If you follow my monthly goals posts at all, you might know that for the past few months it’s been a goal of mine to clean out our office and turn it into a blogging/photography studio. When we first moved in we designated one of the spare rooms the “office” and Jason and I both had our desks and computers in there. About two years ago Jason brought his computer down to the basement so he could hook it up to the big screen TV and play video games through it, and I got lazy and started using my laptop on the couch all the time – so the office turned into storage.
I knew we could definitely make better use of the space, and since neither of us were using it I asked Jason if he would mind if I sort of took it over for blogging and photography space. He was excited about the idea! So after going through all the junk in there and cleaning everything (which took several months!) I was able to arrange and set up things like I’d envisioned them.
If you prefer to watch I’ve got a video tour of the room, if not read on!
Desk Area
I want to start with my desk space because it’s definitely my favorite part of the office! I actually took what used to be Jason’s desk because it fits the space well and he is using my old desk in the basement. The corner style desk is nice and big and has good storage area underneath.
On top of the desk I keep my laptop and some basic supplies. I have post-it notes, scissors, ruler, tape, etc. Then on the left side I’m using some of my mugs to store things. I have my old refillable mugs when they were still resort specific – the Caribbean Beach one is from my trip in 1998, and the the Port Orleans one is from 2005. I’m currently using a Starbucks mug to hold my sharpies, and it turns out that the Polynesian pearl from Trader Sam’s is the perfect vessel to hold pens!
To decorate my desk space I was super excited to bring all of my orange bird stuff in here! If you know me you probably know I’m a huge fan of the orange bird and citrus swirl. We set up some shelves to hold all of my little knick knack type items – glasses, figurines, etc. Next to the shelves I pinned up a lanyard I had and put all of my orange bird pins on it. Hopefully there will be more to add to the collection! On the other wall by the desk I set up 3 paintings that my friend Travis did and gave to me for my 30th birthday. They are obviously perfect for me! I’ll do a blog post later on showing off my whole orange bird collection.
Over to the right of the desk is the printer. The printer itself is on top of a little unit that also holds paper, cords, and a few other things. There was a lot of wall space on that side of the room so I also put up some fun Disney decor!
Photography Area
A few months ago I had purchased a photo backdrop and stand to do a photo booth at my birthday party, so it only made sense for me to move it in here once I had the space. When I’m taking photos of things that are larger (or myself!) I can do it in front of this. The backdrop can be switched out. I’m also hoping if I do some vlogging it will be in front of this background. I have two photography lamps but the windows provide some good natural light during the day.
Nearby is another table that I use for smaller photography purposes, like when I do my mug of the month. I have a number of photo boards to use as backdrops for these smaller shoots. I recently just did one with park maps (you can see it in this post!) that I’m pretty fond of! I’ll also use this table for crafts on the rare occasion I get to do some. I’d like to break out my silhouette, I have some projects in mind.
Closet
I’ve got a decent amount of storage space in the closet. Although it was originally intended for clothes, I added some shelving in there to be able to hold other things. It’s mostly craft supplies, office supplies, and scrapbooks/photo albums.
Bookcase
And finally, in the last section of the room we have the bookcase. I keep some of my Disney books in here, especially non-fiction ones that I sometimes reference for blog posts (like when I’m researching a post such as “10 things you may not know about Expedition Everest“). On the top of the bookcase is a lot of my travel agent resources and notebooks. And to the left I have a file cabin for all of our important life papers (because not everything can be related to the blog!).
So what do you think? Do you like my new work space? I’m pretty excited about it! Even though ironically I don’t think it photographed that well. It just makes me super happy to be in here and I feel more motivated to work when I’m at a desk surrounded by all of my Disney stuff, rather than on the couch with the TV!
I know it doesn’t look “picture perfect” like I’ve seen lots of other bloggers post about. It’s not all white and spotless. But it’s very me, and I’m happy with it.
What’s your favorite part of my blogging studio?
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