This might be the most boring post I’ve ever written. Feel free to ignore it.

in Random Crap

My friend Laura is working on a project where she’s looking at the desks and working spaces of bloggers and she asked if I could shoot her a picture.  I did and then I thought, “My God, I could totally post this because I always love to snoop in other people’s offices, and also because it’s a fucking ridiculously easy post and then I could just spend the time I would have spent working on a real post watching When Harry Met Sally instead, because apparently I’m the only person in America who still hasn’t seen it.”  And then I agreed with myself.  Because I am lazy.  And agreeable.

So here is my office.

This is it when we first moved in a few months ago and were still in remodeling hell:

I don’t have a true “before” picture, but it looked just like this, but less messy and without the half-built bookshelf.

And here it is today:

It’s not finished, but it’s close.  I’m still saving up to replace the giant chandelier with something smaller and to have a plug installed in the floor so I don’t have to trip over that ugly extension cord every day.
The walls are a bit…odd.
And they sort of keep getting odder, but it’s my office so Victor can’t complain. Much.
My posse.
My posse.
The nice thing about weird shit on your shelves is that it looks nice even if it's dusty.
The nice thing about weird shit on your shelves is that it looks nice even if it’s dusty.
I made this. Not the deer. The deer was rescued from a flea market. But I did bedazzle his nose and make him magical.
I made this. Not the deer. The deer was rescued from a flea market. But I did bedazzle his nose and make him magical.

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The left head hates the tie. The right head loves it. Victor would prefer it if I'd stay away from his ties.
The left head hates the tie. The right head loves it. Victor would prefer it if I’d stay away from his ties.
And this is the corner that’s hidden when you first look in and it’s also where I put all my shit when my real desk starts getting messy and gross. I highly recommend having at least two desks so that one always looks clean and the other always looks like you’re actually working.

And that’s it.  You’ve now seen the inner-workings of my personal escape hatch.  Now I feel very naked.  Feel free to join me.*

*In sharing your desk.  Not in getting naked with me.  I have boundary issues.

353 thoughts on “This might be the most boring post I’ve ever written. Feel free to ignore it.”

Read comments below or add one.

  1. So THAT’S how built-in shelves get made. Funny. I always thought they were made during the building of a house. Now I feel stupid. Which also makes me feel naked.

  3. I’d be happy to share a picture of my desk, but it’s a little hard to take a picture of my own knees with a laptop precariously perched on them. You mean real writers have desks? Shit.

  6. What the actual fuck?? How have you not seen “When Harry Met Sally”?? And now it’ll never live up to expectations…but it’s so great…sigh…

  8. What in the world is under your desk? Besides the cat of course.

    Wonderful office, love all the creepy decor!

    (These giant plastic flowers I found but have no room for. I’m leaving them on the floor to remind myself to put them somewhere. They’ve been there for weeks. The cats hide in them. ~ Jenny)

  10. First, awesome office! It’s so clean (by my standards)! And it’s great you have a space to keep all your kick ass stuff where no one else it touching it! I’m totally getting an office too…and then I’ll get cool shit to put in it.

  12. I think I could spend a few hours just staring all the intriguing things on your walls. This is a work space I would LOVE to work in… and probably never get anything done in….

  13. Thank you… my fear of dolls with eyes, which is pretty much all dolls, ha made your office my own version of a living hell..

  17. I’m very glad you clarified in the asterisk. I was starting to peel. Then I remembered my cubicle doesn’t have a door. Or ceiling. And I don’t work at home.

  18. I haven’t seen “When Harry Met Sally”, either! Ditto to the person who suggested starting a club, we clearly have enough members.

  19. I am one of those people who will go to open houses when I have zero intention of moving just because I love to look at other people’s stuff. I see it as a sort of harmless form of passive-agressive voyeurism.

  20. What a great room. The only thing I’d have to do if it was my office would be turn the desk around so I was facing the bookshelves. Because I love looking at a wall of books, and so I didn’t spend all my time having conversations with the animals.

    That makes me sound a bit odd, doesn’t it?

  21. I’m extremely envious of your workspace…I’ve got like, 18 times the stuff (all my sewing supplies and what not) in 1/4 of the space.

  25. Though I have built-in bookshelves (that are not covered in dolls or taxidermy), I have enormous office envy because my office is like a room-sized junk drawer. People just toss crap in there and then sort through the piles when they want stuff. “People” are admittedly sometimes me when I’m trying to clean house fast before having people over. But it isn’t all my fault. I just can’t seem to control this space at all. It’s awful. So then I work with my laptop on my knees while sitting on the couch. It’s terrible.

  26. That is a beautiful work space. I’m a bit jealous.

    Also – I’ve also never seen When Harry Met Sally. But I’m okay with that.

  27. I wish my office was as neat as your office. I don’t have room for my Pope Mouse. There are too many photos tacked up, crap piled on the desk, and plastic lizards. I collect plastic lizards. My collection of lizards would rival your collection of dead animals.

  31. do you ever fear that the knick-knacks will come to life and try to eat your brain while you work? Because that would be a serious concern for me, and I think I would never get any work done because my eyes would constantly be darting around the room to see if anything was moving.

  33. Wow, that is gorgeous! I have a plastic card table in a crowded living room. I share it with the mail and library books and random things that people put down. I want your office in a big way!

  34. May I suggest Adam Wallacavage’s octopus chandeliers? http://www.adamwallacavage.com/ Unless you have issues with tentacles…but tentacles are ok these are awesome.

    (Those are FANTASTIC, but they’re also thousands of dollars, so that’s not happening. Maybe I could make my own. Now to find a taxidermied octopus… ~ Jenny)

  35. A really cool fix would be a neat chandelier with a fancy center that is a pull-down outlet. No drilling in the floors, and you would use your existing ceiling hole from eth existing chandelier. I’ve searched and they don’t exist yet, so I’m penciling one into reality, and sending off a patent. This is not a one-time problem, and I’m an electrical designer. 😉 I bet it wouldn’t be too hard to Frankenstein one together though!

    (That seriously needs to exist. ~Jenny)

  36. I love love love your artwork. My office walls have lots of crap on them, but none of it is as entertaining as yours. I too subscribe to the two desk theory.

  37. I am both totally amazed and envious of your workspace. I’m embarrassed to say that there is not a single room in my house that is so organized.
    Very beautiful room. I won’t share mine. My workspaces would make Martha Stewart, or some other designer person, run screaming suffering from anxiety attack just thinking of having to organize it.
    The only good thing about my mess is that I kind of know where everything is, except when I forget, and no one else in the house will even go in that room for fear of never coming out. Sad part is that my room is the smallest in the house, you would think it would be easy to get back to the door 😉

  38. It is fabulous, including the walls. and i HAVE that gold colored Flash Gordon style rocket ship bank. Would you please give us a good pic of the largest painting-thingee, right over the blue desk???

  39. I am so very jealous of your office. Mine is nowhere near that neat or unique unless you think large amounts of random computer parts that aren’t mine strewn about the place makes it unique but this is the internet so I’m guessing no.

  41. Very timely post as I’m about to move into a new-to-me house and get my first home office. I’m thinking built in shelves and a floating table style desk too. Then I remember my giant filing cabinet and now I think that’s going into the corner you don’t see peeking into the room. I can hide all my real work on that surface!

