Caroline Starr Rose

picture book and middle-grade author

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Neater Digs

24 Comments

So I had some time during the holidays to put my office in order. This is the first time since moving in that the garbage can has actually made it to the floor. Before now, it’s been up on the file cabinet, out of the puppy’s reach.

Here’s my bookshelf filled with books on craft, various reference books, some recent reads, and photos of two handsome devils. Above is the artwork that accompanied my first two published poems.

On the chest is my trusty Dell printer (prints 2000 pages before it needs new toner!) and a container of books on the Gypsies of Spain.

 This is my thrift store find: a headboard I painted (with thrift store paint) to use, desk-like, for placing things. Those two shelves will fill up this year with 2k11 and Elevensie titles. The yellow box is chock-full of 2k11 swag.

Between the photos is a super large, recently bound copy of MAY B.  — handy for edits. Not sure why I never thought to do this until now. The green files are full of old manuscripts, conference materials, and loads of rejections.

Here’s the file cabinet (where the garbage can used to reside). On top are files I use often and old copies of Writer’s Digest and SCBWI bulletins.

Down the side are seven pictures representing each group of students I’ve taught over the years. Tragically, my 97-98 picture from Southwest Middle School (Orlando, FL) has disappeared. I suspect it fell behind my file cabinet in my Louisiana classroom… .

Where do you work? What things do you keep nearby?

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Filed Under: home, the writing life

Comments

  1. Mrs. DeRaps says

    January 5, 2011 at 11:46 am

    Very cute! I love orderliness : )

    Reply
  2. Andrea Mack says

    January 5, 2011 at 11:52 am

    Caroline, your work space looks so organized! I’m jealous. I never seem to find the time to tidy up mine.

    Reply
  3. Natalie Aguirre says

    January 5, 2011 at 11:55 am

    Wow! It looks great. My “office” is my kitchen table. But I have a cool office at work that is even painted purple on 2 walls–my favorite color.

    Reply
  4. Rowenna says

    January 5, 2011 at 1:16 pm

    Very cute! What a fresh, welcoming space. I’m taking mental notes for organizing my own space!

    Reply
  5. Anne Gallagher says

    January 5, 2011 at 1:41 pm

    I actually do have pictures of my workspace but I need to figure out how to download them from my camera.

    Beautiful space Caroline. Very organized. Want to come to my house and do mine?

    And yes, the trash can. Mine is still up on the counter even thought the puppies are 2 now.

    Reply
  6. Anna Staniszewski says

    January 5, 2011 at 1:59 pm

    What a lovely space! Now I’m embarrassed by the chaos that’s taken over my office. One of my goals for this year is to finally get it in order. You’ve inspired me! 🙂

    Reply
  7. Caroline Starr Rose says

    January 5, 2011 at 2:14 pm

    I didn’t mention the hours it took to get this way!

    Reply
  8. Tom M Franklin says

    January 5, 2011 at 4:24 pm

    my writing space? well, i have a room (named after the MC of the book i’ll write one day) with my desktop G5, but there’s way, way too much other stuff in there (clothes, music, instruments, board games, books) for me to work well in there.

    mostly i work out at our kitchen table after everyone has finished dinner.

    — Tom

    Reply
  9. Valerie Geary says

    January 5, 2011 at 4:40 pm

    Yeah clean writing space!! I need to have a go at mine. I love your craftiness…making a headboard into a shelf. Clever, clever.

    Reply
  10. Stasia says

    January 5, 2011 at 6:01 pm

    Gorgeous. What a great, fresh start for the new year. My office looks like a… (well, it would be wrong to write those words here on your lovely blog). Promising myself I’ll purge the office if I ever get through the laundry!!!

    Reply
  11. Kiki Hamilton says

    January 5, 2011 at 10:12 pm

    Caroline – your office is beautiful! Such peaceful colors and all neat and tidy! It inspires me!

    My office is a sunroom, which means it’s a very small room and I have it crammed to the gills with plants and stuff. But I like it!

