It's been a while, and we've been busy adjusting to some changes around the office; instead of dragging out those details and living in the past, we are moving forward and continuing our Desk series. We hope you enjoy this post as much as we do!

This week, we are featuring the office and desk of Holly Mathis, a stay-at-home mother of two as well as the designer/blogger behind Holly Mathis Interiors.  While educated and trained in Museum Studies and History, Holly began pursuing design and homemaking as a career in 2005, when she had her first child and when her home was featured in the June issue of Better Homes & Gardens. In addition to providing a more flexible and family-friendly schedule for the new-to-motherhood Holly, running her own decorating business allows Holly to pursue her true loves and follow family tradition (her mother is a real estate broker, her grandmother was a decorator, and her great grandfather was a carpenter and builder).  Here's what Holly has to say about her work:

I love the process of seeing a house become a home. Whether new construction, remodeling, or somewhere in between, all homes have hidden potential. Holly Mathis interiors specializes in helping clients define their style and achieve their decorating goals within a reasonable budget and timeline. From choosing new cabinets or paint colors, placing accessories, rearranging your current furniture for better flow in a room, or working with your current items or maybe shopping for new ones, I do it all. I love to be involved in helping make a house feel more like home. 

Although based out of the Houston area, Holly helps customers across the country make their house a home. With her own house, Holly has done a wonderful job of homemaking. Pictures of projects, progress and ideas adorn her blog. Holly took a moment from her busy schedule (she just had her second little boy) to share with us about her desk, office, preferences and inspiration.

The Desk: An old bank "bench" from my hometown bank... you know, the type of place you would stand and fill out a deposit slip before going up to the teller. It has a marble top, and I have used it for a kitchen island, potting bench on my back porch, and now as a work desk!
Chair: Always standing!
Clock: cell phone
Charging: ipod, cell phone, portable dvd for 4 year old!
Paper: I love scrap paper for personal projects and inspiration boards. I love Jenni Bowlin Designs, she has great stuff!
Color: I am loving orange lately, but don't have any in my house. I hate to say brown, but it is true... it's great for little boys!
'Thank You': It is not said enough these days; being gracious and truly thankful is so important.
Flat Note Stationery or Folded Note Cards: I love flat notes!
Handwritten or Emailed: BOTH, my strategy is say it quickly by email and then officially by note. Really nice, thoughtful things are so rare these days, they should be savored and really appreciated.  
Favorite Current Trend: Using typography in decorating; I even put "letters" on my Christmas tree!
Favorite Stationery: So many... I love heavy, engraved stuff, beautiful monograms, but also fun note cards from Target. I love Sharp & Sally, Boatman Geller, Sarah & Abraham, Laura Goessling Design, lots of neat things on etsy right now, of course Whitney English, and Kris-10 Creations!
Last Party Invitation Sent and Occasion: Christmas 2007 girl party?? Too long!!
Book (current, recent or favorite): Blue Like Jazz
Magazine: I miss Cottage Living so much!
Organization: I love the Vera Bradley organizer and tons of baskets, especially wire! This blue organizer on my desk is now by my back door; it's my kitchen office.
Calendar: Kris-10 Creations--she has a great birthday calendar too!
Day-at-a-glance: I just had a baby in July... I have no idea what average is going to be, but so far it is pretty sweet.
Current Projects: Nursing, getting big brother into PreK, learning to juggle TWO boys and SOME work, oh and losing baby weight; professionally, working on lots of baby rooms for expectant moms... so fun!!
Planning: on doing more online consultations, so many women love working this way and it is great for me as a mom with a new baby!
Business: Keeping my business small, enjoying every little project but not letting it overtake my first priority: home.

Whether it's her house or yours, Holly puts all her effort into making it a home... because, really, home and the family in it are what matter most to her. What a lovely way to live!

