Secretary Set Up

Remember Eddie Ross' gorgeous and totally fresh secretary make-over?

{the before}

{the after}

Ever since then I've wanted one of my own...to buy cheap and redo. Hmmm...as you might have noticed, I'm not the fastest when it comes to accomplishing things on my to-do or would-love-to-have list. (Case in point - the trim in the office which I need to paint, posted about sometime in early September and have only done 2 out of the 4 walls by now, mid-November.) So, needless to say I have not gotten my hands on a secretary:(

But I did have a run in with one this weekend. Too bad it is already taken...by my aunt. My sister came up from NYC this weekend so that we could help said aunt move in to her newly built townhome. The movers brought everything over to her new place on Friday, and then the MOH, P and I showed up early Saturday morning to help her unpack and move things around, etc. (Her new place is really great...beautiful hardwood floors, bright white trim with tall baseboards, huge windows, a soft creamy paint - a perfect and classic base.)

This is what we walked in to:



Do you see what I'm talking about? Not the mess (the lady just moved in yesterday for pete's sake.) Forget all the lampshades and upholstered cream chairs...focus on the far wall. My aunt has one of these secretaries? Where have I been? I know I've been over to her old condo tons, how did I miss that thing?! Do you think she'll let me have it?

{the other side of the living room when we got there - kitchen's on the right, over that half wall, fireplace is behind where I'm standing, slider to the left}

What? Oh, I'm supposed to be helping my aunt get settled in, not stealing her stuff?! Fine. Party poopers. We set out to arrange the living room, using only what she already had (which is lots of stuff that she claims she's had forever and doesn't like). All apparently, except the secretary. She still likes it. Figures.

First we placed the long yellow floral sofa a foot or two in front of the windows, facing the fireplace (there's not going to be a TV in this room). Then we decided to move the secretary next since its the second largest furniture piece and would probably dictate how the rest of the room would go. In true HGTV style, we put a rug under him and moved that big boy around in hopes of finding the perfect spot for him. First we tried that nook right next to the fireplace - it seemed the perfect size and what a cute little cozy spot to pay some bills or do some work.

{anybody need a small area rug?!}

I actually kinda liked him here. But we figured it might be overkill to have the 2 grandest things in the room right next to each other. So then we tried sliding him over to the opposite wall, to the right of the windows and backed up against the kitchen.

We put him closer to the window as opposed to centered on the wall because my aunt likes to keep the desk top down and that chair with it, and if we moved it more to the right it would interfere with the sofa. As it was, we had to move the sofa forward toward the fireplace (away from the windows) even more to fit the secretary here. And we didn't end up liking how far out in the middle of the room the couch had to be for this little set up to work. It made a long runway that probably wouldn't get used much in between the back of the sofa and the windows.

Doh! So basically we ended up moving him back to his original spot and liking this arrangement the best. Now if you sit at the desk you are still sort of a part of the main sitting area. And when you walk into the living room from the kitchen and the entryway, this wall is the wall you see. Get 'em right from the beginning!


Aunt Peg...if you're reading, I'll take the secretary off your hands anytime. Congrats on your new home and thanks for a fun weekend!

What do you think? Would you have put the secretary somewhere else? Or do you think we made the right decision?