For quite a long time I have looked at workspaces on websites such as Lifehacker and the Unclutterer blog. I would often stare in envy at the creative workspaces others were sharing – wanting something like that of my own.  In my last house I built a custom desk out of old cabinets, some prefab countertop from home depot, a bit of plywood, some screws and some caulk to seal the countertop to the plywood base.  It was functional – and certainly not a bad first attempt at making a desk – but it wasn’t quite what I really wanted.

Flash forward to us buying the new house – our “for permanent” house – and Ann and I decided areas where we would spend money up-front to improve and put our mark upon would be our respective offices.  Finally – I got the office I had been wanting.  I have a workspace that is warm and inviting,  yet uncluttered and easy to work (and play) in.  It’s a relaxing space that honestly almost seems devoid of stress.  In short – it’s my sanctuary.   Ann has also done quite a bit with her office and – I must say – I’m a bit jealous.

So – I took the photos monday night after doing a little more work to finish off some of the remaining items on my list of things to do to the office (hanging pictures is the last thing on the list – slated for this weekend).  I didn’t have much time to do much with the photos,  but I got them uploaded to flickr and figured I would contribute them to the Lifehacker Workspace Show and Tell pool to share with others who enjoy looking at such things.

Over the course of the day yesterday I started to get more and more emails from Flickr,  especially after noon.  I checked Flickr and found – much to my surprise – that I had thousands of views of my office.  I say much to my surprise as – prior to these photos – I hadn’t uploaded much of anything to flickr in a while so my daily average hits was 10 or less.  It didn’t take me long to figure out that Lifehacker had decided to feature my workspace in their “Featured Workspaces” which had inspired me so much in the past.

Judging from most of the comments other readers enjoyed a glimpse into my home office.  Finally I have been able to contribute some inspiration and ideas back to the community which has given me a lot of both.

As far as offices / workspaces go – this one is definitely more on the traditional side, rather than the hotly trending minimalist side.  There is an over-abundance of storage, which aids in keeping clutter at bay (a place for everything, everything in its place…). I’m a huge tech nerd, but took great pains to keep the technology from overwhelming the space.  It’s incorporated, but done so in a very discrete way.  I keep the wires out of the picture entirely by using wireless keyboard/mouse and having monitor cables run through the wall to a cabinet which holds my PC and other electronic components.   The cabinet has a vent stack out the top which allows hot air to easily escape the cabinet – alleviating my initial concerns with storing the computer in there.

I tend to see two major approaches to the home office / workspace as viewed through Lifehacker and other sites which feature them:

1. Ultra-Minimalist – Desks which – while incredibly clean – are rather cold and sometimes clinical.  This isn’t to say they’re bad workspaces – I actually like many of them – just that they don’t feel very “lived in”.
2. Ultra-High-Tech – These desks exist almost exclusively to show off the technology of the owner.  Again – this isn’t to say they’re bad workspaces (I love technology, after all) – they just don’t work for me as all of that tech would become a huge distraction for me.

So instead – I went for simple elegance.  Technology without it being overpowering.   I think it turned out well.

This past weekend, along with Labor Day on monday, provided such an opportunity for me.  I spent time with family and Ann,  played some World of Warcraft, and got a few things done I had wanted to for a while.   The top thing on that list was cleaning my home office.   I spend such a vast amount of time in there working, reading, and playing that it’s distracting when it becomes cluttered and messy.   As much as I am not one known for being neat and tidy all the time,   I really do get a sense of calm and accomplishment when things are clean and orderly.

My home office is my sanctuary,  and also a haven of my complete geekery.   Primarily it consists of a custom built desk that my friend Nic helped me put together almost a year ago.  The desk was constructed using two old cabinets that used to be in my Dad’s home office, with 3/4″ plywood screwed down on top of them to act as a base and reinforcement for a 10 foot long section of countertop I bought at Menards for $50.   I replaced the hardware on the drawers and cabinet doors for about $20.  I then screwed an old wiring basket (leftover from the Proxito days) onto the bottom of the desk towards the back to help keep wires off the floor.  It needs a little re-working now, but has proven to be quite helpful.

The right hand cabinet houses my networking equipment (DSL Modem,  managed gigabit switch) and the stereo receiver my computers use.  I used a drill and saw to cut out part of the back panel in the cabinet to allow wiring to be run.  I am investigating what it would take to install some fans (120mm or 80mm cabinet fans – quiet ones) to give some added ventilation as it CAN get warm in there.