    This is a fun post! Maybe I’ll post pictures of my office on my blog. hmmm…*looks around* after I clean, of course! Let’s pretend it looks like that all the time! 😀

    Reply
  12. Terri Tiffany says

    January 5, 2011 at 11:17 pm

    I LOVE the green! It is so organized! I have a great office but do all my writing in my family room!

    Reply
  13. Caroline Starr Rose says

    January 6, 2011 at 12:07 am

    I think all of you ought to know the trash can is back on the file cabinet, thanks to the puppy!

    Reply
  14. Heather Sunseri says

    January 6, 2011 at 2:01 am

    You’re inspiring me. I need to get organized. I work all over the place, but I do have an office upstairs where most of my stuff is stored.

    Reply
  15. Joanne Fritz says

    January 6, 2011 at 2:49 am

    Wow! Very impressive, Caroline! I love (and covet) all those storage areas.

    My writing area is also my guest room/spare room and it’s filled with too much junk. Would love a clean, orderly place to write. Someday…

    Reply
  16. Jessie Oliveros says

    January 6, 2011 at 3:19 am

    Your office looks like something out of a magazine! I love the headboard.

    Reply
  17. Deidra says

    January 6, 2011 at 6:22 am

    Oh I need this inspiration! I’ve been trying to figure out how to organize my desk and just keep getting overwhelmed. Maybe someday…

    Reply
  18. Ann Kroeker says

    January 6, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    My desk is in the middle of the family room. Behind me–right behind me, inches away–kids practice piano. They congregate in that room to play board games or read books on the couch. They play their music and ask me a million questions.

    Needless to say, my writing conditions are less than ideal.

    But we have no other rooms in the house that can serve as an office.

    Sigh.

    Reply
  19. A.L. Sonnichsen says

    January 7, 2011 at 10:25 am

    Oh, this is so beautiful!!

    I was over at my friend’s very- clean house the other night for Bible study (without my children) and felt like I was at a spa because everything was so clean and neat and I could sit on the sofa and drink water and not be accosted by very small children. I think I’d feel the same way in your office! Congratulations. You give me something to which to aspire!

    Amy

    Reply
  20. Hardygirl says

    January 7, 2011 at 5:29 pm

    Wow!! So happy, neat and organized. I just put up a page of my workspace on my blog. It’s not nearly so clean …

    sf

    Reply
  21. Catherine says

    January 7, 2011 at 6:39 pm

    Nice space and well organized. My office has always been important to me. I like it set up just so. Last year I moved and dismantling my beloved office was very hard. I’m slowly getting to like my new space, even if it is much smaller. You’ve inspired me to fix it up a bit.

    Reply
  22. elizabethanne says

    January 8, 2011 at 7:49 pm

    I love this! What a wonderful space to work. As so many have said before me, you’ve inspired me to keep working at the massive organization my Writing Room needs (and which both the room and my writing deserve).

    The repurposing of the headboard is such a good idea. This space looks as though it will work well for you. (But thanks for admitting that the trash can had to go back up on the filing cabinet. I was wondering if the puppy had magically reformed.)

    As I searched for my library card in my purse yesterday, I said to the women behind the desk, “When I grow up, I’m going to be organized!” One of them said, “That sounds like a book title!” I said, “Maybe I’ll write it.” …but as I look around me, I wonder about my qualifications.

    *elizabethanne looks around her Writing Room, decides she’d better get busy tidying*

    Reply
  23. Dawn Simon says

    January 9, 2011 at 7:31 pm

    It looks great! Cheery, organized, and inviting! I think it’s fun to see where other people write.

    What things do I keep nearby? I have two small corkboards behind my laptop. They’re filled with photos of my characters, research tidbits, and things that give me inspiration (like notes from my kids and a bookmark that says, “Never, never, never quit – Winston Churchill”). I have stacks of papers, binders, and reference books near my desk. I also have a framed copy of my first published poem. Oh! And a framed copy of a $5 check–the first money I got writing (my second published poem). Isn’t that hilarious? I’m still THAT excited about that $5.

    Reply
  24. Debbie Diesen says

    January 12, 2011 at 1:35 am

    You’ve inspired me! My office is definitely not this orderly and soothing.

    Reply

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