This week's Desk post features that of Cathe Holden, the craft blogger and graphic designer behind the blog Just Something I Made. A while back, Cathe sent us pictures of her office as well as information about her workspace and business. Here's what Cathe had to say:

The Desk: Something I found on craigslist for $100. It was custom built for the previous owners in the Pottery Barn style. It's two cabinets on the end with one long 9-foot surface and a pencil drawer in the middle, all in a distressed creamy white paint. I replaced the hardware with bin pulls and matching chrome knobs. It is the perfect fit for my tiny garage studio, spreading out under the window to the back yard lined with Redwood trees. It stores printer papers and transfer sheets, desk accessories (Post-It Notes, rulers, tape, etc.), computer disks, all my glues and boxed vintage ephemera. 
Chair: An office chair left over from my design firm days, recently recovered in a fun red and white cotton print.
Paper: Anything I can get to run through my desktop printer, and I've tried just about everything, including old brittle book pages. 
Calendar: In my head - not the best system.
Clock: On my Mac 
Charging:My cell phone, my MacBook, my little Canon digital camera battery.
Inspiration: My large design and vintage image library in our living room, all sorts of magazines, design blogs and Etsy artisans. For logo designs, logolounge.com is unmatched. 
Color: Kiwi, poppy orange, Cath Kidston red, turquoise, black & white, and just the right pink.
'Thank You': I never write enough 
Flat note or folded: Folded as a habit, but I'm thinking flat is a bit classier (since you ask)! 
Handwritten or emailed: Handwritten is priceless, but e-mailed is better than nothing and often completely appropriate.
Stationery: Custom is cool. 
Organization: Drawers, bins, slots, containers and more drawers. I can never get enough of vintage parts cabinets. Old suitcases for vintage papers.
Book: Mine, once I write it. An inspirational crossover between graphic design and crafting/DIY.
Magazine: I really miss Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion. As a graphic designer, I feed off of Print and HOW Design's annuals.
Planning: Daily inspiring blog posts, client projects, finding the perfect wonderful paying projects to put three kids through college.
Business: Logo design by trade, inspirational blogging by passion.

We absolutely love all the bins, big and small, that organize everything, as well as the charming little details and fresh, soothing colors. Thank you, Cathe, for sharing your desk with us! 

Do you have a darling desk? We are currently looking for bloggers/designers/stationers extraordinaire to highlight in our "Desk" feature. Email us at whitneyenglish@yahoo.com if you'd like to share a photo of your desk with us, or to suggest other blog topics and ideas. As always, you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get updates on new designs, warehouse sales, and industry events.

This week's Desk post is a double-feature, showcasing the workspaces of Melissa and Liz, the two owners/designers of Sweet Funky Vintage, a children's clothing company. As owners and designers, Melissa and Liz need large, organized workspaces to keep up with the demands of business, as well as inspiring colorful spaces. Because their offices are separate, they told us separately about their spaces and sent in lots of colorful, charming pictures (with amusing captions). Here is what Melissa shared with us:

The Desk: A bar-height table so I can work comfortably sitting down or standing up. 
Chair: A $14 bar stool from Ikea decorated with an evolving decoupage of my favorite favorite fabric swatches - I add to it each season.
Paper: Legal pads and scraps of paper. I re-use all sorts of paper to try to be somewhat earth-friendly! 
Calendar: From paper source - love it! 
Clock: My studio manager, Jayne, requested a clock for the longest time, I finally broke down and bought her one! 
Inspiration: My new inspiration window is an antique window that I have had for years. It was from my Aunt and Uncle's home in Georgia, so I have some sentimental attachment to it. It has lost all but one of its panes of glass. I filled the open spaces with fabric covered cork and left the remaining glass as a "dry-erase" board. I have hung the window above my desk and I post important and inspiring things to it. 
Color: Lots of pink! 
'Thank You': I have a collection of thank you notes and try my best to remember to always say thank you! 
Flat note or folded: Both 
Handwritten or emailed: Handwritten 
Stationery: The Polka Dot Press, The Paper Princess, and Whitney English 
Organization: A constantly evolving process; I am always trying out new ways to be more organized, stream-lined and efficient.
Book: The Bible.
Magazine: "Where Women Create", "Country Living" and "Southern Living"
Planning: My business partner, Liz, and I live on opposite ends of the country, so we plan by conference call A LOT, but we try to meet somewhere and have marathon planning sessions at least four times per year.
Business: Sweet Funky Vintage, a children's clothing trunk show company. We celebrate individuality and creativity so much, our trunk show customers can design their own custom children's clothing. We also offer our designs for purchase through our website. All of our high quality clothing is handmade in the United States. Best of all - our social mission invites our customers to join with us to support women and children in our communities and across the nation.

