New study and writing desk setup

We moved five months ago, and it has taken me this long (remember how grad school ate my life?) to get my writing desk and workspace set up in my new study. Oberon and Stella were gracious enough (or curious enough) to help me with this little photo shoot, and above you can see Oberon sniffing around near that one empty shelf cubby on my paper and stationery shelves. (How long will it stay empty? Hmmm...)



Here's a closer look at the writing desk itself. Yes, that is a towering stack of boxed postcards on the desk, and on the bulletin board above the desk, some of my favorite received mail and mail art.

For the first time in many years, I have a room of my own, and I won't go so far as to say I've finished the entire study -- sections of the room are carefully omitted from these photos, because they're still a mess -- but I'm thrilled to have my letter-writing materials all set up and organized.

In the future, maybe I'll need to do a blog post about how intensely I've organized my stamps and stickers now, in a way they've never been organized before; this deep organization project is something I've long been itching to do. It's really exciting and it took me many hours to achieve, with stamps and stickers spread out all over the floor, but I finally know exactly where to find everything. Not only is it efficient, but after years of having things all jumbled together, it's also very satisfying.



I'm thrilled to have natural light nearby. My writing desk in DC was shoved into a dark corner, and not an entirely lovely place to write... but it wasn't an entirely lovely apartment, either. Here, I have my own room, and nice big window right next to the desk. And that's Stella on the floor, walking towards me as I take the photo.

Best of all, this setup makes me really want to write letters! Today is my last day of winter break (back to school tomorrow), so I'd better carpe diem while I still have the time.

I have finally organized my stationery!!!

Yes, folks, this post title deserves three exclamation points.

Thanks to a trip to the lovely IKEA on Monday, I have two new sets of cutely named Expedit shelves that are now organizing the items in my study. In the past, when folks asked me how I organized my stationery, I had to admit that it was spread out in a million places all over my apartment. No more!! It's all here, folks, and I am kind of chagrined to realize how much I actually have. Good gravy. NO MORE EBAY STATIONERY FOR ME. Oy.

(Yes, the shelves are blocking a door; we never use that door and it was already being blocked by another piece of furniture pre-reorganization, anyway.)

Each of the cubbies has a theme, of course, which probably only makes sense to me, but you can see them all in notes on the Flickr photo. Roll your mouse over the photo to read the notes explaining each section. (Yes, I have a whole cubby dedicated to The Muppets, a whole cubby dedicated to vintage, and half a cubby just for Edward Gorey. You see where my interests lie...)

I am way, way too excited about this. I even have two empty cubbies! (I am considering putting my letter pile in one of them, but having it in the living room, where I actually write, helps me to see it all the time and know how many letters loom.)

The only downside is that I kind of stand in front of the shelves indecisively, wondering what the hell I'm gonna use for my next letter.