  44. It’s actually frighteningly tidy, which makes me embarrassed to show my working space, which is neither that interesting nor that organized.
    I love your wall collections. My desk is literally (and I mean that literally) covered with junk, and topped off with a buttload of Doctor Who toys. It shows I have too many real interests and need to narrow my field.

  45. I don’t know what I like best. Maybe the random old-timey revolver that I doubt you know how to use, because I know I don’t, but then again you’re from Texas so maybe that stereotype means you learn how to use old-timey revolvers. Or i like what looks like a rocket ship in the bottom left corner.

  46. I would take pictures of the room my “desk” (it used to be a kitchen table) is in, but I don’t know how submissions are sent in to the show Hoarders and I don’t want to end up on it accidentally.

  47. “It’s amazing…you like a normal person, but actually, you are the angel of death”. I don’t think I would be able to communicate without having watched When Harry Met Sally. I expect a movie review. Now you have to watch it. And yes, that quote could be used for a cat.

  48. I can’t decide which is scarier, your office or mine. Both are in what looks like the formal dining room. Yours is beautiful and nicely creepy while mine just looks hoarder-ish.

    (It totally was the formal dining room, hence the chandelier. We’re not into dining rooms though, so it was an easy choice to turn it into my office. ~ Jenny)

  49. Oh hell … I don’t know what to feel more indignant about.. The fact that I have a desk but I never really end up using my desk… because i am lazy like that..or that you haven’t watched When Harry Met Sally?!
    Ps I am writing from my bed. I would send you a picture of my bed but that defeats theuose of this post.
    I think You just helped me figure out why I haven’t made it as a blogger! Thank you !

  51. My blog is a decorating blog so I’m TOTALLY into this post!! It looks awesome. For you, that is. Honestly, I think rooms should reflect the personality of the owner, and this really does. My style involves less taxidermy (ok, none), but that is why I love you!!!
    Stacy

  53. I follow you on pinterest and it occurred to me that your office walls look a lot like your pinterest boards! How cool is that?!

  54. Curious: bottom left of your bookcase is a little cutout piece that has a (gnome?) in it and looks like it has a DOOR. Dying to know how you explained your specs to your carpenter…”And I need a secret door thingy for my gnome..this is non-negotiable…MAKE IT FIT…” (?)

    (I love your guess so much better than the truth. It’s actually a vent that they couldn’t move and so the carpenter just built around it. ~ Jenny)

  55. love your office. if i ever could have an office at home, i would totally want something very similar to your own office. and your decor is not creepy, it’s uniquely you, and i love it. thank you for sharing.

  57. I am also in the “Never Watched When Harry Met Sally Club” or The Notebook or Titanic ….. or most of the romantic type movies….. I hope I don’t loose my Woman Card for my confession…

  58. You have an Angelina Wrona on your wall! Awesome. Love her! You clearly have great taste.

  59. Dude. I have a wall-mounted desk in the TV room. And it’s a fabulous upgrade from working at the dining room table. THAT is one Hollywood-ass office. Also, you’re famous so now you get to call your weird walls “eclectic design” and get them featured in one of those home & garden decorator-porn magazines. Just one of the many perks – along with stalkers and fans who send you dead things in the mail – of your profession. You cannot even imagine the envy over here.

  60. Ohhh lovely! Now I have home office envy… which really should be home office motivation. But as I am a slug on some days, I’m sticking with envy.
    I did your space… I’d work there..with some Black dolls on the walls, and few peices of kente cloth, African art and maybe some drums.

    My envy is boundless… (shrugs shoulders, closes computer armoire, pours glass of wine)

  61. Wow. I feel like my work space wouldn’t meet muster. Your office is beautiful! And how can I take a picture of myself with my feet propped up on a stool and a lap top balanced on my thighs while I try to sip soda out of a cup tucked between my shoulder and my face?

  62. I love that your books are all arranged by color. It means that you have to be very familiar with the book jacket in order to find what you are looking for (which means you’ve spent a long time looking at the book, as well as reading it). I’ve found what I think are three of the Harry Potter books so far. *LOVE*

  65. So I already commented here but I saw someone else’s suggestion about something you might like, and I thought of mentioning Grant Garmezy Glass. He does a lot of incredible animal glass sculptures and some creepier ones, too, and I never thought of it before but I think you might like it. http://grantgarmezyglass.com/

    I went to high school with him and we took a bunch of art classes together, though I haven’t really spoken to him since. I think it’s awesome that he’s pursued his art and is doing such amazing work.

  66. You should totally keep the chandelier, I think it’s a strangely appropriate compliment to all the taxidermy and odd paintings. Like, here’s this classy thing, now look at all this awesomely fucked up shit.

  67. I wish my office looked like this! Well, I wish I had an office. And a working laptop. I tried blogging on a Kindle Fire the other day and it just wasn’t the same.

  68. I have to agree with some of the other post’s – I LOVE the chandelier. Really makes it “Hollywood Regency meets the Grim Reaper’s mortuary” or something like that. It’s fab!

  69. I have to know: did you guys do the built-in bookcase yourselves, or did you farm it out? I’m curious because it’s something we’re considering, but I don’t know how… unwieldy it would be without professional help (carpentry or therapy, either way).

    (We did some of it, but we definitely had people who knew what they’re doing build most of it. It’s shockingly mathy and crazy easy to fuck up. We learned this the hard way. ~ Jenny)

  70. I love your walls. I wish you would go on that real estate show where 4 people all see each others home and then they all have to rate/rank certain factors until one is declared a winner. I’m guessing you might be a shoe in for most interesting. Is that a real live cat on your desk?

  71. Jenny, is your chair comfortable? I did not really get a good enough look at it in the pictures. I find that is one of the biggest issues I have is a comfortable chair for all those long hours spent “researching on the internet”.

  72. I’ve never seen When Harry Met Sally. Ever… Wanna watch it together? 🙂

    Awesome office… I’d replace most of your creepy shit with stuff I like (which is not so creepy), but otherwise its FAB. Thanks for sharing.

  73. I use cats in all of my decorating, simply because they are vain and run in as soon as I am taking a picture. Awesome office!

  74. It’s very lovely in a dead animal and creepy dolls sort of way. Do you have some of those mints that melt in your mouth in a little glass bowl on your desk. If not. I will send you some.

  75. This just makes me realize I have hardly anything on the walls of my office. Except a brown paper bag with my author’s statement written on it, some stickie notes, and a wall calendar from 2012. Time to get decorating I guess…

  78. It doesn’t bother you to work in the middle of a room like that? I’m more of a corner hider.

    We’ve got five desks in this house and none of them is being used as a desk. My office is wherever I am, which isn’t conducive to productivity.

  80. Dude! cool office. Now pardon me – the kids are trying to eat lunch in my office. Which they have the nerve to call the dining room

  81. I LOVE how you have James Garfield mounted in the corner, and in the other corner you’ve hung a painting of James Garfield!

  83. I don’t think the german shepherd would appreciate my desk being so…open. He might be named for the Thunder God, but he’s a wimp who wedges himself in the cave-space under my desk anytime a storm hits.

