Updating Home Office/ Adding Desk Extension

Updating Home Office/ Adding Desk Extension-

When I started working from home in late March I didn't know how long it was going to be. We had a nice little desk in our spare bedroom that Dave mostly used. I decided to start using it. It faces the front yard, facing East and has a nice view out the window-

Previously in my office at work I had two monitors, which I really needed. Since they were moving out a huge amount of staff at once I only got one monitor, which was frustrating but I got used to it. This week they gave some of us second monitors, and some extra equipment since it looks like we'll be working from home permanently. Permanently is a loose term since who knows how long that means? Anyway I picked up my second monitor and this weekend Dave built me an extension for my current desk to have room for it-

2nd monitor waiting

End of desk

Luckily I saw the keyboard tray that I had Dave remove from the desk on the floor. I had a eureka moment thinking that we could basically use the keyboard extension as an extension on the desk to hold the other monitor. Dave used some heavy brackets and added a pine leg for stability-

works great!!!

I also wanted to update some of the decor as the walls are a light sage green, but is a cooler color. Some of the art on the walls were dark blacks and grays, which seemed too dark. So I swapped out some prints that I already had with white or light backgrounds. Then I bought a few things at Big Lots. I got a really cute little faux wreath, a white faux mini farm door and little wooden sign that says Live Simply with a white background. The sign was $5 and the wreath was $6, door was $20-

I transformed my previous home office into my full-time work office with a little bit more pizzazz. I also decided to reorganize our canning and storage rack so it looked a little bit nicer. Those little things to tweak. When you're working in a home office 8 hours a day and 5 days a week you notice all the little annoying things,  messy rack-

Before, messy desk shelves-

 After shelf shot-

 Also cleared off  small organizer with drawers-

I also re-purposed my thrifted frame/ home printed sign I had in my old office-

Now in my main hall with my lemon topiary I made!

Online Shopping Alternatives

Online Shopping Alternatives-
Like many people many of our local stores are shut down where I usually shop. Places like Ross, a discount store, where I usually find great deals on bedding, clothes, etc. for great prices. All our thrift stores have been shut down, not an alternative either.  We're doing lots of repairing, re-using, re-purposing as well, but that's our normal mode! Dave's favorite coffee tumbler lost it's rubber bottom today. I glued it back on! Obviously there are tons of other great online shopping places, I'll mention just a few I've used. There's a few local stores that I don't feel comfortable shopping at right now. We've been doing some online shopping at Amazon for certain specific items like specific clothing, small electronics that died, etc. I thought I'd share with you a couple of different online places that have worked out really well! After placing an order on Amazon, a week and a half went by with nothing shipped. I'm sure they're overloaded. I decided to see what my other options were. I canceled my Amazon order. I decided to try Target.com since they ship. My experience was that their website was pretty slow relative to others. I was really happy with being able to order some items, shipping is free over $35 and was delivered in 3 days. Looks like the warehouse it came from for us was in California.

I was running out of my turmeric supplement that we usually get from Costco. It works great for my arthritis! I was trying to figure out how to get more. Costco has been mobbed and neither of us wanted to go in there unless it's really important. One item for me did not constitute important. I decided to look on their website, I was able to order it, get it delivered to the house in about three business days! Free shipping, same price as the store, a win-win. I did notice Costco has listed that you can order groceries and have them delivered within 2 business days. I'm not sure how that works. This is only for Costco members.

Another place I've used for years is Overstock.com. It's free shipping all the time, for everything. I've bought all kinds of things there, great prices. I've never had a problem with any orders. We were down to our last set of cotton sheets and I had gotten Eddie Bauer's percale sheet there before. I LOVE their sheets!!! I love percale sheets because they're crisp and cool in the summer and they last a long time. I looked there but couldn't find any patterns I liked, so I bought a set of Nautica percale sheets. I don't mind spending more for some things because they last longer. They have soft navy blue stripes, reminds me of batik a bit-

I've shopped, and sold, on eBay for years! I recently got a great, like new, hardback cookbook for $3.00, free shipping. This will give me some new ideas for cooking while in lock down mode. You can buy everything under the sun there, just check reviews on seller first-

FYI, I have read recently that Ikea US is having issues with people getting notification from them on their online orders, no feedback, nothing arriving. This is on their Facebook and Twitter accounts. I'd steer clear of them for now. Hopefully they will resolve their issues soon, as I have a few things I'd like to order!

Hope you all are happy and healthy and hanging in there through all of this.