Furniture

Repurposing Can Spark Joy: My *New* Standing Desk + 3 Nosy Blogging Questions For You

/ Ally Bean / 258 Comments

With a hat tip to Marie Kondo who probably wouldn’t approve of my approach to clutter but would be kind about not saying so, this post goes out to procrastinators and frugalistas everywhere.

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Last week when I said nothing was going on here, I lied. In fact the story was staring me straight in the face, but I didn’t see it at the time.

You see, and the photos below will confirm, the story is that I’ve created a new better version of my homemade standing desk. The one on which my computer, Keyzia, sits while I write my posts.

In an effort to make my back love me again in the fall of 2022 I gave up sitting at a desk and thus began my quest to figure out a way to make my favorite current desk, a sturdy Pottery Barn number, into a modern-ish standing desk.

Granted I could buy an official real deal standing desk but I am frugal. And creative. And never sure how much longer I’ll be writing this blog, meaning that at some point I’ll no longer need a standing desk so why spend the money?

I got the idea for what you’ll see below from an Ikea hack website where someone had bought a small Ikea bench that they put on top of their Ikea desk to create a standing desk.

That is practical and cute as can be, thought I.

Then in a flash of money-saving insight I realized two things:

  1. We had a wooden bench [from Ballard Design] sitting in the garage waiting for me to get around to phoning St. Vincent de Paul for pickup [with other furniture of course];  and
  2. I’d kept that wooden bench stored in the basement for years, even though it never sparked joy within me, because it was sturdy and I bought it at the outlet store for a decent price.

Therefore instead of buying anything new, like from Ikea, I used what we already had here, repurposing the Ballard Design wooden bench by placing it on the sturdy Pottery Barn desk to make the perfect riser for my sweet Keyzia.

Thus Keyzia no longer rocks down to Electric Avenue while sitting precariously on a pile of World Book Encyclopedias covered in a tablecloth. We’re both happy about this improvement.

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BEFORE: my messy desk-type situation

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BEFORE: close up of where Keyzia sat

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BEFORE: the stack of World Books hidden under the tablecloth

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AFTER: a wooden bench soon to be turned into a standing desk component

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AFTER: bench on top of desk elevating Keyzia to a comfortable height

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AFTER: a standing desk with a tidy desktop because baskets sitting on lower shelf of bench encourage me to put my paper notes in one place

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3 NOSY BLOGGING QUESTIONS

When it comes to writing blog posts do you use a desktop computer like I do? OR, more likely, do you use a laptop or a tablet or a phone? OR, quite possibly, a combination of all of the aforementioned?

When you’re at home working on your blog where do you write? Like at a desk? At a table? Plopped down on a comfy chair or bed? Standing at the kitchen counter? Other spot?

Thinking ahead, how much longer will you be writing your current blog? When you end it will you walk away from blogging entirely OR start a new blog, maybe on a different platform?

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The One About NOT Beige + 5 Exceptionally Random Links For Eggheads

/ Ally Bean / 167 Comments

This advertisement appeared on my screen out of nowhere. I wasn’t looking for furniture. Beyond annoying me with its interloper-ness, this is not a beige nightstand; it’s a teal side table. Is there no truth to be found in advertising? 🤨

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5 EXCEPTIONALLY RANDOM LINKS FOR EGGHEADS

THIS is the Weird Old Book Finder.  It does exactly what it says it does.  Input a word, name, or concept then the finder will give you ONE result.  It’s fun, if’n you like surprises and spending time online goofing off.

[I’ve not tried this but on Twitter a few people have suggested that when creating a blackout poem you use a page from one of these old books.]

THIS is an article about cleaning superstitions from around the world.  Superstitions are, after all, part of a cultural language and the language we use shapes us. It’s interesting to explore how other cultures think about things– and what worries them.

THIS is the definition of the slang term ‘Pushing P’ that all the kids are using.  Or I guess they’re using it.  I’ve no kids to confirm the ubiquitousness of this term.  I’ll warn you that the term probably does not mean what you may be thinking it means.

THIS is a link to a cartoon of Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog who was [still is?] Tom Terrific’s ever faithful companion.  This black & white footage of the old Captain Kangaroo classic terrytoon cartoon is on the Internet Archive website, home of the Wayback Machine.

THIS is an article that reviews in depth 4 Famous Red Velvet Cake Recipes.  I haven’t made a red velvet cake in decades, but if I was going to make one, maybe for Valentine’s Day, I’d make the winner, as proclaimed in this article.

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Follow the links my little Eggheads.  Then read, contemplate, return here, and discuss. I’ve no specific questions today. 