    I’m quite jealous of your gorgeous built-in shelves. 🙂 Nice!

  84. Oh I love that office. I’d love to have my own office….
    And I am really tempted to turn my dining room into one…. Hmmmm…

    (Ps. The dead animals look lively so it isn’t all that disturbing.)

  86. *dreamy sigh* One day I will have an office, but since I despise sitting at a desk, it will have big comfy couches that no children can eat on and drip crumbs all over. There will be books everywhere, and a big ol’ picture of Jordan Knight staring at me for when I need inspiration.

    So, in other words, I have no office, but a girl can always dream 😉

  87. I just want those bookshelves!!! I’m dying for built-in bookshelves, but I have no place to put them in our current house.

    Would it be wrong to move just for that reason?

  88. I’m kinda creeped out and I’m pretty sure I saw some evil spirits lurking about. but, am I surprised? No, not in the least. I’d show you a picture of mine but I blatantly do this at work so….probably shouldn’t admit that.

  89. That is a seriously awesome workspace. Mine’s awash in school paperwork, lost lists that are now irrelevant and VW repair manuals. *sigh*

  92. Your office makes me happy. My studio still looks like your “before” picture, only with more boxes and in the basement, so spidery.

  94. It’s awesome! The second desk idea is genius because if someone sees it you can just say it is your assistant’s desk that is so messy. Now you sound important AND your desk looks good.

    Win-win.

  98. I totes love all the artwork above your small blue desk. The colorful geometric ones are amazing and since I tilt my head I relate to the girl in the other painting.

    Also I have only seen that one scene from When Harry Met Sally so I feel like it is pointless to go back and watch the rest of it if you’ve seen what everybody ends up talking about anyway. I also have never watched Titanic. I know what happens and I hate that song so I’m not devoting that much time to it.

    (Thanks! I did the three geometric ones back when I still had time for art. ~ Jenny)

  99. I have no office….well, I do…but it’s in the basement. And is pretty much inaccessible because when I “clean” my house I pile “crap” all over until it becomes a room where the door won’t even close. And that of course, is the day that Orkin decides to show up because I “scheduled” an “appointment” with them like 3 months ago. It should be illegal to enforce appointments more than 2 weeks old. God knows I can’t remember what happened on Breaking Bad from two episodes ago, and I like that a lot more than my exterminator. Not that he’s not a nice guy and all..

    I’m blathering again. Suffice it to say, I’m in the hallway upstairs. Working on a ledge in my bookcase. Envy me.

  103. I haven’t seen When Harry Met Sally either. But I’ve never seen The Wizard of Oz neither and I hear more crap for that one.

  104. I am both jealous you have your own space, and concerned that the desk doesn’t have drawers. Or does it have tiny drawers?

    (Teensy-tiny drawers. ~ Jenny)

  109. I don’t have a desk. I have a chair that piled with layers of crap, both on top, because it’s pushed against a wall, and beneath the cushion. Years of crap. Occasionally, I peer beneath the cover, or the long sleeve flannel shirt laying on top, to see if I can find anything that’s missing. Sadly, there’s never any money in either place.

  111. Please please describe the creature that lives in the bottom-left cubby portion of your built-ins.

  113. I feel all kinds of jealousy when I look at that! I live in a loft style apartment. I love it and it’s beautiful, but – the kitchen/living/dining space are kind of all one space and my bedroom, while separate is too small for a desk. Perhaps I will turn my laundry room into a beautiful menagerie like this….hmmmmm

  114. You HAVE to know that telling us to ignore a post is basically ensuring that we will all read it. Twice.

  115. Dolls that are even a bit life-like have always freaked me out. That office, as awesome as it is, would probably give me nightmares. Somehow, though, it really suits you. We should all have a space that is completely ours.

  116. It’s like you’re on an odd little stage, performing for dozens of criticizing fairy people.

  118. That is the single most fantastic office EVER! Nothing odd about the walls at all. I’ve got so many ideas for how to decorate my cubicle now. Might lose a few clients but… totally worth it!

  119. “It’s not finished, but it’s close. I’m still saving up to replace the giant chandelier with something smaller and to have a plug installed in the floor so I don’t have to trip over that ugly extension cord every day.”

    Is it weird that I read this as “…to have a pig installed in the floor…” and it made sense to me?

    Anyway, love your space. It’s personal and beautiful and it beats mine by a long shot – It’s miniscule, poorly lit, and I share it with my partner, 2 cats and one of their litter boxes. *cringes*

  120. Your office is gorgeous! Mine is…not so much. Ugly particleboard desk being slowly covered in stickers, floor I should probably vacuum, feather boa because I forgot why, etc. http://i.imgur.com/xlgJjnl.jpg

    Technically, this is the dining alcove, but we didn’t see the point since we don’t do formal dinners. Also, the 6 ft tall cat tree kind of takes up a lot of the space and makes it difficult to enjoy a meal without cat feet in the potatoes.

    Though this is my actual workspace, which is still pending someone-who-is-not-me to get his side organized so it’s not a huge disaster area. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0icPsDqxw0

  121. I love your office. And I love that you have a Maxfield Parrish on the wall. One of my favorite artists.

  124. I think, when you are installing floor plugs, that you should put another outlet in for a little bar fridge. You could keep wine slushies in there. And maybe body parts too, if need be.

  125. Gorgeous – and larger than any single room in my house…except maybe the garage. Which is a terrifying post-apocalyptic wasteland of fabric and hiking gear.
    But seriously…where are your drawers? How can you function without DRAWERS??
    Because staplers. And tape. And you know…. things.

  126. A second desk to dump all your crap on so that your primary desk always looks neat? Genius!!!!!

  128. It is so pretty, and lit, and eclectic.

    My innerspace (Ha the movie, Martin Short, sorry) is more dark and has several inches of dust.

    Btw, love your floor. We have dark wood, and it shows when someone walks barefoot. Dark wood was a bad choice.

  129. I was digging the photo till a couple hundred creepy doll eyes caught my attention simultaneously.
    Big eyes. Unblinking. Oh my goodness.
    I would have to make lots of little sun glasses if my wife had such a collection, that is if any survived the mysterious doll burglar.

  130. My favorite part of the after picture is the cats – both lounging under and perching atop your desk.

  132. This is my workspace. I don’t call it my office because it’s the corner of the table by the microwave. It is the dining room, too. It’s tiny, but I can see all the way down the hall to the bathroom and the whole of the living room, which makes it convenient when my toddler is loose.

  134. I love your office and I wish I had that much room to store the stuff I would need in my office if I had one. Actually if I had an office it would be a makeup room with a computer in it because I find that when I am sitting in my bedroom, surrounded by my makeup with my laptop on the floor, or the chair, is when I am most cosy, even though I am sitting on the floor and trying to prevent my cats from sitting on the laptop.

    I do wonder though if being the most comfortable in the room that is most bursting at the seams with stuff is a sign that I may be a hoarder. All of the makeup and everything else in the bedroom is neatly put away and I do actually use everything because we have found that applying, organizing, and just looking at makeup is highly therapeutic for me. I keep reminding myself that I would never get to that point because having stuff not put away gets on my nerves very easily and I am forever organizing the makeup and dusting everything in the room to be sure it is always clean, but still, you have to wonder.

