn over my desk. It’s not that I don’t have enough space, but that I don’t bother to put my stationery back.
Your desk looks quite neat and tidy, though I can imagine how it looked before your massive cleaning.
My desk is sort of like yours (not in the size aspect, mine is much smaller), it is usually quite messy but for the week after I tidy it up – and I do that only once a few months.
Ok, then it finally comes to my favourite one. It’s a wooden decoration, a bit like the ‘It’s a flip flop kind of day’ thing on your notice board. It’s cut the shape of a cross and 1 John 4:19 and a pretty pattern is printed on it. It was a Christmas present from a friend from church. I hang it with its chain on the side of one of the stationery holders I have previously said.
Over the years, the setting of my desk has changed many times. I always try to make it best for me.
I have posted this comment some time ago but it was awaiting moderation because I put in links. That’s why I opened this web in another tab and copied & pasted it without the links.
Well, I guess the links of the photos of my stationery holder might not appear. But I just found out the name and you can google it. It is called a diagonal stationery holder.
There’s been some problem with the copy & pasting. But that doesn’t matter. just ignore the 3rd and 4th paragraphs from the bottom.
Hi Anna,
It sounds like you have a lovely desk surrounded by things that are special to you. My desk used to be our kitchen table. I homeschooled my daughters at it and we had it until both were grown. When I inherited my mom’s table, I decided to paint it white and keep as a desk.
Your work space is wonderful. I also love to be surrounded by what makes me happy. I am a quilter/sewer. My mom was a sewer. Which is where I learned my love for this craft. She is dead now so in my sewing room I have her thimble case with thimbles she collected as she and dad traveled the world for his work. I also have a shadow box of things that were important to mom and what made her such a beautiful person.
Hi Lori,
That sounds wonderful to be surrounded by what was special to your mom and is special to you. I lost my mom and grandmother 8 years ago (only 2 months apart) so I have my grandmother’s sewing table that I played with as a kid and a few of my mom’s pieces. It’s nice being surrounded by wonderful memories.
I was a bit surprised to hear you are a sewer and that your mother was a sewer… … only until I realized what it meant.
Such a great workspace! My favorite thing on my desk is my candy jar. It is Alabama football themed and currently holds the last of my jelly beans. One of co-workers gave it to me a few years ago.
Thanks. Oh…that sounds super yummy 🙂
Your work space looks so fun and full of Glee! 🤗 my favorite thing in my work space is my colored Pens that I always use to write down notes.
Awww. Thanks. I adore colored pens. They make everything brighter and happier.
Favorite things in my work space? Too many. As I write WW2-era stories, I always have a stack of cds with music by Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra, etc. I have lots of little toys, too. Two favs are a little Harry Truman string doll from the National WW2 Museum and an Italian leather cat (un gato) key ring that is too cute to ruin. My desk no doubt looks as your did prior to cleaning.
Oh, that’s so cool about the music and the toys. Great way to immerse yourself in the era.
What an excellent gift from Sue Grafton! She was amazing. Your office space is wonderful!
I hang all my daughters artwork on the wall around my desk. It always makes me smile. 😀
Thanks so much! That’s awesome. I bet it does make you smile. I keep my grandsons’ art work all around the kitchen and smile whenever I open the fridge 🙂
I Love keeping my grandchildren’s pages they have colored for me in my space Thank you for sharing with us The post was awesome!
Not so much an item as a self-contained place within the room. Recycled mediaeval panelling separates my office from the main ‘ Fire House’ *
Enclosed by wooden shutters, solid, not slatted, the stone window seat is more than 2ft deep In places, the walls of our 17th C farmhouse are almost 3ft thick – The window glass is almost paper thin – and etched onto some panes are the names who lived here long ago. We know they were children from old church registers. Here, until Monday, my beloved cat would sit on her tapestry cushion, shutters closed in winter, open in summer as she watched garden birds. On Monday, her failing heart gave out, and we made that last painful journey to the vet. From this window, I can see the new grave, between a holly bush and a wild rose. ,
* Fire House * Room where the big inglenook fire is. Nice. Cuts right through
posh English rules for naming rooms