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On A Pretty November Day Chatting About Outdoor Furniture While We Wait*

/ Ally Bean / 151 Comments

AFTER A WET and thoroughly disappointing October, we’ve finally gotten to the pretty days of autumn.

The sky is clear blue with a few white puffy clouds, the leaves on the trees are gloriously colorful shades of gold and rust, and the daytime temps are in the 60s F.

I like everything about this scenario, so color me relaxed and happy in spite of what is going on in the world.

Nothing has been as I anticipated it would be this year, so why not have a delayed autumn? Maybe even a late winter, too? 

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WE’VE BEGUN TO carry some of the outdoor furniture inside, storing it in the basement like we do.  Instead of taking one day to move all the outside furniture inside, we’ll do it in dribs and drabs.  Rather like the way in which leaves drop from the trees in the fall.

We’re also talking about taking the bold step of ordering some new outdoor chairs and a rocker to add to our outdoor furniture collection.

I only mention that we’re thinking about doing this because the estimated delivery time for this type of composite Adirondack-style furniture is 3 months [or more].  Therefore, if we want these items by next spring [or summer], we must order them soon.

In other words there will be waiting involved;  and isn’t waiting the subtext of 2020? And today?

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* It’s up to you, my gentle readers, to decide whether the wait mentioned in the title of this post is for furniture delivery OR for the polls to close today ending [I hope] this dreadful presidential election. Comment as you see fit.

In Which Ms. Bean Hurts Herself While Doing Good, Of Course

/ Ally Bean / 171 Comments

This is going to be a rambling blog post. ‘Tis time to tell a story, one that answers why I briefly stopped commenting on blogs, in case you were wondering. And even if you weren’t wondering, here’s the story.

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FACT #1 – About 10 years ago I was in a car accident.  A 17 y.o. neighbor girl child rear ended me as I turned into our driveway.  She was texting instead of paying attention to driving.

As a result of the accident I suffered a rotator cuff injury that, after drugs and a few months of physical therapy, healed with no lasting damage, until two weeks ago.

FACT #2 – Over the years because I didn’t know how to say “NO” I’ve inherited more stuff than you can imagine.  Among said stuff is furniture that is old, usable, but not really worthy of an auction.  More like vintage, slightly distressed furniture that you’d find at a flea market.

FACT #3 –  In August Zen-Den and I decided to contact St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store to see if they still offered free furniture pickup for donations.

The answer was a qualified “YES” in that they’ll pick up furniture that you’ve managed to wrestle to the garage, but they’ll no longer come into your house to carry the furniture out.

FACT #4 – We live in a house on a wooded ravine lot with a walkout basement.  This means that to get furniture from the basement, where it is stored, to the garage, where St. V de P will pick it up, is literally an uphill challenge.

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In a moment of middle-aged bravado…

Z-D and I said to ourselves WE CAN MOVE THE FURNITURE from the basement, up the side of the hill, to the garage.  And thus we convinced ourselves that we, and by we I mean me, weren’t weak and pathetic and pre-old.

While many pieces of furniture were easily managed because they were small, think end tables or mirrors, other pieces of furniture were awkward to carry.  For instance, there was a large old oak rocking chair, but most notably THERE WAS AN OLD 5’x2’x1.5′ CEDAR CHEST that had been my mother’s hope chest as a girl.

Amazingly we got the rocker up the hill without incident, but THE CEDAR CHEST WAS ALMOST NIGH-ON IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO BALANCE as we trudged up the hill.  It is while carrying this cedar chest and not dropping it that I slipped on the grass on the hill and wrenched my previously injured shoulder.

I instantly knew what had happened, but continued to carry my end of the cedar chest into the garage BECAUSE DAGNABBIT I WAS GOING TO HELP.

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Well, the rest of this story…

is exactly what you’d expect.  MY SHOULDER HURT LIKE HELL for a few days;  I started alternating ice and heat on it while taking Advil.  I stopped using my arm as much as possible, including reaching out to type on a keyboard.

And now, after about 10 days of TLC, I’m almost back to normal.  There are twinges, but no shooting pain.

As for our donation to the St. Vincent De Paul Thrift Store, it went smoothly.  The men arrived as scheduled, were pleasant, took all that we offered them, and ultimately OUR BASEMENT IS MUCH EMPTIER/BETTER because of it.

I’ll heal, but being charmingly cynical by nature I cannot help but think of the old saying: no act of kindness goes unpunished.  I’m glad we donated the furniture, but did I have to get hurt in the process?

Apparently the answer is YES.

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FYI: Yesterday morning I found this informative + fun article on NPR: Lift Your Head and Lower Your Arms– You Might Just Feel Better

I’ve done what it suggests and today I’m grooving on proper posture, finding it less painful/easier to type. When the student is ready the teacher arrives, eh?