  137. Some interesting CHI energy floating around in there. Chi: Defined as Breath, Air or Gas. (May you have the first two and not the third!) Blog in comfort! Love the bookshelves!

  138. I’ve never seen When Harry Met Sally. Now the thought of seeing Billy Crystal that young and in a Rom Com creeps me out. It might take another decade before I can handle ’80s movies again, and by then I might be dead. So I don’t think I’ll ever see it.

  139. Your office is as big as half my house.

    Now you are officially “the other half”

    I think I need a moment.

  140. I spotted a great red dress photo … nothing spun off of YOUR red dress project, so if I could have figured out a way to send this to you without using comments I’d have done it. But it’s a great photo, and the article makes her sound a lot more comfortable to be around than most of Hollywood.
    http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/kelly-lebrock-80s-sex-symbol-hiding-160937278.html

    I am by the way referring to the right side photo, with her kickin’ cowboy boots.

  141. Sadly, I am without desk or office, but hope to remedy the situation soon.

    Love the shelves!!!

    Oh — and my new office will also be the spare bedroom. Any advice?

  142. Imagine that the light shining down on your desk was a reminder of a wonderful and amazing personal accomplishment – writing your memoir and getting it published. I don’t think they make these chandeliers anymore, but I wish they did. It’s called a Bar Code Chandelier. You could have the barcode of your book made into your office light fixture. Even on your bad days, you would only have to look up and be reminded that not only does depression lies, it sometimes makes for funny stories, a good living, wonderful friends and geeky light fixtures.
    http://www.geeksugar.com/Totally-Geeky-Geek-Chic-Bar-Code-Chandelier-360491

  143. Love your office! I’d share mine but I don’t have a blog. Plus, we moved into our house months before you moved into yours and there is an embarrassing lack of decor going on in my place. I’m in awe of your unpacking abilities!

  144. It’s so very you. A whiff of class with a big ole layer of signature Jenny smeared everywhere.

    Seriously though, I’m still rocking the ginormous 500-pound hutch desk I got 13 years ago and it’s moved 1200 miles in two parts. It’s large, and just encourages mess. but I can hide behind it.

  145. Your office is fabulous– like, completely awesome. I love it. And I wasn’t expecting to… Which sounds kind of insulting, but I don’t mean it that way.

  147. You have a lovely office. I know it’s not done yet but…are you going to put the dollhouse in this room?

  150. By “odd”, I think you mean “wonderful”.

    I *adore* Parrish’s “Griselda”–his colors just make my heart so intensely happy.

  151. What is that under the desk that Hunter is laying next too?

    Love the oddly wonderful items.

  152. I love your office. I wish I had enough energy to finally get a start on my own … I have my cube at work (doesn’t count because I can’t really change it), but I need a space at home. Maybe this weekend I’ll finally start on that!

  153. I love your space. It’s not boring or creepy at all. It’s so quirky and awesome and *you*. I’m envious of your lovely built-in shelves, too. My “office” is covered in interesting piles of stuff, so I do my browsing there and usually take over a corner of the dining room table for actual work. Mind you, that is also pretty piled with books and papers.
    I didn’t mean to imply the other day that your commentators were the main reason I come here; you’re the main event. I guess quirky awesomeness attracts like.

  154. My office is also our spare guest room and where we shove everything when the cleaning person comes. Which means no spot to work and I end up on couch. You can see pick here http://t.co/IEeyEvuBva

  155. Always so jealous of your taxidermy!
    All I have are three deer heads in the living room that my husband won’t let me accessorize in ANY way.
    Not even Christmas ornaments on the antlers.

  156. OMG! You’re a rich person. And I’d always thought you were like me.

    (Ha! Not rich. Just good at buying old houses and flipping them. ~ Jenny)

  157. My husband and I share one table as a desk, and our computers are side by side, so I maybe have a 1.5ft by 1ft spot to work on projects, and then when I type, like now, I have to reach over all my projects. So I’m currently slightly smushing a felt rose. The entirety of my craft storage is one small plastic shelving organizer that sits right next to my desk (and it’s crammed, and has a mountain on top of it) and 2 boxes in the garage that never got unpacked because I don’t have space to unpack them into. I seriously wish I had an amazing work station like yours! No wonder why I’m so unproductive. D: Your entire office looks like the ideal workspace of everyone on the internet. I’m so jealous right now.
    I’ve also never seen When Harry Met Sally. I have seen Blazing Saddles and Paint Your Wagon, which I imagine are totally and completely unrelated, BUT I TOTALLY RECOMMEND THEM. Especially Paint Your Wagon. It’s kinda a musical, but it has Clint Eastwood in it, and a guy with a fantastic beard, and it’s amazing and it’s one of my favorite movies.

  158. What an awesome space that truly reflects you. If we are ever in a position to own a home again, I hope to create a space that is uniquely mine. I miss my woman-cave days. 🙂

  160. Hi Jenny – I’m the weird fan girl you met at the retreat. Thrilled to meet you in person.

    Nice space. I’ll have to set up the second desk in my office. Great idea.

  162. Would that be a rocket ship bank over your doorway?

    (Yep. It was my dad’s when he was little. ~ Jenny)

  164. oh my jeez. I have the same heart with wings thing. it’s in my kitchen up above the cabinets where things from hobby lobby should be. I have a fear of stuffed animals so, at least we can share a partiality toward hearts with wings.

  166. Love it! And by the way: Ignore + Bloggess = Does Not Compute
    (You should totally let me post your office pics on my site)
    -XO

  167. First off I love your office—gorgeous and odd in a wonderful kind of way.
    I fully support the 2 desk concept-except I have 2 small rooms…It has only recently occurred to my husband that every time I announce I have cleaned my office, it really means that schlepped all my stuff from the “office” to the “studio” and closed the door…he now worries that I am a functional hoarder.

  168. Can I just move into the huge flowers you have under your desk……. I think I could fit….

    Love all of your dolls!! Where did you get the from and how many do you have?

    Another Texas Lady

  170. –>I’m not going to lie. Your office both terrifies me and intrigues me at the same time. I do not want to imagine all those creatures coming to the life like when Andy leave his room in Toy Story. Damn, now I am imagining Just that scenario.

    (Time to watch When Harry Met Sally and relax my nerves.)

    deb

  171. I don’t know what you mean by boring…? That was exhilarating! Ok, maybe no exhilerating. But it was interesting at least. Love seeing where you work! I personally wouldn’t be able to work in an office like that, but that’s why it’s yours and not mine! Thanks for sharing. (At first I typed sharting and then I thought, oh, that’s embarrassing! And disgusting… Thanks for not sharting!)

  172. Light fixture problem solved, Jenny. Two words: Tramp Lamp

    https://www.etsy.com/listing/160495090/breahan-a-hand-made-tramp-lamp-crafted?

    They are fun to look at, but even more fun to say. “That? Oh, that’s a Tramp Lamp.” If you wanted to get really weird with it, you could build a little ramp up to it, and line up some of the smaller taxidermied animals like they’re going to march up and dive right into the boob part, and you could put a fresh coat of paint on the ramp, and then you could say, “Oh, don’t touch the Tramp Lamp Ramp — it’s damp.”

