Apartment Decorating: Man Desk

Part of the reason we moved into a larger apartment was so that Mr. 3 could have an at home office.  He is a small business owner, so it's important that he have space to work when he is at home.  I would prefer this space not to be the dining table or the coffee table in the living room, which is where it has been...until now!

We've been working on this room since we moved in, but it has been a long process and the last room in the apartment to get done.  At first, we were keeping all of our unpacked boxes and pictures that needed to be hung in the room.  Once most of that was taken care of, Christmas rolled up and I was keeping a bunch of Christmas stuff in there along with the wedding gifts and other items we had stored at our parents houses and finally retrieved.  We've finally gotten enough of these items taken care of that we can finally start setting up Mr. 3's home office.  Mr. 3 has his grandfather's desk that his dad has been storing for him, but we haven't been able to pick it up when we've gone for a visit.  We weren't sure if the desk would actually fit inside our car to bring it back and since we live 5 hours from his dad, that would be an expensive U-haul trip to return to a different location.  We decided that we would just purchase a 6 ft. folding table from Home Depot so that Mr. 3 could make room for his dual monitors and happily set up for business world domination until we could figure out how to bring the desk back.

When we went this weekend to pick up the table, Mr. 3 got roped into hearing a sales pitch from a Home Depot salesperson on windows, labor rentals, or something of that nature (I didn't feel bad for him though...he wanted the free popcorn that Mr. Home Depot Man was offering up in exchange for listening to him ramble).  Meanwhile, I ran away and perused the front section of Home Depot where they display all their special buys and I came across this instead:

Home Decorators Collection Kelman Writing Desk in Walnut
Image Source: Home Depot

The best part about the desk was the price....$49!!!!!  I couldn't believe it.  It was an attractive desk for about the same price as the folding table we were going to buy.  I liked the desk because I thought it was manly enough for Mr. 3 to enjoy, had shelves that the folding table couldn't provide, and was cheap enough that we could Craigs List it for $30 if we needed to in the future.  Mr. 3 was totally on board with the idea and noted that we could even re-purpose the desk in the future once we have a house (in the distant future)...maybe as a TV stand?

Once we got the desk home (and carried it up two flights of stairs, ugh), we put it together in about an hour using a phillip's head screwdriver and an allen wrench.  This was, by far, the best "assembly required" piece of furniture I've ever put together in all my Ikea purchasing days.  

Parts Kit

The instructions were clear and the pieces were so unbelievably well organized.  All the assembly pieces were clearly marked and neatly organized in clamshell packaging.  There was even a little section for spare parts that had one of each item included in the kit.  When you opened the box, the pieces were organized in order of assembly which matched the instructions perfectly so there was no searching for parts.  The only issue we had was there was one set of holes that would not line up so we were unable to put the screw in; however, it was a middle hole and the rest of the desk was sturdy enough that we didn't feel like we should worry about the desk breaking.

If you are looking for other office pieces, the collection also includes a three-shelf bookcase for $99 and a five-shelf bookcase for $49.  I think the five-shelf bookcase would be great in a living room and looks very Pottery Barn-esque.  These pieces are all available online.  I also spotted one other smaller bookcase in store for $29, but it doesn't look like Home Depot is carrying it online.

We're still working on the room (we still have Christmas stuff to put away) and we are thinking about buying a sleeper sofa so that we can also use the room for guests, so I will keep you updated as we go along.  Until then, here's our inspiration picture for a neat and orderly workspace:

Image Source: Home Depot

But the reality is that I'll be lucky if I don't kill myself trying not to trip over all the "command center" computer cords.  

I was surprised to find furniture for the home office, since I mainly see sinks, tile, and toilets in this section usually.  Anyone else found any good buys or unexpected surprises at Home Depot?