 

Now, let's see what Liz had to say:

The Desk: A counter-height cutting table from Joann's, not fancy but functional. My other desk is anywhere I can carry my laptop: swim practice, the back porch, the car, etc. 
Chair: Who sits down? 
Paper: Yes, please, and lots of it! I am a list maker. Post its are indispensable. 
Calendar: I have two. One is a planner from Borders; I am always in search of the perfect planner (so constantly changing, but this one works for now). The other is a spiral-bound undated from Paper Source where I can plan out my week's "to do" in the studio. 
Clock: pink face Tag Heuer on my wrist 
Charging: Various places... there's already too much electrical stuff in the studio. 
Inspiration: The fabrics! They speak, I listen. 
Color: Yes, color. I am a color girl. The first thing I do in a new house is PAINT! I love orange, pink, lime and turquoise. 
'Thank You': My grandmother always taught me to thank a giver in person, but if they are not present, a thank you MUST be written promptly. 
Flat note or folded: Flat! I love the simplicity of a flat card. 
Handwritten or emailed: Handwritten, no question 
Stationery: I must admit, I'm a stationery ho. Anything cute, and it doesn't have to be actual stationery. I just saw Whitney's recipe cards in a local entertaining store that carries our aprons, and I am COVETING them... nevermind that I don't have time to transfer the actual recipes OR cook them! Seriously, Whitney English of course as well as The Polka Dot Press, Target, Tiny Prints and whoever strikes my fancy. 
Organization: YES! The studio collapses into chaos in the middle of every season, but for the most part is pretty organized. I can't pack on an unmade bed or work in a chaotic environment. 
Book: I am looking forward to reading the big stack on my nightstand on vacation. Historical fiction, James Patterson, nutrition and fitness, and any magazine I can get my hands on!
Magazine: (my preferred reading material) I regularly read Self, Real Simple, Oprah and More; I often pick up Southern Living, Country Living, Sew Hip, Shape, Body and Soul, Martha Stewart... I could go on...
Planning: My partner Missy and I try and get together several times a year to long-range plan for Sweet Funky Vintage. Our best planning sessions are over a glass of wine and a good meal! We are on the phone daily planning advertising, catalog layout, fabrics for the next few seasons... you name it. The planning never ends, it seems. 
Business: Missy and I started Sweet Funky Vintage two years ago. It is amazing how far we have come. We love our customers and they love us. "Celebrating Creativity" is our new tag line and describes our line perfectly... we love to watch our customers (mothers and daughters) plan outfits together and see what they come up with. The business is constantly evolving and surprises us at every turn. I don't think either of us could have imagined (though we hoped) that Sweet Funky Vintage would be where it is so quickly. This season we have a catalog in the works!

Thank you both for opening your offices and desks to us! They are full of fabric, color and inspiration (not to mention coffee and chocolate--mind if we stop by?), and we absolutely love them!

Do you have a darling desk? We are currently looking for bloggers/designers/stationers extraordinaire to highlight in our "Desk" feature. Email us at whitneyenglish@yahoo.com if you'd like to share a photo of your desk with us, or to suggest other blog topics and ideas. As always, you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get updates on new designs, warehouse sales, and industry events.