  174. I am more creeped out by all the dolls than the dead heads. All those blank soulless eyes, staring at you….. But can someone tell me, the beach scene on the wall that looks 3-D with a little flying woman with an umbrella floating out of it? Are those two separate pieces combined or one? Anyone know?

    (Separate. The woman is made of used coffee filters. ~ Jenny)

  175. You want to talk about lazy? Right after I look at it and think, How cool! I think,

    “Goddammit, how do you stand to DUST all that stuff??”

    (They don’t get dusted. That’s why all the pictures are far away. ~ Jenny)

  176. Pretty! At some point I’d love to see photos of your dolls and have you tell us what they are (what line, etc.). I love dolls and would love to know more.

    (But then I’d have to dust them. 🙂 They’re mostly Ellowyne Wilde, Blythe and Pullip. I’ve been collecting them for years. ~ Jenny)

  177. With all those cats how is it that your office looks so clean?!? I have a tiny war box cottage and two cats and it’s always a fur and cat puke covered nightmare.
    Do you ever notice that the cats always elect to puke on the fringe of a rug – the hardest part to clean?

  178. Okay, who does all the dusting? My OCD just went a little on tilt. Lovely office, dolls, things … but it would take forever to dust and clean! * I love the deer with the hat & stole!

  179. I, too, want to know more about the dude in the cubbie. When I first looked at the picture, I thought he was pushing open a little door in some kind of escape attempt! 🙂 It wasn’t until I read that it was a vent that I realized it’s not a door. I totally imagined you explaining to the contractor, “I need one little cabinet with a door. Deal with it.”

    BTW, I love it. It makes my office feel like a hovel, what with all it’s builder-beige and lack of decor.

  180. You lost me at the When Harry Met Sally….but I could see why it wouldn’t be first on your list. Harold and Maude perhaps?
    Your office would give me nightmares Jenny, just sayin. Hey, seriously read my post or just run to some big city to buy these COTTON CANDY GRAPES. It’s post-worthy, WRITE BACK
    Love, your friend, Laurie F.

  181. I too love looking at other people’s offices; second only to seeing what’s in their refrigerators. Both your working space and fridge pic from a few weeks ago do not disappoint. A space is guaranteed to look good if there’s a cat in it.

    Lovely bookshelves, flooring and desk.

    Somehow I don’t think Victor will be pleased with an octopus as a lighting option.

    Beth

  183. Lovely, just lovely. Looking at your office & desk(s) makes me feel tranquil. Which is far better than looking at my office and desk (which are not lovely), which makes me want to run, shrieking, out into the street. So, thank you.

  184. Love the office, it’s beautiful. I really want built in shelves, I need to convince my husband that we need them.

    I wish I had an office. I have a desk but it’s in the middle of my living room so that I can watch my kids and keep them from tearing up the house.

    I’ve seen When Harry Met Sally and truthfully, I wasn’t that impressed.

  185. DROOL, I love your office. I would love the built in book shelves. This is not my house, so I can’t do that. Trying to do the next best thing and buy some Ikea shelves to fit the living room in much the same way.

    Awesome idea for a blog post. I have a picture of my corner office space in my bedroom. I used to have my office in the basement with my guinea pigs, but they are gone and we don’t live in that house anymore. Now the dogs just to get under my feet or push me away from the desk to go sit on the couch with them or feed them.
    I have much decorating to do and no urge to do it….

  187. Ack! You just sit there? Exposed to attack from all directions? I would be so freaked. Nothing would be accomplished because I would be busy creating a defensible position in my desk chair. The floor would be lava. My hubby would come home to find that I move in with the gnome and make a blanket fort to hide my exposed legs.

    Otherwise, it is a beautiful room. Love the shelves!

  189. I have my own office now, too, and it has lavender walls (but no taxidermy), and I not only have a desk, I have a small armoire which has the advantage of having doors on it–so when I dump my mess on it, I can hide it from the world. Mostly I don’t bother doing that–just pile things on the floor next to my desk. I feel good about myself when I only have one or two piles instead of 10. My office makes me very, very happy–and I hope yours makes you happy, too.

  190. I am totally jealous. I sit on my bed with a laptop because I don’t have any other decent space.

    Or I might occasionally use my office at work. Not that I would ever blog from work, of course.

  191. I want your office! Sitting on the edge of the couch trying to balance a laptop, iPhone, and iPad just doesn’t cut it. Thanks for letting us peek in on you 🙂

  192. I was so excited to see a foxalope head on your desk, Jenny… until I zoomed in and realized it’s just an ordinary deer. I am crushed. But now I think I need a foxalope for MY desk…

    I tried to snap pics of my own new-office-in-progress, but they came out horrible, so I will just tell you the decor includes a life-sized wooden swan wearing a fez & bowtie, a beach play set complete with sharknado, and the official Bloggess paperdoll.

  193. So I already got naked before I read the final sentence. Apologies but not really.
    I love your office. It’s such an open space and the books make me smile. Until the dolls… idk if I could sit with my back to the dolls…

    If I actually had an office to call my own I’d want to redo it. Instead I’ll make a Pinterest office.

  194. Those mounted heads have such panache! In the flamboyant stylish style sort of way… not in the way Canadians say it to refer to antlers. Don’t tell your creepy heads that I said they have antlers or they’ll haunt my dreams!

  195. Am I the only one who noticed that Jenny organized her books by color?!!! Almost looks like a stylist got their hands in there…. Did Victor build the shelves? No wonder you keep him around. The idea of a man building shelves for me is heaven. (and the cats look so lifelike 😉 )

  197. Don’t have an office to share, but I think your middle name might be “Oddest.” Also, that chandelier looks LETHAL: Save yourself, Jenny — just use the kid’s college fund and replace it. (I mean, what would you rather have, a mother or a college education?)

  198. i’ve never seen ‘when harry met sally’ either. i’m also super jealous of your built in bookshelves. if/when i finally get my own house, i’m totally doing that.

  200. Very inspiring. And I like the unique decorations. Totally getting a second desk now.

  201. I write with my eyes shut, so it doesn’t matter what room I write in. And no, I am not a crazy cat lady. I just find that it helps with the movie that runs through my brain. However, you have a lovely writing space and I enjoyed the nicknacks on the walls. Quirky is good!

  203. That is one fabulous room. It makes me feel like I should get motivated and rearrange my bookcases, or finish a furniture project. But I’ll probably just stare at these pictures some more.

  204. Wow, this brings back memories. Remember when you use to post about Victor not letting you have an office of your own and you were shoved somewhere in the corner of the dining room or something and you use to make your own office like a kid made a fort under the kitchen table? Okay I want to go and find those post, but it had to be a few years back. You use to write back then about how afraid you were of quitting your job and the time limit Victor gave you to finish your book. Sighhhhhhh those were the days my friend. I feel kind of sad now. I am not sure why.

  205. One day I would like to own a house that has a room big enough to put a desk in the middle of it. Right now my desk has to be in the corner just so I can open the door.

  206. That is awesome office, unlike me who has a laptop in the dinning table and has to move it around everytime we eat.
    Of course I don’t work from home so that might explain it.

  207. I just got a new Mac, and a picture of my desk is happens to be on the blog this week if you want to look. Your office is very nice….I share mine with Perach-the-coat-blowing-do-hair-bomber.

