Thursday, August 20, 2015

Study Spaces

Now that school is back in session, the kids might need a study space, right?
For your viewing pleasure today, we have vintage desks and/or study areas, courtesy of my collection of vintage books and magazines.
Let's start with one of my personal favorites - just pull a Parsons style table up over your bed, add a back rest pillow and work away!
It's made even more fabulous by that wonderful vintage Bates bedspread!
I like the colors in this one, and the fab calendar on the wall - and it certainly doesn't hurt to have your guitar nearby, right?
I think I could save a heck of a lot of money for a rainy day - (please!) - in that huge and cool orange piggy bank:
Of course, the one thing you won't see in any of these vintage photos is a computer - but a laptop could easily be added.
A (hopefully, comfortable) chair and a good lamp are always very much appreciated:
Here's a French Provincial style desk from an advertisement for Bassett furniture:
This Early American style desk in the next photo is almost exactly like the one we have that was my husband's desk when he was a kid!
It's actually MY desk now, and, while this is my least-favorite style of furniture, it's a nice, sturdy and useful desk - which is precisely why it is still in use all these years later!
See -  simply switch out this typewriter, below for a computer and you're really all set......
(Sorry some of these pictures are not the best. I took photos of magazine pages.)
You could do any kind of work at this pretty orange table. Crafts, homework, sewing - whatever you like:
This last space appears to be meant for a young child - and yet it's the one I like the best!

I'm sure you're not surprised.
I'd love to add that vintage lady bank on the far left in the bottom shelf to my collection, and if you're a regular reader, you already know how I feel about those vintage cardboard boxes with all the little drawers!
 Is that a ball or a balloon up on the top? I love that, too.
It's such a bright, pretty, welcoming space.
I'll take it!
Chair, games, toys, and all.
Oh - and did you notice the floor?
 I don't know if that's carpeting or something else, but I'll take that, too, while I'm at it.......

6 comments:

Tina Dawn said...

Wow, I got lost in this post. It brought back memories of my desk and the things I had on and surrounding it. I am in love with the Bates bedspread, I wish I had one in my room when I was a teen (or now...) In the second photo I spied an abacus, I had one from San Francisco and treasured it, mine was more colorful, I forgot about that.The third photo has a wonderful black globe I would love to own! In the room with the typewriter there is a cute little akro-mils storage box on the desk. I love those, use two of them to hold my earrings and other jewelry, and the wall is a peg board, I had peg board over my desk and hung fun items from it, I never thought about doing the whole room or a whole wall! And lastly, I had at least one of those cute orange and yellow boxes with drawers. I wish I could go back in time to when we moved (just a month or so before I graduated high school) and retrieve some of those precious items. Oh, and as a PS, to me the balloon or ball on top of the shelf almost looks like a lower part of a painted pottery piece like a chicken or some kind of animal. Thanks for this post. Love T

Gail Travis said...

In the 70's I had two boys and a husband who didn't work steady. We were living in the Los Angeles area and had very little money. My style now is Early American in maple and/or cherry. Love Ethan Allen and Kling. Have several of their books that I find my bedroom furniture in. Enjoy all your colorful pictures. Have a lot of chenille bedspreads and some Bates hobnail ones.

Diane said...

Great pictures. Interesting curtains in two-- different colored panels together; kinda neat. All those little drawers nestled together is a cool look-- I wonder if it was hard to remember where you put what? The last photo reminded me of my sister's and my bedroom in the late 70s-- bright yellow with orange trim!

Phyl D said...

Growing up surrounded by Early American furniture in the 1960s and 1970s, I had to laugh at your comment, Heidi Ann, because I'm not fond of it either. My mother has said that back in the early 1960s the three basic choices for furniture were French Provincial, Scandinavian Modern and Early American...I guess with three growing kids (two of them rough and tumble boys) she felt that the Early American furniture would hold up best. In fact, my folks still have dining room chairs (and table) that match the one shown in that photo of the desk similar to your husband's childhood desk.

This posting reminds me of one of the first magazine postings on 60s/70s teen furniture that I came across on your blog several years ago. In one of the photos on the floor by the desk was a large rattan or wicker frog meant to hold magazines. I had one of these frogs (with two big green marbles for its eyes) when I was in my early teens, around 1974, which held my beloved American Girl magazines and later Seventeen, Mademoiselle and Glamour magazines. I can't begin to tell you what a pang of nostalgia I felt when I saw that, and all the memories it brought back, something I hadn't thought about for almost 40 years!

And those cool little, brightly colored cardboard boxes with several drawers...I actually spotted one of them recently on the old TV show, The Partridge Family, in Laurie's room. Too funny.

Sorry for such a long-winded comment, but I just love all your postings so much...really takes me back to some of my happiest days!

Heidi Ann said...

So glad you all enjoyed the photos!I love comments - short AND long, and I am always tickled to hear about everyone else's memories.
Phyl D. - I remember that wicker frog in the picture; I loved it - SO very cool that you had one!
And I know I saw that box on The Partridge Family, too - I was all excited when I spotted it! I love watching 60's and 70's TV shows and movies and checking out all of the cool stuff on the sets.

Sunnyana said...

Wow! What a lot to take in. My favorite is the last photo. Someplace I still have a couple of the little cardboard drawer sets but mine are in green and blue tones with a floral outside. Pretty sure I got them at the Takahashi store in San Francisco. The ball on the top shelf looks like an inflatable beach ball to me, with love written in hearts, but it's upside down on the shelf. I had one very similar and may still have it in a box somewhere. Thanks for a great post!