Joules - Pocketful of Joules

Office Thoughts & Sideboards

I love my home office, but I do admit it is a little chaotic if it gets messy. In one room, I have a sewing station, workout area (with walking pad and Peloton bike), Poshmark sales storage, storage for a bunch of different crafts, and the office stuff – desk, laptop(s), files, printer. All in one room.

I’m very into purposeful storage, so at some point I brought in this cube organizer.

It holds a ton of stuff, including a total mishmash of craft stuff, books, and workout stuff (weights, yoga blocks, etc). It serves its purpose, but it does feel a little ‘college dorm room’ to me.

I’ve been thinking that I’d like something with more storage that looks a little nicer. Like maybe a dresser or sideboard? That way, I can store all my stuff away in an organized fashion, and it is a nicer piece of furniture for the background of my video calls.

Here’s what I want: Something that looks kind of mid-century modern, but not with the antique price. I need more storage than I currently have and think something with a combination of drawers and shelves would be most handy. My current cube system is 36” wide… so I’d like something wider.

Here are a few of the designs I’m considering:

Draylen 79.9 Sideboard – currently $324

I really like the look of this one and I like the fact that it has a mix of shelves and drawers. However, it is over 70” long which would mean I’d have to be careful opening my door. Also, I feel like by the drawers/shelving not going all the way down to the floor, it’s a bunch of wasted space when I want MORE options for organizing stuff.

Badel 58” Sideboard – currently $319

Okay, size wise this would fit great. I also like that it has a combination of drawers and shelves, which would be really good for storing various items. This one is a contender!

Modern Berenika 58” Sideboard with Latticework Doors – currently $369

This option looks like it has all shelves, but it actually has two small drawers inside as well. I like the look of the lattice doors, but I’m wondering if being able to see through them would be annoying (and look messy)? The size of this one looks good and I like the finish on the wood, so it’s still in the running.

Atyia 46.7” Double Dresser – currently $243.99

Okay, this one is a full-on dresser with all drawers. It’s so pretty with the light wood and the woven drawer fronts… but it IS a dresser. Does it look too ‘bedroom’ for the office? Also, by having all drawers I have lots of storage, but I’m missing out on the shelves where I can just add in boxes of my current craft stuff. The price is great though. Sigh. This is very difficult!

Acelynn 31.5” Sideboard (Set of 2) – currently $209.99

And here I go completely in the opposite direction – all shelves and no drawers. This is a set of two, so you put them next to each other for a total of 63” of storage. It’s a few more inches than my other sideboard options, but I am giving up ANY drawers in this option. However, the price is so reasonable…

I think I have it narrowed down to these three:

The Badel ($319), Berenika ($369) or Atyia ($243). I’m having a really hard time making a decision though.

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Writing the Most Positive Negative Review

This past weekend, Travis and I celebrated our 16^th wedding anniversary. Yay! We typically like to go away on a little trip, but this year money is (still) tight due to the port shutdown issues and Jack’s unexpected broken arm bills. So, we loaded up the SUV with our stuff, the kiddo, the doggo and drove three hours to 7 Springs Resort in Pennsylvania where we rented a condo through VRBO. Our goal was to enjoy some fall foliage, their “Autumnfest” event, and the condo’s fireplace and hot tub.

And I didn’t take ANY photos.

Which I guess means we were having a really good time. So that’s fine. Even though I did wear a super adorable outfit with my new-to-me cowboy boots. But anyways… to the point of this post. The condo was not great.

In fact, it became a running joke that everything was *just a little bit broken.*

The hot tub was amazing and fantastic. But one side of the bubbles was broken.

The main bathroom was fine with a good-sized shower. But the wallpaper was literally peeling off the walls.

There were stains on the carpet. There was a STAIN ON THE BEDSHEETS.

The kitchen was stocked with spices (so many spices) and coffee. But the trashcan hinge had fallen off so every time you opened it… yup, a little bit broken.

Like, just enough that it was kind of annoying. But, didn’t hinder us from having a good time.

EXCEPT for the main bedroom’s bed.

Oh. My. God. I have never slept on a more squeaky bed in my entire life. Also, it was really small (I’m thinking it might have been “full” sized). So, you add in Travis, me and Ollie and there was no room to roll over unless you carefully rolled in place.

But even then. SQUEAK.

It squeaked when I moved.

It squeaked when Ollie – an 11-pound dog that is barely bigger than a rabbit – moved.

It squeaked even harder when I laughed. With each squeak timed to each one of my giggles.

It SQUEAKED WHEN I RUBBED MY ITCHY NOSE.

It was hilarious. And squeaky. And on top of the squeaks, the bed was so incredibly uncomfortable that Travis decided to spend the second night on the couch. (Which is oh so romantic for our anniversary trip).

Which brings us to the review.

After each stay, VRBO asks you to write a review of the property. However, they also have the property owners write a review of you as a guest. Here’s the thing — I love VRBO and we use it often when we travel, so I don’t want to be reviewed as a problem guest. But, I also need to be honest about a property that was… lacking.

So, on our ride home, I decided to use ChatGPT to write up the review for me.

Here’s the prompt I gave it:

Write a positive review for a stay in a condo where the bed was so creaky we couldn’t sleep in it, wallpaper coming off walls and everything is a little bit broken. But good location and had a hot tub.

And here is what ChatGPT came up with:

We recently stayed at this condo and had a generally enjoyable experience, thanks to its fantastic location and the added bonus of a hot tub! The proximity to local attractions made it very convenient for exploring the area, and the hot tub was a great way to unwind after a long day.

While the bed was a bit creaky and could use an update, we made the best of it and still had a relaxing time. There were some minor maintenance issues, like wallpaper peeling in spots and a few things that seemed a little worn, but overall it didn’t detract too much from our stay. With a few updates, this place has a lot of potential.

All in all, we loved the location and amenities, and with a bit of TLC, this condo could be a real gem!

Yup. That works.

Also, on the bright side. We got home last night and our bed felt AMAZING.

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My Style: Style Remix with a Solid Colored Dress

A few months ago, I started a new series based on some feedback on my PocketfulofJoules Instagram account. A very sweet Instagram friend sent me a DM saying how much they enjoy seeing different ways to style the same items over and over again as inspiration for their own looks. (Psst…you can find a bunch of these saved under the “OOTD Breakdown” highlight on Instagram). So, I thought it would be fun to start highlighting some remixes here on the blog.

You can find my previous posts here:

For today’s highlight, I’m going to focus on remixing a solid colored dress.

These are actually a few different black dresses, but honestly they all serve the same purpose. I’ve accumulated them over the years (and one of them is no longer in my closet), but if I had to pick just one to keep… it would be the black eyelet dress (shown on outfit 1, 2 and 3).

A well-made solid dress can be an absolute workhorse for your closet and you can style it a ton of different ways. You can top it with a tied shirt, you can throw on a cardigan in any color, you can add a belt, and you can put a top underneath for the pinafore look. If you were going on a trip, you could style the same dress 10 different ways easily with just a carry-on.

Here are a couple ‘use your imagination’ ideas to add:

I know neither of these are black dresses, but they could be and they give a visual to my next two ideas. First, you can add an overskirt — this gold polka dot tulle skirt is layered over another one and could easily be layered over one of my solid dresses to give it a totally different look. The other idea is to add an underskirt. By adding my green-ish tulle skirt UNDER my polkadot dress on the right, it gave it a whole new feeling. And it doesn’t have to be tulle. You can try layering any of the skirts in your closet to see what you like when it comes to color combos or lengths.

I hope you like this new series and please let me know if you have a particular item you want me to highlight for you!

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