I recently learned of a case where the top of a solid wood desk cracked under prolonged, intense exposure to heat from a laptop computer.  I've never heard of this before, but I guess it can happen.

Do you use a laptop as your desktop computer?  I do.  I like the flexibility it offers me and at work.  I connect it to a big 40" flat screen TV so I can still have a large workspace.

If you do the same, and your desk is made of wood, be careful to move your laptop around and check the bottom of it for heat now and then.  Many people use a laptop cooling pad as well, especially for Macs which reportedly run hotter than PCs.

We have lots of other tips and advice for caring for your solid wood desks and other wooden office furniture our website at VermontWoodsStudios.com.

If you're looking to buy a new solid wood desk, browse our handcrafted American made selection below:

• • All Solid Wood Desks
  • Writing Desks
  • Laptop Desks
  • Shaker Desks
  • Copeland Desks

The post Solid Wood Desks – Furniture Care Tips and Advice appeared first on Vermont Woods Studios.

Home offices aren't necessarily in a separate room anymore.  This one saves space with a large desk that could double as a kitchen table.  Less space means lower carbon footprint.

I am ashamed to say that my home office decor is deplorable.  You can see it in this video taken last year when I had 6 other people working in it with me.

So with our Green-up Your Workplace Challenge coming up for Earth Day, I decided to look for green design ideas to spif it up with eco-friendly home office furniture, lighting and accessories.

I started looking for ideas at HGTV and was delighted to find they are showcasing over 125 home office design ideas submitted by homeowners and interior designers. 

They've got modern home offices, eclectic home offices, traditional home offices, contemporary home offices, arts and crafts home offices, cottage home offices, tropical home offices, English country home offices, transitional home offices, mid-century modern and even Mediterranean home offices.

I hope they add a green home office project with all natural, all American made wooden office furniture: desks, file cabinets, credenza, occasional tables and chairs (maybe even using reclaimed, recycled barnwood).  Then add in organic cotton rugs, draperies and upholstery, energy efficient electronics, light bulbs, light fixtures and maybe even FSC certified wood flooring.  That would be a good project to post on Earth Day, HGTV.  Just a suggestion.

The post HGTV: Got Any Green Home Office Ideas for Earth Day? appeared first on Vermont Woods Studios.

How are you doing on your New Year's resolutions?  I finally started mine today.  First: get my workspace organized. 

This is what I want it to look like.

Instead, I'm sad to say, it looks like this.  Can you believe that?  Especially considering my work with fine, American made, solid wood furniture at Vermont Woods Studios.

I don't have a bookcase or a file cabinet.   I do have a couple beautiful solid wood desks that Ken made for me when we moved into this space last year.  I try to file everything electronically but that's not always possible so I end up with stacks of papers on my desks, notes on the wall and other stuff on the floor. 

So today I decided to start getting organized.  I asked Douglas to order me a new solid wood file cabinet from our Modern Shaker Office Furniture Collection.  If that's not enough to do the job, I may have to splurge on the huge Solid Wood Bookcase in the picture above.  We'll see.  We seem to be moving and growing a lot so it all depends on how long we're here in this lovely office with the wood paneling and aqua carpets.  I wouldn't want to get too far out of step with the modern decor.

The post Solid Wood Desks and Bookcases – Getting Organized For The New Year appeared first on Vermont Woods Studios.