  208. Okay, Did you ask the cats to be in the picture, or did they just artistically pose themselves?

    I haven’t seen when Harry Met Sally either. And I don’t feel at all deprived.

  210. If you want to have your mind blown, look up wireless power. The wiki article has a timeline that pretty much indicates if you procrastinate with that outlet you might not need it in the next three years.

  211. How do you get anything done with all of those dolls eyes looking at the back of your head?

  214. Wow, that’s a beautiful office. Admittedly, I wouldn’t want the taxidermy and the dolls, but yes to the desk, cats, and bookshelves full of books!!! It’s totally you.

  215. Love to see how the bookshelves were made! Love this post because of the great ideas!! Thank you!

  216. Well, obviously we have the same taste in paint. Because I can look at your walls on the screen and then look at my walls beyond the screen and they match!

    I am uber-jealous of your office – particularly those bookshelves!

  217. That hat MAKES James Garfield. It’s as though he’s about to break into a musical number, with the other heads as his chorus line.

    How do your (live) cats not knock all your treasures off the shelves and the walls? Maybe they’re better behaved than my halfwit furball – he gets startled by a sock on the floor or his own feet and takes off like a catsharktopusnado and knocks over everything that’s not nailed to the ceiling. I’m keeping the blu-tac factory in business just to keep my collection of fake My Little Ponies safe from him.

  219. This is not even CLOSE to the most boring post you’ve– oh, wait. That sounds wrong.

    I mean, I guess if I were forced at hypothetical-point to label one of your posts boring, then this might make the list. Except no, it wouldn’t, because I like looking at people’s shelves, because I’m nosy like that.

    Anyway, not boring. Unless you meant you guys were boring holes into the walls to set up the shelves, in which case… yeah. This might be the most boring comment I’ve ever written.

  220. You are NOT the only person in America to have not watched “When Harry Met Sally.”

    Frankly I’m tired of people telling me I should watch it.

    Maybe we should stage a simultaneous viewing of it via twitter and everyone could livetweet it. #HarryMetSallyVirginsUnite

  221. It’s amazing… like jaw dropping, cool, holy butts, there’s more to the taxidermied weirdness, and look at the dolls… amazing.

  222. I like the zombie/day-of-the-dead Jenny pic on your wall. Sorry, I’m not funny or saying something clever.

  224. This just goes to show…if you start with a great neutral paint palette, you can put ANY dang thing on the walls, and it will still work! :D. eat your heart out, Martha! Lol. Love it.

  226. A. I am extremely concerned about how many readers you have that haven’t seen When Harry Met Sally. 2. I have an outlet in the middle of the living room floor, and you can borrow it any time because it is in the exact wrong place to plug anything in. And IV.) I think you’re missing something – maybe a “stupid wagon wheel ROY ROGERS GARAGE SALE COFFEE TABLE!”

  227. As an interior designer I am always tempted to organize books by color as opposed to title or genre, or some other Dewey decimal- type hoo-hah, that is, if I remembered how that works from my long-ago high school days. But instead they just get thrown on the shelf where ever there is room. I found it strangely validating to find that you had some books organized by color…or was it just my imagination?

    (It’s not your imagination. I’m OCD about my books. ~ Jenny)

  230. Great office! My desk is in the corner of the living room, and is too disgusting for sensitive viewers. My basket is full of papers…a bag of chips and a roller, neck massager. The rest is covered with more papers, nail clippers, my camera, pen holder, pic of me and hubby, an empty glass, pudding cup container, spoon. dirty napkin, a Popsicle stick and an empty kleenex box. Oh, and my computer. And BTW, “When Harry Met Sally” is one of my favs! He made a woman meow. Just watch it!

  231. Well, I would share my desk.. but it’s, um, a disaster zone. Because I try to live at my desk. Except when I’m sleeping. I would love to have an office. It would be much less scary. I love your bookshelves.

  233. Jenny, you and I could be best friends. Every person who has posted about dusting your office or scary doll eyes or their bland vanilla room and they have never seen anything like your office before – I wouldn’t even want to be their neighbor. My house would scare them.

  234. I love that painting — the yellow big one, with the person with a beard. Who did it?

    (No idea. I got it at a flea market and it’s not signed. ~ Jenny)

  237. Am I crazy or is the crown molding above the doorway in the top picture crooked? And I agree about the chandelier, you need something crystal and sparkly instead.

  238. I LOVE your office! It’s my dream office, well, kinda lol. I love the ceiling to floor, wall to wall bookshelves but I must confess…as amusing as I find your collection of odd things, I think it’d creep me out too much if it were also in my office lol!

    Right now my office is the couch or the dining room table. So productive.

  239. Your office is magnificent. I no longer miss your previous office.

    I do, however, find myself suffering from Office Envy. I’ll live with it.

  240. What a fabulously bizarre office. I absolutely adore it!! And if you don’t feel like watching When Harry Met Sally I could just call you and quote every line from its beginning to its end… No? Okay, I’ll be here waiting if you change your mind.

  241. Oh my gosh, I want built in bookshelves. My desk is covered in paper and old bills that I’m ignoring cause I totally don’t need to pay them, and cat hair.

  242. …when I first saw the second picture, one of my first thoughts was “wow, i didn’t know she had stuffed cats for her desk”. Instead of realizing that they were in fact your actual live cats. I think this says a lot about how much you’ve indoctrinated me to the idea of taxidermy as an interior decorating theme. XD

  243. How the hell can you get anything done when everything is staring at you? That shit just freaks me out (too many eyes).

  246. I love your office. Thanks a lot. Now I feel REALLY deprived since I don’t have one…just the kitchen table when the kids are finally in bed.

  247. I’m currently in the throes of moving hell. Your before shot looks a million times better than any room in our entire house, at the moment. “Boxes? Pshaw – who needs boxes? Just throw everything in laundry baskets and take it to the new place!”

    78 boxes and 11 laundry baskets later, and I’m still lugging all my shit around from the approximately 90 billion trips I’ve made from the old house to the new.

    I swoon at your little blue desk and all those built-in bookshelves.

  248. Once again…the giant pistol. My new theory? You hang it there to keep the dead things in line. “Remember this? Yeah…so, don’t come back to life and try and exact revenge.”

  251. It’s not a great picture but it’s the one I’ll use to avoid the effort of taking another one. It’s part of my “desk” and the furry bugge who doesn’t even wait for my seat to get cold before he takes over the joint. http://imgur.com/gallery/wc7vlts

  252. Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, British explorer, co-discoverer of the headwaters of the Nile, and original translator of the Kama Sutra, had a dozen different desks in his office, one for each writing project.

  253. Even your junk desk is too clean. Where are the three years’ worth of monthly statements from your bank, which you still receive despite asking your bank for estatements a dozen times? Where are all the receipts from drinking excursions that you’re sure you can write off as business expenses? Where’s the garbage bin and the two feet around it covered in various food containers and dirty diapers? Where’s this stuff go??

  257. I think the giant plastic flowers look great right where they are. Seriously, it’s just wasted space otherwise. And besides, the cats are going to be pissed if you move them and who knows what damage they will do trying to get to them in that “somewhere” location. They looks all sweet and innocent in the picture but we all know how bitchy cats can be.

