Since moving in almost a year ago, Pepper and I have thought it would be nice to replace our desks with something fancy and customized. My desk has been literally a solid-core wood door atop two filing cabinets for almost twenty years. It’s worked really well, but if I had to describe it in a word, that word would be “ghetto”. And she was using the desk the former owners left behind, which was fine but nothing special.
Enter Darell, a local cabinetmaker who was recommended by my friend Jim. Jim told me “Just so you know, Darell is pretty much a seventy-year-old hippie who happens to be really good at woodworking.” And it was absolutely true. He showed up the first day with long grey locks, a grizzly beard, and a happy demeanor. We spent some time telling him what we wanted, and he went to work.
A couple of days ago, he started the installation. One of the key elements was that both Pepper and I are now facing the corners of the office, which leaves the windows open for our spectacular views. Here’s my unfinished desktop:
Each cabinet was custom-built to our specifications– we each wanted a slightly different arrangement of drawers and cupboards to stash our office stuff.
After some tweaking and final adjustments, the desks were finished and ready to use. They’re made of real maple, with a butcher-block top surface that’s beautiful.
Here’s the finished product, with our computers set up in our respective corners:
I think my favorite feature of this whole enterprise is the motorized base under our desktops, making both of them standing desks:
After using an adjustable standing desk at Zing for so many years, I really missed it. Now I’m happily clacking away on my keyboard, writing this blog post, while I stand and stretch my legs a bit.