This week's featured Desk is that of Erin Conrad, an Oklahoma-based photographer. Her skill can be seen on her blog, where she posts pictures from recent shoots and opens up about her work, her clients and life in general. The blog showcases her work while providing insight into a photographer's mind, and these photographs of her office continue to provide insight. She is fun-loving (as seen in the treasure hunt dashes and "x" and tape dispenser), organized (ribbons on a pole, books straightened, pillows stacked), practical (multipurpose bookcase and clipboards as inspiration boards) and creative (what in that room doesn't fuel creativity?)... and here's what she had to say about her desk:

The Desk: Pottery Barn for my birthday a few years back. It works so perfectly.
Chair: Target. Seriously, I love Target.
Paper: So much paper I had to buy a desk to organize it all. I like to scrapbook as a hobby.
Calendar: On my blackberry.
Clock: Also on my blackberry. I think I'm boring now that I write all this out!
Charging: I wish I could plug myself into one of the bajillion cords we have in this house and get a full battery of energy. It doesn't work that way? Boo.
Other Details: The dashes--seen traveling around the window from a cluster of pictures to my changeable inspiration clipboards--are vinyl wall art and can be removed at any time, which means no commitment or repainting; for now, though they make me smile. My bookcase is another favorite feature; when we redid the room, we couldn't find a bookcase within our budget that matched the desk... so my husband designed and built it! I have the coolest and sturdiest bookcase ever!
Inspiration: Thunderstorms, hope, phone calls with Whitney Ann, weekends with Karmen, flickr, polaroids, Dwelling Spaces, live music, OU football, my dad whistling songs, my daily blog reads, singing the national anthem and traveling the globe.
Color: Green. It's always been you, green. I'd like to be one of those people that like every color too much to have a favoroite, but I can't. I'm loyal to my calming, refreshing yet energetic green.
'Thank You': Should always be said and written.
Flat note or folded: Lovin' the flat these days.
Handwritten or emailed: Both are good, but a handwritten thank you or I love you reminds you that maybe life isn't too busy for the little things.
Stationery: Uh, Whitney English, of course. And Target.
Organization: There can never be enough. I make lots of lists.
Book: Favorite is Tale of Two Cities and, of course, Harry Potter, but I just read The Road by Cormac McCarthy and would highly recommend it. It's one of my top faves now.
Magazine: I have to confess I find most of my inspiration online, although I love my catalogues (especially Anthropologie for their amazing photographs). And when I travel, give me People and I'm set.
Planning: On always taking pictures that tell a story. And swimming in my parent's new pool this summer.
Business: To capture your soul and tell your story.

Erin, we love your office... thank you so much for sharing it with us!

Do you have a darling desk? We are currently looking for bloggers/designers/stationers extraordinaire to highlight in our "Desk" feature. Email us at whitneyenglish@yahoo.com if you'd like to share a photo of your desk with us, or to suggest other blog topics and ideas. As always, you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get updates on new designs, warehouse sales, and industry events.

i grew up in the south where i developed a fondness for sweet tea, country ham and homemade biscuits. after spending my college years in chapel hill, i sought greener pastures... and found them in the wacky but wondrousworld of global advertising. a few years ago, you could have found me at apple computer, where i had the good fortune of spending my days around iPods, iTunes and Macs. in late 2005, i traded my post as senior worldwide advertising manager to move from san francisco to cleveland to become a mom. after two years, restlessness set it. i yearned for a creative outlet beyond daily crayons and finger paints. so, what was this girl to do? become a WAHM (also known in mommy circles as work-at-home mom). after this epiphany, i promptly morphed into decorator and blogger with my colorful new gig, spruce [décor]. it is here where i decorate lovely spaces, share oh-so-many things décor and muse about life in the midwest. but, my passion is note without purpose. since giving back is a part of my dna, i donate life-giving trees on behalf of my clients in memory of my mom, a fantastic diy decorator and my muse. she'll forever be a part of this earth and the carolina blue sky. 

 

The Desk: IKEA, but found on Craig's List from some kid who was moving to Jordan.  
Chair: Ditto. 
Paper: Nantaka Joy. 
Calendar: Ideally: my Tiffany Desk Diary. Realistically: Outlook.
Clock: Biological.
Charging: My new wardrobe. 
Inspiration: Hitchcock heroines, Kate Spade ads
'Thank You': Chocolate, champagne, framed photo. 
Flat note or folded: One shouldn't have to choose.
Organization: Euphoric!
Handwritten or emailed: Handwritten.
Book: My checkbook.
Color: Aubergine, Turquoise, Gold, Red. 
Magazine: Lucky, Country Living, Martha Stewart Weddings.
Stationery: Too many wonderful choices to just pick one!
Planning: Parties.
Business: Busy body.