  259. Jenny, your office is AMAZING. I’m jealous of basically everything in it–especially how you have your main desk in the middle of the room. Also, I’m majorly in love with your family of snazzily-dressed taxidermy.

    Here’s my (current) workspace, including lemming note holder and Pegg/Frost tango computer background:
    http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx330/sheerpoetry4/photo2.jpg
    http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx330/sheerpoetry4/photo1-1.jpg

    My new iMac inspires me to keep things very tidy! 🙂

    PS: I’m a longtime reader and lurker, since I get all of your goodness through Feedly (which isn’t nice to comments).

  260. Love it all. I wish you could come and decorate for me. Also, keep showing us pics. I love them.

  261. Pretty sure if I had a zombie picture of myself in my office I wouldn’t get anything done. If it was behind me, I’d be turning around to check that it wasn’t sneaking up on me. If it was in front of me I’d be watching it to make sure it wasn’t casting spells on me. I’m not sure what powers zombies have, but I’d be worried all the time.

  263. Alas, *I* am now the only person left in America that hasn’t seen When Harry Met Sally. We were an awesome group of two, even if we’ve never met…. In better news, my desk is waaay more messy than yours. It looks like the creative explosion of Satan vs. glitter (although that might have been Tinkerbell? or Glinda?) I totally lust your awesome shelves – it would free up some serious space for Satan vs. ????

  264. Dude… i need your book…. no i double need your book…. but i live in south africa and the stupid book store doesn’t have it and amazon confuses me and i’m not even sure if they ship to south africa and its in dollars and the rand to dollar conversion makes my brain itch….*breathe*…… please help.

  265. I love your accessory cats. Do they also come in calico?

    PS – Ditto for never having seen When Harry Met Sally. OR Pretty Woman. I have, sadly, seen Dirty Dancing but that was because someone made me. And yes I am a female child of the 80’s!

  266. I would like to join the “I haven’t seen When Harry Met Sally either!!” club. In fact until you just mentioned it, I had never heard of it! I also have still never seen Dirty Dancing or the entire length of The Notebook.

  269. So, am I the first one to say this? Get a flat cord protector so you don’t trip yourself and end up with some new malady! (OK, so I had to look that up to make sure I spelled it right.) Home Depot has a cool beige one that would totally be inivisible on your floor. At least until you find (or invent) that sky-cord that comes out of the chandelier. Electrical engineers rock!

    Sorry, I’m a big safety person (being a total klutz and preferring not to wear casts). That exposed cord gave me chills.

  270. I love your office! And I covet your bookshelves. (Not necessarily your stuff, just the shelves. I need them. I want them. I promise not to come take yours.)

  275. How do you sit comfortably at that desk with all those blank, unclosing eyes boring into your back? I would have neck strain from whipping around at every little noise checking to see if they were finally coming after me.

  278. I’m so glad I’m not the only that doesn’t dust all my figures, toys and books on my shelves. My husband is always yelling at me to dust them and I yell at him to not touch them because when he dusts, he breaks things…which why I leave it alone…yeah…I’ll go with that reason!

    Also I have not seen When Harry Met Sally either…am I really missing out?

    Also also, I found this listed on Etsy and immediatly thought “The Bloggess would LOVE these!!” at least I think you would…
    http://www.etsy.com/shop/aknitomy

    I think a disected mouse or fetal pig is a bit beyond my beginner’s knitting skills, but they look neat!

  283. You can cover up that cord by running it through one of those giant rubber toy snakes. How flipping awesome would that be! Your own snake. At your feet. All the time.

  284. I’m another who hasn’t seen When Harry Met Sally! 🙂 So glad I’m not the only one! <3 u and your awesome office!

  285. Love your office. Awesome decorating. The built-in bookcase is amazing. But the leaning books have to be straightened.

    Couldn’t you just raise the chandelier up? It seems to have plenty of chain to shorten. Or if the issue is lack of light, maybe LED bulbs.

    It just seems to fit in with the rest of the decor.

  286. Your office is GORGEOUS!!! (We’re in the process of house-hunting in a different part of the country & I wish I could find a single, teeny bit of any part of a house that was a gorgeous as your office.)

  287. I love the office, especially that so much of what’s on the walls is 3D and never really meant to hang on walls. I do this all the time and everyone thinks it’s weird. I feel so much better about my 3D walls now! And oddly enough I am looking at taxidermy these days, I wonder why? Thank you! Of course your office is so much more organized than mine – please tell me it’s not that neat all the time?

  288. I was so happy to see your second desk. When I saw your first “clean” desk I was ready to call bullshit (because that’s what you do when someone makes you feel so inferior you can’t breath for a second and start doubting your own repeated insistence that a messy desk is the norm). Thanks for the full room nudity it restored my faith in me…and my ability to breath…the second being more important because dying would have ruined my whole day, although it may have made tomorrow easier.
    Boss: Your work sucks today.
    Me: Ummm, I actually died yesterday. Lay off.
    Boss: What?
    Me: I’m still working out if I want to self-identify as undead, or recently dead. A jerk says what?
    Boss: What?
    Me: Exactly.

  292. I love it. I am in the process of redecorating my office space right now and I can not fine the right “UMPT” that sings to me. Always looking and moving….

  293. Your office is stunning! Here is a picture of my desk with my purse Nathan, a Dead People Holy Card, and my slip. They like to hang out on my desk togther. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=419788291377492&set=pb.419772971379024.-2207520000.1377795083.&type=3&theater

    By the way, I named my purse/son/daughter Nathan St. Agnes Tennessee Tucker in your honor (because I loved your posts about Nathan Fillion. And because your posts about St. Agnes and the lawn boobies made me laugh and pee with joy. ).

  295. Oh my God you have Blythe dolls! I have trouble displaying mine without the cat getting to them. Only one dressed as Marie Antoinette is out in her box at my house. And Pullip and Dals! Do they even make those anymore?

  297. i would show you my desk but i can’t because my girlfriend doesn’t know how to throw anything away, so there’s piles of unopened mail, disney receipts, programs from ebertfest ’13, and a my copy of the court order from the last time my wife again prevented me from having more time with my kids, but she only won because the judge feels that it’s not at all significant that my 15-year old wants to spend more time with her father instead of the latest guy her mother invited to move into their house.

    what? something about a desk?

  298. “I highly recommend having at least two desks so that one always looks clean and the other always look like you’re actually working.” this was worth coming for. always read the captions…you never never know when you’ll find essential life advice (like how to justify to your boss why you’ve had two desks in your office for years). yes!

  299. I have a very practical question… HOW do you clean and dust your office with SO MANY small things on the wall and shelves???? PLEASE Share Your wisdom!!!

    I’ve gotten so sick of dusting each item I now try to keep walls and shelves free of small cute things. It makes cleaning ALOT easier.

  301. How the crap does all your stuff STAY on your bookcases? I have 5 cats and nothing is ever where I left it.

    I would love to have bookcases like that in various places in my house to showcase my own books and treasures, but my brats think it all looks better on the floor.

  302. “The walls are a bit…odd.” I would expect nothing less from you.

    BTW, what is it that is under your desk?

