PA and Secretary Community - Deskdemon.com

When we moved into our new space last year - everyone got a new desk except me.  I have a conference table and an old surplus desk that is possibly the heaviest piece of furniture I have ever met.  I don't complain though since I have a great office and my own outside door and a window.  



Theresa

I have a particle wood modular desk, with an ugly beige laminate top.  L-shaped.  The portion for the computer is narrow so I'm sitting too close to the monitor and the keyboard can only move up or down minimally so not a lot of room for making it as convenient and comfortable as possible.  And the keyboard spot is not big enough for my mouse to sit on, so I'm constantly reaching past the keyboard shelf and down to the mouse.  Good workspace overall, but no storage, file drawers, or other utilitarian space.  Since I inherited this desk I had no choice in the pieces I got, or the order they're put in, so I'm stuck until we get a much bigger budget than we're looking at for the next 3 years.

My desk sits outside of my boss's (the Controller) office.  I'm one of the lucky ones to have a window.  No door though.  I sometimes wish for a door, but I would have to give up the windows - no way am I given those up!!



My desk is one of those metal desk with a secretarial return and the fake wood tops.  I have a PC desk to match that's close to the window so I can take quick peaks outside to recharge my batteries.

Okay, see if this makes sense.



Several years ago when I was promoted, I got my own office.  Instead of getting me a desk, or even giving me an old desk as I offered, they moved my cubicle inside my office (?).  It looks stupid.  It is stupid.

We all got new desks (cubicals) when we moved into our new building last year.  They're "ergonomically correct" with the keyboard below the work surface.  I also opted for a "recessed monitor" which is set into the desktop and has a plexiglass cover over it which lays flat with the desktop.  Really nice.  The desk itself is actually a work surface, in a U-shape.  It's 2 feet wide all around, except for the rounded area of the U where the monitor goes (recessed or on top) which is 3 feet from corner to edge and the opposite rounded area of the U where I have my printer.  The walls of the cubicle are tall on all four sides to give some measure of privacy, and they include soft siding that you can use as "bulletin boards" with push pins.  At one end of the the U there is a tower cabinet with four drawers, a storage area and a space for hanging coats.  Really a practical and comfortable setup.

(I want Energizer's space)



My cubicle looks like 849 other cubicles in our building except maybe a little bigger.  I have an L-shaped laminate desk top in beige, soft walls about 5' high in beige, and a four drawer filing cabinet in beige.  I also have an overhead shelf in beige and an overhead bin (shelf with locking doors) in beige.  Luckily my chair and the carpeting are a green-blue colour.  



The walls of my cubicle are covered with printed sheets of information related to work (mainly phone numbers and a list of signing authorities), pictures of my kids and pictures made by my kids.



Crammed in one corner are four bankers boxes of files and underneath my desk is my printer.



Not much to look at but its "home".

Thanks to my boss, I have a really nice, wood, u-shaped workstation with overhead storage on the credenza side.  My computer sits on the "bridge" and has a keyboard holder with wrist rest and the whole thing slides under and out of the way.



I have a Compaq DeskPro EN computer with a huge hard drive, mega RAM, and a CD-RW.  I also have an HP ScanJet scanner and an HP 2200 color printer.



When my boss first came here and saw I was sitting in a modular cubicle, he had a fit.  He said that at our level, I was entitled to "executive" furniture.  The next thing I knew, I was getting this really nice workstation.



JusPeachy (and sitting pretty) in GA  

Justpeachy... Can I have your desk??? Please???    Sounds so nice... and if not,then I want Energizer's.



Energizer... doesn't the monitor being flat on the desk cause problems with your neck and such?? Curious because otherwise it sounds ideal.

Phoenix55,



They moved your cubicle inside your office????      That sounds like it would make a great Dilbert cartoon.    I would love to see your officecube!    



WhiteSatin  

Is a cardboard box, and I sit on a milk crate.  That's why they pay me a little extra!  LOL

CountriGal, much as I hate to show my "age" -- the recessed monitor is perfect because I have no-line bifocals, and I need to look through the bottom of the lenses.  When I had the old desktop monitor, I was always going home with a stiff neck from having to hold my head back to see out of the bottom of my glasses!  This is just so much easier on the neck muscles. Now I can hold my head straight and see the screen perfectly.



Also, I don't think I mentioned in my previous post, but I also have a locking overhead bin and a keyboard tray that goes under the desktop out of the way (even with the recessed monitor!).  It's really a great setup.



Happy Monday everyone!



Energizer  

I actually have two desks in my office.  There is three offices in one here, the boss is right next door with is door and another office on the other side with a door for storage, printer, fax machine, mini-refrigerator, etc., and I am in the middle.