 

  

  

Graphic designer Jessica Condatore is the blogger behind "The Love List", a "design and lifestyle blog for southerners and southerners at heart". As seen in the photograph above, Jessica's take on design often involves blending styles, textures and colors while focusing on a clean, cohesive look.  Taking a brief break from design and writing (she is working on a book), Jessica shared with us about her desk:

  

This week's featured desk is that of interior designer Vané, who happens to be the mastermind behind the wedding-themed BrooklynBride blog. The blog features "up and coming vendors in all fields such as photography, calligraphy, invitations, fashion, and gifts, along with coverage of bridal shows, shop reviews and everything in between". The photographs and information on the blog are enough to keep us coming back, but the site as a whole is an indispensable resource for trend-conscious brides. The Category search feature pulls all blog posts related to the desired category and sorts the results by date, newest to oldest. Also helpful is the Vendor search, which sorts vendors by category and then geographical region AND provides a description of the business along with its website and contact information. Our favorite feature on the website, behind the blog of course, is the "Deals and Events" page, which alerts readers to a wide variety of, well, wedding-related deals and events. Who doesn't love a deal? Vané is also the creator of BrooklynPillow, a line of trendy and colorful hand-made ring pillows. When we asked this busy design queen to share with us about her desk, this is what she had to say:

The Desk: I wish I remembered the name of it, but I bought it off the floor at DWR... yay, floor samples! 
Chair: The Urban chair from Ikea, in orange... it's outdoor but totally cool and usable anywhere. 
Paper: I don't need expensive papers to get things done; as long as they're pretty, I'm happy. 
Calendar: I have three calendars: one of Ink + Wit that I just keep up because it's so pretty, a little desk calendar I got as a freebie from an online store, and an Avery Quicknotes calendar that I actually write things down in. Not so pretty, but keeps me in order.
Clock: Funny, I don't have one... I keep check of the time on my laptop.
Charging: Luckily, I've got everything I need on my iPhone, so that's pretty much all I need to charge on a daily basis. 
Inspiration: I'm inspired by so many things I find on a daily basis... it could be an article in a magazine, a blog entry, a photo, even a silly hair clip! 
'Thank You': I have these skull and crossbones flat notes from Papivore (back when they had their store on Elizabeth Street) that I love to use when writing thank you notes because it's so unexpected! But I also have a monogrammed set of stationery from Paper + Cup that I love to use as well... for those with less of a sense of humor. 
Flat note or folded: Flat always!
Organization: I use such random things to get organized: mugs for my pens, bowls for little items, and file boxes for the big stuff.
Handwritten or emailed: Depends on the person, but I normally like handwritten... I know I would love getting a handwritten note, so I always keep that in mind.
Book: The only books I keep on my desk are notebooks that are in various stages of use... some are empty, some are half-filled. I'm so bad with notebooks!  I can never finish one!
Color: Green, white, grey 
Magazine: I subscribe to over 10 magazines, but the ones I keep religiously are Living Etc., Elle Decoration, Domino, New York Weddings, and Martha Stewart Weddings. The rest I tear up, and I keep my favorite clippings in portfolio books..
Stationery: I have about a gazillion favorite stationery companies... it's truly one of my passions. Favorites include Paper + Cup, Bird + Banner, Good on Paper Design, Hello! Lucky, Oh Joy! and Mr. Boddington's Studio..
Planning: My desk is all about sewing at the moment... normally it's covered in fabrics and my sewing machine.
Business: Sure, my desk looks like a nice, clean place to work on my computer, but in all honesty, I've actually converted it to a workstation for my sewing machine, while my laptop now lives on my coffee table. Sitting on the couch with my laptop is so much easier on my back, and having a hard workplace for my sewing machine makes working on my ring pillows and accessories a lot easier.