  303. I love that it’s neutral tones, lovely crown moulding, elegant chand..BAM taxidermied animals. They do make me giggle every time I see them.
    I kind of like the chandalier. At least from the picture, it seems to go well in the room. But then I’d be all worried that a phantom would move in and the chandalier would swing and fall. And who needs that kind of aggravation?

  306. So, I totally thought you made a Mystery Date door in you bookcase with a penguin witch inside and I was all pictures, pictures! Turns out it just a vent. Boo. Still, I see a tiny garland during the holidays.

    My first thought for lighting was a bat chandelier I saw years ago, but can’t find the company now. No matter it was expensive anyway. And then I thought…you need taxidermy flying owl chandelier. Like a Harry Potter Owl delivering mail to your desk chandelier!

    So of course I g**gled that and you know what I found?

    A fake taxidermy rat chandelier. This taxidermy bird chandelier (this has DYI written all over it) http://cageandaviarybirds.blogspot.com/2009/04/taxidermy-pigeon-lights.html

    AND…you know what else comes up when I image search “taxidermy flying owl chandelier?”

    Yeah…a picture of your office. YES. THIS post with a photo of your office above. So you know what that means right? It means G**gle thinks you should totally have a taxidermy flying owl chandelier.

    PS
    I have serious bookcase envy. I sort my books by genre so I can feel all fancy pants like a library.

  307. The Maxfield Parrish print. I did an acrylic of Griselda for one of my project pieces in art school, which I never graduated from. It turned out spectacular. I gave it to a friend when she graduated with her teaching certificate. I now regret this decision. I should paint more. And stop having children so I can do that at some point. The End PS love the space

  308. A) I am SOOO jealous of your doll collection its not funny.
    B) I cant show you my desk because its buried beneath the remains of my son deciding to redo his room and dumping all his shit in my craft room. I currently am using an oversize cookie tray as a desk. Seriously.
    C) I’d break my neck on that cord.

  310. I haven’t see When Harry Met Sally either. Shhhhh — don’t tell, okay?

    I suspect they set it up specifically for the photo op, but, for what it’s worth, a picture of a kitchen from the French Facebook page of the ABE books with way too many cookbooks, all of which are arranged by color on the shelves. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=719436511406120 (They have way too many pots and pans also…)

  311. Oh! I forgot to say that the chandelier is awesome! But maybe it’s low, and you hit your head when you stand up? And there are some sort of plastic/rubber things you can get to cover the cords so you don’t trip on them, dunno what they are called but offices use them, so it would be worth a shot to try to find one for the interim.

  312. Am I the only one surprised by the beige walls? I mean there’s so much stuff to look at that it’s probably the best thing you could do, but if I were to have been asked “What color do you think Jenny will paint her new office walls” beige is definitely not the first color that would have come to mind! I think you should replace the giant chandelier with an only slightly less giant one that is crystal and sparkly! That way, when the light shines just right- it will hit the dolls eyes and make them look alive!

  318. I think you could out in a light fixture that has a power outlet on the bottom and fix both problems at the same time.

  319. OMG BUILT-INS AND BALL JOINTED DOLLS WANTWANT *CRIES*

    will you do a post about your dolls someday? They look awesome. <3

  320. they need to make a desk you can plug stuff into.
    Or a computer that sucks up electromagnetic energy from the air so they won’t need cords.
    cords ALWAYS fuck up the FUNG.

  324. Please tell me that those girls on the wall get some attention. what awesome pin-ups!

  325. I’ve never seen “When Harry Met Sally” either…

    Also, as it happens, I was already naked while reading this post.

  327. I got a little concerned when I didn’t see any taxidermy animals on the wall. Fortunately, you didn’t let me down with the remaining photos.

    Do you know what else won’t let you down? When Harry Met Sally.

    I do have two questions:

    1. Where’s Beyonce?
    2. Where’s the creepy/awesome cobra/mongoose battle scene? No office is complete without this inspirational piece.

  329. i would NOT want to be working late in your office! i have a very active imagination. but i love it because it seems weirdly appropriate for you.

  330. I have been following your blog and book and I thought you might like to know tat Courtney Love is also prone to buying Edwardian dressed taxidermied animals online.

  332. What? No paper? No filing cabinet? This isn’t a real office, this is a Pottery Barn Meets Wes Craven attempt to fool us into thinking this is an office, but I won’t be fooled.

  333. Sweetie, When Harry met Sally is better than Xanax. Have tissues next to you. This is Billy Crystal’s shining moment. I ran that movie on a loop like 25 years ago. I love it so much I got it on dvd, but I haven’t watched it in many years……..maybe that is what is wrong with me………excuse me I need to ponder.

  334. I’m seriously jealous if what looks looks a wonder woman Blythe. I have a fantasy that I will find a Blythe at a garage sale one day, till then I just have a Pullip doll. As for the 2 desk thing I hate to burst anyone’s bubble but I actually have 3 work surfaces and I still work on the floor because the surfaces are so cluttered; so that only works for people with some self control

  335. I need to get my own place so I don’t have to trip over my indignant passed out teenagers on my way to my desk all the time..
    Or stop letting them sleep in my office so I could collect and hang odd things on the walls too, instead of it being decorated with passed out boyfriends, empty beer bottles, cigarette packages and condom wrappers.
    Keeping the dream alive…

  337. My anxiety disorder says to your anxiety disorder:
    “what if that fucking chandelier falls and breaks your head AND the computer!? RUN!!!”

  338. I love your office! (And, ah yes, you’re a doll collector, too — I’m more of a resin BJD/Monster High girl, but my shelves are similar in theme — love the way that you have yours displayed!)

    I’m amused that your deer head and your desk-cat are in such similar poses that I had to glance twice (and that your lovely orange floor-cat looks like part of the decor, too), given that I know you’re a gaff-taxidermy lover . . . hee! (I generally have cats sprawled over my person and/or possessions, so I totally approve! *grin*)

    Your office is gorgeous, and I hope that you can get that floor plug soon!

  345. this goes to show exactly how “real” you are here on the blog! Oh your walls are sooooo “Jenny.” I love it 🙂

    I finally set up a space just for me. I needed it. I am dreaming of one day setting up an actual office. Like and entire room JUST FOR ME. That is going to happen. IT IS

  348. So I am pretty sure you may be my spirit animal and I am not sure why I have neglected to find you for so long,you pretty much everything I love from taxidermy to AFP to strange art to Dr Who. Long story short, seeing your office snapped me out of a post hell move funk and I am finally going to unpack my treasures and decorate our bedroom. Boy will my Mr be surprised when he gets home from camping (he should know better than to leave me unattended for more than 48 hours.

  353. My only real dream in life was to own my own place. Check! Now my dream is to one day own a house, in which I can have my own art studio. And while I’m dreaming, I’d love to be able to live off of that, so that I can finally achieve my Secret Dream of being a hermit. Unfortunately, I’d have to have half a million dollars to own a house, so in the meantime, I’m stuck in this odd, otherwise unused corner of our tiny living room:

    http://yellowmelle.blogspot.ca/2011/06/workspace-peek.html

    Wow that blog post is 3 years out of date! Not much has changed. I so regret not “finishing” the tabletop, because now it’s mostly green and blue splotches.

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