I am a new person. Transformed! The fact that there aren’t more before/after shows for the “chronically disorganized” (me!) is a real missed TV opportunity. Now, I do give myself grace because the amount of stuff one has to have to do this job, run this company, and create so much design content so frequently is extreme (occupational hazard – just the way it is). And even with a team of people, it’s impossible to keep it organized unless you have what we now have – a dedicated space, with IKEA shelving and cabinets, labels, color-coded shelves, THE WORKS. Without systems, there is chaos!!!! And Houston, we now have systems. For those of you who want to jump to the reveal, you can watch our latest YouTube video right here. I couldn’t love it any more.

2019 – The BEFORE before

When we bought the property, this was the garage – full of potential and spiders/dampness. We always knew that one of the perks of buying the property with so many outbuildings would be that we could have prop storage within reach (crucial to running the business), but not when they looked like this…

She was in rough shape. A slab had been poured in the last 20 years (we think), but otherwise it was “vintage”. So my brother’s company, Afore, set to restore and repair it, using the existing footprint and structure (and slab). They reinforced the framing, scissoring where they needed to, replacing other boards, but we really tried to save money by using the original wood. We opted to get rid of the broken windows, choosing functional wall space over a weird fence view. We updated the simple electrical and panneled it all.

January 2025 – Construction Progress

As you can see, the four bays remained the same, just fixed for new garage doors. The two on the left would be furniture store, holiday, and “Henderson life stuff”, while the two on the right would be smaller props, tools, supplies – all the stuff that needed a true dedicated space. Brian’s truck would go on the far left (and to save money, we made it just a covered carport without a slab, electrical or garage doors, and just a corrugated roof).

Initially, we were going to leave the original ceiling (it was pretty!), but we ended up cladding over it just to keep it as clean, insulated, and simple as possible. We needed to add recessed lighting so the paneling covered up the wiring, and honestly, we just didn’t want to deal with spiders and the potentially ickiness ever again.

The Old Prop House – Carriage House

As a reminder, we had everything on shelving in the only “not-totally-damp” room in the carriage house. Things were not staying in great shape, and we needed to start restoring this house, so it was time to fix the garages so we could have safe, dry storage.

June 2025 – DONE!!!! And I’m So Happy

Garage Doors | Garage Paint Color | Garage Doors Paint Color | Sconces

Last week, I showed off the prettiest garage doors ever (by Clopay, installed by local company Ponderosa) that we are legit obsessed with. Head over to this post to read alllllllll about our doors and the color, etc.

Once open, those doors really create this indoor/outdoor workspace which we all love being in (besides the fact that there is spotty wifi out here – fixing that asap). It’s a huge garage, extremely functional and tidy, and I spend far more time in here than predicted.

The After After…My New Favorite Space

Shelving Units | Cabinets | Table (vintage) | Chairs (vintage) | Rug (vintage) | Bins

It’s so much space, and so organized with the right dedicated storage for every type of thing. We have three sides of storage – the shallow shelves on the left, the deep closed storage on the back, and then deep shelves on the right. I mapped it all out beforehand, and I think I did a fantastic job if I do say so myself!

In front of the PAX units (which I want to discuss more below), we have our old vintage kitchen table from LA that I have been hoarding, and my beloved Cherner chairs (which admittedly shouldn’t be in a garage, but they aren’t comfortable enough for our day-to-day chairs – so squeaky!). We use this table to pull props and pack them up, but also we have been meeting out here while the kids have been running feral all summer. It’s oddly peaceful and quiet out here. While it’s likely not our year-round “studio,” it’s reallly nice not to always work in my sunroom and have some separation (we are hybrid, so unless we are meeting or shooting, everyone does computer work from home).

Are The IKEA PAX Units Good Enough For Garage Shelves??

I saw a lot of comments after I posted about how we had installed the PAX units. A few of you mentioned they aren’t strong enough for true garage storage (based on your experience). So before you do what I did, do more research (than I did). So far we are fine, but as you can see, we do have some stacks of dishes which are rather heavy, and I think I’m going to disperse based on your advice. For the most part, what is in these units isn’t heavy, but if you have heavy bins of garage “stuff,” then based on the comments, you’d want to get the kitchen cabinetry from IKEA.