The left hand cabinet provides additional storage, as well as a filing cabinet – all hidden conveniently out of the way.  Directly over the left hand cabinet is a book shelf, also having come from my Dad’s old home office.   The only addition to the bookshelf itself is a set of 4 LED lights hidden into the top shelf area for some extra illumination at night.

My desk is completed by a custom built quad-core workstation that dual boots the latest version of Ubuntu and a RC of Windows 7.  Featuring dual 22″ widescreen LCD’s on articulating arms – this is where I do a lot of my work, and all of my gaming, at home.    Sitting right next to my primary workstation is my 24″ iMac which is used for photo editing and other odds and ends.  I’ve got Aperture 2 and Adobe CS3 loaded on it, and absolutely love that machine.

But really, what home office would be complete without a comfortable place to sit and read, away from the desk and keyboards?  My solution to this is an oversize chair with ottoman (thanks, Jason!).   This is honestly one of my favorite places to sit and read,  and one that is sadly under-utilized.  I am planning on rectifying that, though, and spend more time reading (and less time watching TV and/or playing games).  The chair is almost too comfortable, though, so I have to be weary of reading in it while even remotely sleepy or an unexpected nap will most certainly ensue.  Ann’s cat, Chester, can attest to it being comfortable – she naps on it daily.

And there you have it, kids, my home office in all it’s clean and functional glory!

So, it’s a new year.  2009.  When I was a kid, I used to imagine that somehow by crossing over into a new year things were different.   As though somehow the fact that it was suddenly January 1st meant that some unseen factor had changed, that everything was suddenly different than it used to be.  I know now that nothing really changes, except I now have to start putting 09 instead of 08 when I sign dates.  For the next few weeks anything that has to be dated by me will have a crossed out 08 in front of a hastily written 09, and THAT is really all that has changed. 

I’m actually having a very good day today.  I got some time to play WoW this morning – a game I’ve fallen in love with for the fiftybillionth time, and play whenever I get the chance.   Afterwards I had lunch with Ann before we went to pick out the tuxes for the wedding.   Nothing real fancy there, though I’m sure I’ll look nice (along with all the guys who will be there to help me celebrate). 

We also got paint, which Ann used to paint the upstairs hallway while I worked on re-doing the wiring for my workstation in my home office.  I turned a horrible mess of wires that were visible into a horrible mess of wires that nobody could see.  That’s an improvement, I suppose.   

Those of you who read my super-secret personal blog know that when I went on my trip to the west coast back in November I bought a ridiculously expensive pen,  as well as a hand-stitched leather journal.  I am happy to report that I am thoroughly enjoying both.  I have a much greater sense of freedom about what I write when it’s in a journal that is just for me.  I can let out my feelings and thoughts in a raw, unfiltered fashion. While I *can* do that here, it’s probably not a good idea for me to do so.  Besides, there’s just something fun about writing in a journal with a fountain pen….. Bob Leeds (that pen guy from California) was right… fountain pens are better. 

I am extremely happy with my home office.   It’s not large, but I don’t need it to be.   My desk *is* large, though.   It’s 10 feet wide and is everything I had hoped it could be. It’s still not 100% finished,  but is very VERY close, and that’s exciting.   All in all the office is everything I had hoped and envisioned and then some – I don’t think I could make it any better if I tried. Of course,  any suggestions from fellow geeks are welcome. 

That’s all for now – I’ll try to write something witty and humorous soon.   I make no promises.

This weekend, however,  I got a step closer to having a home office.  On Saturday my Dad and I went to the storage garage to dig out some old cabinets and book shelves that used to be in his home office, and move them to the front of the garage so we could easily get at them to move.  It took us a couple of hours of unpacking nearly the whole garage and then re-packing it all back in.  It’s worth it, though, as now the only thing left is to move the cabinets and shelves home,   sand them and either stain or paint them.  Then it’s a matter of finding the actual desk surface to mount between the cabinets and making it happen.   I’m getting closer to my goal, and that makes me happy

 My dad came over to my house on Sunday and he and I spent the afternoon doing most of the painting in the office (which Ann finished off with edging and touchups).   The painting wasn’t as much of a pain this time as it was for the bedroom – mainly because we had a lot more room to work with.  I think it makes a significant difference in the room – and I like it, a lot. 

I’m now significantly closer to realizing my “dream” of having a home office – and once that’s complete…. I’ll be even happier than I am now.   And that, makes for a happier home.