Summer Ahead

It’s still spring season, but once school ends in early June, my children and I will fly to southern California for the summer. I will miss most of Florida summer, but it will be nice to come home to a clean and nice home.

Coincidentally, two thrift-store-bought desks arrived yesterday.  I stacked them both against my sofas in the living room.  Now I can use my laptop sitting properly.  This will be better for the health of my back in the long run.  I like the look of some furniture stacked agains sofas and have wanted to do this for for a long time; finally I found two desks that are fully functional, in good shape, attractive, and cheap.  These are real wood furniture so they have good “bones”.  I just quickly decorate the surfaces of the desks for these pictures, but normally I leave them bare because of my toddler “runt”.  I recently changed the window curtains, too.

Off-white/cream desk: $30

Turquoise desk: $40

delivery: $35

painting of me and my daughter graces the mantel

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15 Comments

  1. 1

    I love the Florida & SE Asian feel to it! Although it isn’t common to see a desk perched against the sofa, it makes perfect sense since most of our lives are spent in the living room & on our laptops! Safe travels to the West Coast! Enjoy the dry cool evenings & have fun with your sister!

    • 2

      Nila, you are right about the Florida and SE Asian feel to my living now. No, it isn’t commonly done, but I like my desks against my sofas just fine. I have enough desks facing the wall.
      Don’t you find that you appreciate your home more when you are gone from it for a while? We are fortunate enough to be able to travel on a regular basis. Thanks for your compliment.

  2. 3

    This is delightful Hanh. It really reflects your style. That was a wonderful buy at the Thrift store. If I lived there, I would be in that store all the time. I could see an obsession forming for me.

  3. 4
    • 5

      Oh, thank you Nancy. If you live here, you and I can be best buddies going the thrift store. We have a really good one here: Habitat for the Humanity Restore. I both donate to and buy things from that thrift store so often. My children and I just love having sizeable desks against our sofas. Our floor plan is such that you really can’t place your sofa against the wall, so having desks against the back of sofas make sense to me. There is nothing interesting going with the back of many sofas. I am really satisfied how the looked turn out to my satisfaction. The painting of me and my daughter was done 5 years ago. I am glad to say my daughter is much taller and I still look like that. I love FLorida sun, but I don’t ever suntan. Healthy skin is important.

      • 6

        Oh! We have a Restore here! I am going to check it out.
        I love when sofas are floating and not against the walls. You are lucky to have the space to do this arrangement. 🙂

  4. 7

    You should really check out the Restore in your area, Nancy. I have been shopping at my local one for the last 10 years! I have quite a few pieces of furniture from this store that get a lot of use. to this day. The store especially ask for donation in building materials and furnitures. That’s why the store has a lot of good furniture. I went last Saturday and so many pieces that I liked had the “Sold” tags on them. Shoping here means you also help your community because the organization uses the money to build homes form people who need and deserve them.

    • 8

      Our Restore is the same. My son worked with Habitat for Humanity several years ago and I knew I could donate but I somehow missed the fact that there are treasures to be had at the store! Going there soon! 🙂

  5. 9

    Hanh, not only do I like that desk idea, I plan on using it when my grandsons stop running full speed into things, I love how you did your curtains beside your fireplace. A fresh take on the single valance pulled to one side. They are really modern looking.

    • 10

      Thank you Barb. I still have children who run into things. I really like sitting at the desks now because sititng properly when you are writing or working on your electronic devices is really better for your back in the long run. I didn’t have enough fabric to have longer valences so I arranged them that way. I am glad you noticed them.

  6. 11

    Hi Hanh! What a great idea for your desks! They also add so much more detail to your fun way of decorating! I like both styles, even though they are both so very different. Really Nice!

    • 12

      Oh thank you Maria. I think I have the style I have is because most of my furniture comes from the thrift store and hand=me-down. I haven’t really bought any furniture of high value in my life yet. The two desks come form the thrift store so there was no wide selection. You buy what you see. You can say my style is eclectic because I can’t afford financially to be more uniform 🙂

  7. 13

    Oh thank you Maria. I think I have the style I have is because most of my furniture comes from the thrift store and hand=me-down. I haven’t really bought any furniture of high value in my life yet. The two desks come form the thrift store so there was no wide selection. You buy what you see. You can say my style is eclectic because I can’t afford financially to be more uniform 🙂

  8. 14

    That’s a very practical and attractive solution, Hanh! I’ve been searching and searching in vain so far for the right desk/table to place behind one of my sofas in my living room. I love that you were able to spot them in a thrift store and immediately know they were the ones to fit perfectly within your characterful decor.

    • 15

      Hello my Darling Jennifer. I am so glad you see you posting again. I have missed you. Life can be so full of wonderful qualities. Keep it up.

      Yes, I was lucky in finding not just one but two desks I really wanted behind my sofas for the longest time. I am very happy to see how they turned out: functional, practical, and yes, nice decor, too. When you don’t rush your decor desire, things tend to fall into place when you least expect. //(~!*)\\

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