Writers' Rooms

I've seen photos of writers' rooms before and didn't care that much about it except to envy them.

But I'm right in the midst of considering how to rearrange my workspace so this (via) was a very good thing for me to see, for on-the-ground ideas.

I don't have a whole room for the writing, just one wall of my "bedroom", which is a bedroom, study, and sitting room in one. (The other large room in my apartment is living room and dining room, and I have a kitchen, bathroom, and walk-in closet.) The way the room is laid out, I have little choice about where to put my bed, which gives me little choice about where to put my desk. So I'm stuck with this one particular wall. (the white crumple in the foreground of the photo above is my bed.)

 It's kind of a weird and uncomfortable place to sit, but it's the longest wall in my apartment, and pretty much the only place I can put my table short of transplanting the two rooms. I solved the problem of storage by raising the table up high (it has IKEA screw up and down legs) and getting a draftsman's stool to sit on. Problem is, this isn't comfortable, and I simply stopped using the table. So I've decided to lower it to a normal height again, but now I have to consider a number of things:

1. What do do with all the crap stored beneath it. Should I install wall shelves over the desk? Put organizers on top of the desk? Invest in storage containers for under the desk?
2. Should I create some kind of mild barrier between the end of my desk and the doorway right next to it, as a kind of psychological boundary marker? And if so, what?
3. Which of my current organizers aren't working? What should I keep, what should I build out, and what should I get rid of?

Any detailed responses or principles would be welcome. Sigh.

Comments

[Aunty Wend]

That isn't a desk, it's a storage unit. You need to separate the two: paradoxically you might be better off with a smaller desk and a large but separate storage space. My best ever writing spaces have been small and clear surfaces but at ninety degrees to larger and more cluttered tables - could you perhaps put a desk and nothing BUT a desk kitty corner to your dining table, and keep the bedroom/current desk space for storage? Otherwise, I find David Allen's "Getting things done" is my key text - don't get pretend filing cabinets, just buy a proper four door filing cabinet (or even two) and shovel all your junk into there. Some day you'll put it all into neatly labelled folders, but until hell actually does freeze over, it'll look organised enough not to disturb your writing.

Write on!

[claire]

you're right about the storage unit. i might BE better off with a smaller desk, but i can't put it anywhere else. not that the desk wouldn't work anywhere else, but the things the desk would be displacing don't work anywhere else. and i can't take up more space for the desk, either, since behind the chair is the main traffic artery of the house and there's stuff behind that.

i think all the stuff i'm storing can be gotten off and away from the desk except for the computer accessories i use to work (there are a number of them) and the fodder for the computer accessories (paper, etc.)

i will absorb your wise words, o master, and see what turns up.

[RGF]

i riffed on your writers' rooms post on my blog. i also ended up cleaning up my office/closet space so that i can write more this year. thanks for the inspiration!