Dish Rack | Labels

This is our tabletop cabinet as you can see, pared down and super organized. The labels are my boss!!!

Vertical Drawer Organizer | Horizontal Drawer Organizers

In the other prop house, these were stacked in a bookshelf and were a total disaster. Here they are stacked perfectly and dust/spider-free. I bought the IKEA organizers for inside that work fine for the flatware.

Wall-Mounted Organizer

On the left is oversized art and mirrors (which I organized in that cute little wall-mounted art organizer).

More IKEA Shelving!

Shelving with Closed Storage

This is my favorite wall – so many pretty things that we pull for shoots, rotate in and out of my house, and I think I have a story about every single thing (not saying it’s healthy, just giving the facts). Most of this is vintage or one-of-a-kind (with a decent amount of really useful Anthro, CB2, and Target mixed in here).

I had so much fun organizing everything by color – forcing Marlee and Gretchen into a personal show-and-tell monologue about each thing that had a story. Yes, I’m a hoarder of pretty things, and I accept this full accountability (I also purge a lot – and trust me, you want to be friends with “purging Emily”).

I’m glad that most of you are likely design enthusiasts and aren’t judging but instead admiring (but it’s ok if you don’t get it, too!)

Let me be clear, this is post-purge. As in this is the stuff that made the cut, either because I use it a lot, or it’s somehow special to me, or it’s new and I haven’t found its permanent home yet.

On the other side is “Lamp Land,” which houses (you guessed it) all the lighting, as well as art and fabric.

Shelving | Soft Storage Bins

How can a photo of shelves of stuff make me so happy???? I guess I see years of collecting (dopamine burst after dopamine burst) mixed with excitement for future projects.

Now that I can see everything clearly, I can really place them in future projects (that I know of). I’ve gotten pretty great and knowing what I should keep versus what I really don’t think I need to store any longer. All of this made the cut.

Lamps, baskets, small inside pots, and large vessels – everything has a place, and it’s visually so clear.

Soft Storage Bins

On the bottom row lie row after row of fabric bins that I bought specifically to fit in here side by side, and with a vinyl window to show me what is inside. Admittedly, they look squished, but they do the job assigned to them so well and can fit a LOT.

Art Dividers | Art Dividers with Wheels

I’m pretty obsessed with these art dividers (pot lid organizers work, too). I bought these from Amazon, with the larger rolling ones here and the smaller art dividers here. These make me feel on top of the world, TBH, and I’m so excited that my art will stop getting damaged by being thrown around.

Art Dividers with Wheels

How smart are these rolling art carts? Very specific to my needs (not an every garage staple), but they work so well for our needs. We keep them in front of the door, which we aren’t really using (we might in the winter) because the garage doors open so easily and quickly.

It’s such a dream. And a big shout out to the Clopay garage doors that open and close so quietly and, as you can see below, honestly look pretty lovely when closed (the windows help a lot).

We’ve been leaving the doors open while we are in here, and it really stays cool (no direct sun, north facing) and is just so nice to get away from the free rein kids running around our property all summer.

It’s also fantastic that cars can pull right up to it, so even in the winter we have very little excuse to not put things away (but we can also just stack everything on the table if we are in a hurry – a dedicated staging spot).

We put in a cadet heater that is behind the art, leaning on the floor, so we’ll see if we use it in the winter. I think at minimum I’ll set it to keep it 50 degrees so that it doesn’t get too cold in here and warp the art.

That white door leads to the other garage, which is full of samples of something I’m very excited to show you, but can’t yet. So more to come from that garage soon…

A huge thanks to my team for helping me with this. I know that it’s technically part of their job, but reorganizing your boss’s life (while also shooting a YouTube series about it) is definitely both hard work and very personal. And thanks to my brother’s company, Afore, for making these garages so beautiful, safe, dry, and polished. They are such a dream. Now go watch the fun/fast YouTube to see the full tour (including what is in the other cabinets).

*Photos by Kaitlin Green

There comes a moment for many of us when we’re decorating our homes, when we have to choose between form and function. Do we go with the pretty version of what we need or the one that works the best/is the most comfortable? Well, as I established in the first part of this “From Boring to Beautiful” series on recliner sofas, we increasingly have more options so we aren’t stuck with a Rosemary’s Baby-type choice.

