Toni’s Elegant & Practical Solution to Upgrade Her Desk Space and Closet Storage

Last year, while I was staying with family and helping with my grandsons for a couple of months, you may remember that I purchased a desk to work at while I was there. I actually purchased a couple of desks during that time. The first one turned out to be a bit too shallow for my needs so I ended up purchasing a second one.

My daughter-in-law and l were both desk shopping around the same time and I sent her a link to this desk, only to find out later that evening that she had already ordered it earlier in the day. We both love this desk!

Desk for working at home

 

Here’s how it looks in her home office.

Design a small office area at home

 

It’s an awesome desk, I love working at it whenever I’m there. (Desk is available here: Desk.)

Desk for working at home

 

When the desk first arrived, I realized I needed some type of shelf on which to place my CPU tower. I wanted it to be practically invisible. You can just see the corner of it sticking out behind the CPU tower on the left side of this photo below.

Here’s a photo of it from the ad. I really liked that the height was adjustable. My son liked it and threatened to steal it from me for his CPU in his home office. lol When I purchased it, it was actually described in the ad as a Monitor, TV, or Laptop Stand. The measurements made it perfect for holding my tower, though. (This shelf is available here: Monitor, Laptop, TV Shelf.)

 

Glass Stand for monitor or CPU

 

A few days ago I received this lovely email from Toni. She said, “I have a very shallow desk (made in a portion of a closet of my son’s former bedroom) and you featured this shelf on one of your blog posts a while back. It has been the perfect solution as it allows me to put my keyboard under my monitor when not needed, thereby giving more working space. I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU!”

Monitor or CPU Shelf

 

Toni, thanks so much for sharing how you’re using it as an actual monitor stand. I love how it’s practically invisible. A brilliant solution to the issue you had with needing a bit more usable desk space!

Monitor or CPU Shelf

 

If you’ve been reading BNOTP for several years, you may remember when I pulled off a Houdini act, miraculously managing to squeeze a full-size IKEA Expedit into my office closet. If you looked inside this closet, you would probably think at first glance that this shelf unit was built-in since it spans from wall to wall. If I ever move, I think it’s going to take a chainsaw to get this piece out of here if the next homeowner wants actual hanging space for clothes. lol

To read more about how I managed to get this Expedit into my office closet (Hint: I built it inside the closet and DIYed some parts to make it fit) you’ll find that previous post here: Ikea Expedit Hack: How I Made It Work.)

 

Toni took inspiration from my Expedit adventure and added a similar IKEA unit to her guest room closet. Toni said, “Susan, I took your advice from your office closet suggestion and bought the shelf unit from IKEA to put in a guest room closet to store my extra decorative items in. This has been so helpful to corral all my “extra tchotchke” things together in one place. Another great idea and the case went together so easily.”

Shelving for Closet Organization

 

Love how this turned out! Toni is so right about how easy it is to assemble IKEA pieces. I was amazed when I put my office shelves and the closet Expedit together. If you have never bought any IKEA furniture, the assembly instructions contain little to no wording, they are all done with pictures/diagrams. In other words, they “show” you instead of “telling” you how to assemble their furniture. Love that!

Shelving for Closet Organization

 

From reading online, it appears a  lot of people were very upset a few years ago when word got out that IKEA was discontinuing their Expedit. It had been a super popular piece for them. Thankfully they replaced it with another shelving unit that looks very similar called the Kallax. I’m glad they did that because if I ever do move, I know I’ll want to purchase it again. It just an awesome storage piece and I do love storage! Just hope the openings in the Kallax are the same as they were in the Expedit so my current IKEA storage baskets will still fit.

 

Thanks so much to Toni for sharing these great additions to her home office! So inspiring and helpful to see these great storage and workspace solutions!

Shelving for Closet Organization

 

Toni renovated her kitchen a few years ago and it turned out beautifully! Check it out in this previous post: Kitchen Renovation.

*If a post is sponsored or a product was provided at no charge, it will be stated in post. Some links may be affiliate links and as an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases. *



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Comments

  1. Selma C Kessler says

    I love this idea! This looks like a great option for a linen closet, too! Thanks for sharing!

  2. It’s a great off set-up, but the DESK link didn’t work!

  3. Jayme Schron says

    That should have read office!

  4. It’s so fun when you find the right things! Thanks to you and Toni for such great inspiration! Happy Wednesday!

  5. Cyndi Raines says

    See Susan how much you bless everyone with all your great ideas and special finds! We all benefit! Happy for Toni and I looked back at her kitchen redo and it is lovely. Really like the curve of her counter and the raised bead board ceiling. Yes, I agree by taking down the one set of cupboards, it really opened up her space and makes it look just great! Totally awesome.

  6. Truly, Susan has some of the BEST tips, from window cleaner to the dusting spray she uses. I’ve also bought (at her suggestion), emergency lights that plug into an outlet to the Cutemol hand cream! Her blog is truly one to follow for lots of thoughtful, helpful and quality tips.

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