baker's rack becomes desk

This project dates from before my accident... actually it's been months and months in the making (ie it took me that long to try it out and see if it worked and then figure out how to make it better.

It started when I took a home organization class at education week last August.  One of the points the instructor made was about having a desk space.  At first I tried commandeering the big desk downstairs, but I found that keeping all the files and "home management" stuff downstairs just didn't work for me.  What I really needed was a desk in the kitchen (like my mom had growing up)... but my kitchen is just so little...

I had recently added a baker's rack to the kitchen.  It was white, but  I spray painted it bronze to match the metal in the kitchen and painted the solid shelf brown.  I took out the bottom shelf so it could fit OVER the litter box between the hutch and the window.  It was just barely too big to fit in the outside corner  (because of the window sill), so it was turned the other way, sitting against the china hutch.  I was excited because it was going to give me room to over-winter plants, without having them take over the kitchen.

*** and guess what I found??  The "before" picture of the backer's rack!***

*** now I just need to find an "after" showing it over the litterbox... not sure if one exists....***

So... when I found myself needing desk space in the kitchen... I looked at that baker's rack and thought - if I take out the other low shelf and take the litter box downstairs... I can put a bar stool under the main shelf and make a kind of desk space...

I decided to give it a try.  The cats adapted (without problems) to not having a potty upstairs (with THREE downstairs they have plenty of options)  and I found that having a kitchen space to leave my computer and pay bills and stuff was really nice.

Next I started clearing out the bottom of the china hutch to make space for my file system and paper trays.  I've purged or relocated the things that used to live there.

After a couple months of trying this system I could say it really was working well.  So of course I had to try and make it BETTER.  I wanted to use that tiny corner more efficiently.  So here's what I did - I took apart the baker's rack, separating the bottom and top pieces.  Had Beorn cut me a new "desktop" - a rectangle to replace the quarter circle main shelf.  I also had him cut me a couple small pieces of wood to put between the new desk top and the top shelving piece (to raise the whole top up higher).  This let me turn the whole unit around and put it in the outside corner (now it fit AROUND the window sill) and let me get an even larger space for the "desktop".

I also took the cork board I'd hung up in the stairway and covered it with fabric and hung it behind the top shelves.   Now I can hang the little reminders and things right where I work, instead of in the stairway.

I'm still tweaking things a bit... but it is all working very well and I've made a 20" by 18" corner into a usable home office.  I could have just mounted a board there, or built a simple and small desk, but I love how using the baker's rack not only gives me plant shelves, but also gives me the metal work that matches the other decor in the kitchen. (you can also see another project in these pictures- - - I hung a mirror over the china hutch in lieu of a window, which is not in the budget anytime soon.)