Project: Desks

My husband works at home, and one of my current goals is to create a workspace that is as aesthetically pleasing as it is functional. We're getting there slowly, but there's only so much you can do with a full-size keyboard. But I have been doing some digging and was thrilled to find several posts on Ikea Hacker with creative, beautiful solutions.

My favorite is this Milk-inspired desk that enables you to have workspace and keyboard access. Right now, J has a desktop set up behind the keyboard, but it's anything but ergonomic. Other than a canister of pens, everything else has to go on other shelves.

Project: Rug Dreams

We need a rug for our living room. I love our hardwood floors, but in a room that triples as living, dining and kitchen, it'd be nice to define the space. These are older pictures of the room, but they give a sense of layout. Moving the piano is the biggest obstacle because it has to be on a sheet of soundproofing as well as casters. All that has to go underneath any rug we put down, and then the piano lifted on top. Needless to say, J is not too fond of that idea.

I really like the Andalusia rug from West Elm but think the weave might be too coarse and the color too much of the same chocolate brown.