  

This week's featured desk is that of Kelly Beall, an art director and designer from Oklahoma City who is the mastermind behind DesignCrush (a blog that we regularly visit for inspiration, ideas, and plain old fun). Kelly's blog, in her own words, is "all about what I'm into, what I'm inspired by and what I'm just overall diggin'"; Kelly digs a lot of stuff, and we are ever-so-grateful to her for introducing it to us.  By the way, Kelly, we absolutely love the post about Go or Send Jewelry, especially the fork bracelet!  Since we love what Kelly shares with the world, we asked her to share with us about her desk.  Here's what she had to say:

The Desk: I'm not a big fan of my desk. It's a combination of the glass top and the size. The top a.) smudges if you so much as look at it, and b.) forever looks cluttered since you can see through and under it. I like to spread out when I work, so I always feel a little confined by the size. Maybe I should just move to the floor instead! 
Chair: Not the most comfortable chair in the world, but at least my feet touch the floor! I'm 5'2" and, believe it or not, have actually had desk chairs where that wasn't possible. It's plain and office-y but gets the job done. Hopefully one day there will be room in the budget for an upgrade. 
Paper: I've been paper-obsessed for as long as I can remember. Any kind: stationery, art papers, printing stock - you name it. Texture and color are huge deals and I'm an avid collector of scraps of both. 
Calendar: In the past few years I've become a bit of a calendar whore... I want them all. (Well-designed ones, mind you, not the ones sold at the kiosk in the mall around the holidays.) I've purchased a 2009 one for my wall from A Little Hut, but I'm sure there will be at least one more for my desk.
Clock: I try not to look at the clock while I work, otherwise I find myself either rushing to get things finished or time crawls. I used to wear a watch religiously until a few years ago, but even stopped that. Sometimes it's just nice to go with the flow.
Charging: In the sense of electronics - always plugged in when possible. Power vampires, I know. If we're talking credit cards, then I'm not a fan. I have too much school debt already, thankyouverymuch! 
Inspiration: It's everywhere. Especially when you aren't looking. 
'Thank You': Can't be said enough. Although I do hate when you end up in a 'Thank You Battle' with someone and don't know when the stopping point is. I still send Thank You notes the snail mail way and love receiving them, too. 
Flat note or folded: Flats have always seemed a little more business-like to me for some reason - maybe because there's no fold to hide your sentiments from other eyes? However, I do own and send both. 
Organization: Is so important to my life. I'm a big time List Maker. And everything needs to be in its place (to a certain degree) for me to feel at ease.
Handwritten or emailed: Handwritten is nice, but email is faster and more practical in this day and age. I guess it really makes receiving something handwritten that much nicer!
Book: I'm constantly reading something. Right now it's a book I bought in the 6th grade when I was just getting into actual "adult" books - Haunted Heartland. It's a collection of ghost stories and folklore about the Midwest.
Color: I used to be able to pick a favorite, but anymore it really depends on my mood and the intended purpose of the color. As you can see from my desk, it really runs the spectrum. And I like that. 
Magazine: Monthly, I check out Living, Real Simple, Lucky, Cosmopolitan and Domino. I also look at Cooking Light, Dwell and Food & Wine online.
Stationery: I wish I could say I have a favorite company, but I honestly don't. And I like even too many to list here! I do tend to gravitate toward simple, clean design as well as quirky little illustrations.
Planning: Goes in the same book as Organization. Each demands the presence of the other!
Business: Is usually work, but can sometimes turn into pleasure.

"The majority of my work these days is one-of-a-kind wedding invitations. I like to think that it's my specialty; it's definitely one of my passions. One of the trends that I'm seeing lately is unusual color combinations. Perhaps unusual isn't the best word--maybe unconventional or untraditional is better. I'm glad to see brides stepping outside of the box, so to speak. Nothing is more fun for me as a designer than to have someone who is interested in different ways of looking at things. Along the same vein of color, I love to use colored envelopes, especially as unexpected inner envelopes to formal wedding invitations. It's just another way for a bride to express her personality."