But the two desks for me consist of a computer unit which holds the monitor, tower and speakers, with plenty of room for paperwork (which I didn't have before), I also have a 3M paper holder on the side of my computer so I don't have to look down when I type, which I do alot of input typing and that is a great feature to have.  I also have two pull out shelves for the keyboard and the mouse.



My other desk is my "work desk."  It has my phone, calendar, in/out basket and folder organizer on it.  Everyone is amazed that my office is so neat, they said that if they had an award for the neatest desk it would either be me or the boss  .    I do have a door that I can close and I do that only at lunchtime so they know I am eating and don't try to open the door while I'm eating, heaven help them if they do.    This desk has two sections, one is slightly higher than the other, the one that is higher I use as my main desk, the other I have my phone on so I can use both desk and be on the computer too, and the second level of this desk I have my books, etc. telephone books, manuals, vacation log, travel log, laptop reservation list, etc. et.



The only drawback is there are NO windows at all.  The Receptionist has the best seat in the house and she has the front doors to watch, the only windows available.  So you can imagine the company she gets when its snowing/raining/etc. here and someone wants to know whats going on outside, they all migrate up to her area.  Door vs. window??? I guess I would have to say door.



Hope everyone is having a super Monday.



Dropping 30 degrees in two-days here in cool Western New York.



Chris68



 

I have the boring eggshell Herman Miller workstation.

It shows every spec of dirt and dust.

I have your classic, U-shaped countertop-desk, with grey-speckeld laminate top. The other side connects to my coworker's desk who I share an office with. I was squeezed for space to store paper and stuff when I moved back into this office so one of my coworkers built me a very nice, natural-wood hutch to go over my computer monitor.  There are cubbyholes for all my papers and I put my plants on top where they can catch the sliver of natural light that comes through the high little window to the office next door, which has a skylight.  

I've described my desk/work area as the "Second Hand Rose" look.  



The main desk is a very utilitarian black steel with a beige top.  It's missing the center flat drawer that usually holds pens/pencils/memo pads, etc.  The top drawer is fine but it doesn't lock.  The bottom file drawer doesn't lock either.  The drawers under the "secretary U" don't function at all.  (Been here three years and still can't get them to open or close all the way...they just sort of hang out there.)



The computer desk is a nice woodgrain with a dropped platform for the keyboard, but it's not big enough to hold the printer and scanner so everything's kind of jammed together.



Of course we're moving the office this summer but there's no capital budget to upgrade any furniture.  All of the furniture in this office is pretty lousy except for the conference room.  We're moving into a refurbished row house/townhouse with leaded windows and cherry doors and hardwood floors.  (Not our decision...)  We're going to look like the Beverly Hillbillies moving into the mansion!  

I have an old, wooden, L-shaped secretary's desk with the L on the left hand side, several inches lower than the front.  It's not bad and was probably very nice when it was new but it could definitely use a refinish (I work in a cabinet shop but the office furniture is all pretty sad looking - no time to do our furniture - kind of like the cobbler's kids going barefoot <g>).  Back in the days of typewriters, it would've been spacious but it's not nowadays.  The computer tower's under the desk and I have to be careful not to whack my knee on it.  The monitor, keyboard, speakers, printer, phone, copyholder, and adding machine are on the main part of the desk, along with smaller items (Rolodex, etc.).  The L holds paper trays, tape dispenser, stapler, etc.  There's not a lot of room to do paperwork.  I have one four-drawer file cabinet, but half the stuff to be filed is sitting on my desk and the files aren't made up because the file cabinet is full of office supplies and things that need to be locked up at night (petty cash, check book, etc.).  The desk does, fortunately, have plenty of drawer space.  If I had office supply storage and another file cabinet, I'd have even more drawer space.



We're moving into a different office (same building, different part of the building) later this month and I should have more file and storage space there.  Also, they're building me a new desk.  Yay!  *And* - the air conditioner works properly there.  Our's here is too small for the space and can't keep up once it hits about 105 - which it did it May.  :-(  And the door is framed properly to keep out sawdust.  Yay! again!  (I gave up dusting and sweeping this office not long after I started here because the door isn't framed properly and if you dust and sweep in the evening, you can't tell the next morning that it was done at all - no exaggeration.)



Colleen

I don't like mine at all.  I have an L shape desk, black with hardly any drawers at all.  Collects dust like you wouldn't believe!



What's great about our office is we have no cubicles!  I love that!  It's open (sometimes too open when people begin to talk loud) area, it's really a loft office!    



Our bosses have been raving about our new office space so I can't wait to see it! We moving at the end of next month and I've been after my bosses to give me a U shaped desk.  I need one because this desk is just too small!



 I have a picture of myself at my desk....(try not to look at the mess) so if you want to see let me know!



Bridget