Desk Makeover Contest Winner!

As you may recall, in October I launched a hugely successful desk decorating contest where I urged readers around the globe to submit pictures of their desks in the hopes they would win a desk makeover from The Dull Co-worker.


Due to the lack of a mathematically based skill testing question, submissions were lower than anticipated. Nevertheless, the following winner from Canada submitted this photo:



While I have not yet travelled to the desk locale, I am going to suggest the winner does a DIY (Do It Yourself) based on the following instructions below.


Clearly this fellow is in need of some decorating assistance. This desk lacks clutter and is too clean. It is sad that you can see the desk. Desks should just exist but not be seen (isn't that a popular saying by someone).


I recommend that desks always be covered in paper to give the illusion of copious amounts of work being done. The type of paper could be spreadsheets with complex data, it could be manuals, it could be expense reports, mail or receipts...just whatever you're feeling at the moment. It could be white paper or coloured paper if you want to add a little bit of flair! It could be shiny paper, flat paper or even textured paper. Basically, just take paper that has something on it that looks work related and scatter it. Make it whimsical.


If you are one of those unfortunate souls who has everything organized in folders, just take some contents of a folder and place them in a willy-nilly manner on the desk NOTE: do not put them into any sort of neat pile or place them perfectly straight on the desk. You want to avoid symmetry and perfection at all costs. The truly brilliant desk decoraters of our time would agree with me on this and if you don't believe me, I urge you to contact them.


The next step would be to add post it notes of all shapes and sizes around the monitors. Add some non-sensical sayings or words from your favourite song if you want to jazz up your space.


You may also want to add some wallpaper. Wallpaper is back, as popular interior designer, Melissa Hare indicates in her October Hare Styling blog. Why not add a pattern that was popular in the 80's such as the one below. Using the wallpaper as a backsplash behind your computer will create a kitchen type feel.

Finally, you must add the finishing touches to your work space by adding something unique and timeless to your chair. For this I recommend a blanket. This will be helpful if you get cold, it adds a punch of frivolity and most importantly, it doubles a cape if you want to pretend you're a super hero and get the heck out of the office in a hurry!