This week, we’re tackling something I myself am possibly on the hunt for: an adjustable standing desk. Earlier this year, I established in this post that I really wanted to incorporate a compact vintage secretary desk into my bedroom in order to use a big open space in there as an occasional office when I need more quiet. But after some more thought on the matter, I wondered if I should take a different approach entirely. A standing desk is tempting to me as I try to get more movement into my life in as many organic ways as I can. A friend of mine has a walking pad under her standing desk, and I liked the idea of doing the same.

While some of this is anecdotal, people I know who have a sit-to-stand desk claim the following pros:

• More alertness
• Better productivity and creativity
• Improved posture

Some things *have* been studied, and if you have the patience to read through this one from the National Institute of Health, the conclusion is, at the very least, a standing desk can help with acute lower back pain, though it could aggravate lower extremity pain, such as knee pain. Guess we can’t have it all.

Keep in mind, though, that if you’re using a standing desk at home, where, say, you normally work barefoot (like me…or in slippers), it’s important to have supportive footwear. I recently bought an indoors-only pair of training sneakers for my workouts I do in my bedroom, so you may need to consider something similar unless you’re not a shoes-off household.

The promise of less back pain might just be enough for anyone who has ever suffered from it ::raises hand:: I’m sure increased blood flow from going from sitting to standing often throughout the day would also be beneficial to those of us (again, raises hand) who constantly have parts of our bodies tingling from falling asleep.

One of the biggest “cons” of a standing desk? The cost. While I did find a handful, including the one shown above, to be south of the $500 mark, most were $1,000-$2,000, or even upwards of $4,000-$5,000 for more executive styles. The mechanism to lift and lower the desks has to be slow, smooth, and adjustable for different worker heights, which equals $$$. Oh, and don’t be fooled by some of the pretty styled room photos you see on product listings. If you don’t see a power cord, they’re just not showing it to you. Adjustable standing desks need a power source, so they must be plugged in. That’s fine for anything flush to the wall, but if you have a floating desk in your home office, you’ll need to account for that.

Curious how these look “open” and “closed”? This desk above is from Room & Board (don’t worry, I linked it below in the round-up), and below it’s engaged in its standing position. It takes just a few seconds to go from sit to stand. Most of these desks raise the working surface up via a lift mechanism, while a few lift solely from the bottom of the legs (these tend to look less high-tech).

While this article is “boring to beautiful” in terms of style, the main intention was to find adjustable standing desks you wouldn’t look at and immediately think of Silicon Valley offices, but I did include some more contemporary versions in case that aligns with your home’s modern style. I split up the round-ups into decorative and utilitarian, depending on what you were looking for. Let’s start with the pretty stuff.

12 Great-Looking Standing Desks

All but one of these go from sit to stand with the push of a button. These are great for anyone who wants to fit a desk into their home that looks more like a traditional desk. Yes, you’ll have the cord to deal with, but for the most part, you get something that doesn’t scream I PLUG IN!

Top row, from left:

• Geiger Leatherwrap Sit-to-Stand Desk, from $3,995 at Design Within Reach: Fancy materials like walnut and leather often mean fancy price tags. The details on this one are likely much better in person. You can pick between three wood finishes and a multitude of leather color options (the green is so sharp). It has four concealed motors and you can choose to get it with no drawers—like shown here—one drawer, or two (you’ll see that one below).
• Tate 50″ Walnut Wood Standing Desk with Drawers, $500 at Crate & Barrel: The only non-motorized standing desk of the bunch, so you’ll have to commit to standing here. It almost looks like just a pretty bookshelf, and would work great in a bedroom or living room as an occasional work surface.
• Louise Mid-century Modern Electric Adjustable Standing Desk with Wireless Charging, $1,699 at Hulala Home: The more I look at this one, the more I think it kind of looks like E.T. BUT it’s also a cute E.T. It has integrated charging so you can just plug your devices into the desk, and also has a flip-top charging port in the back to hide the outlets.

Bottom row, from left:

• Athena Standing Desk, $1,732 at Rove Concepts: The fluted legs on this one are beefier than a Taco Bell Chalupa, but in the right room, it’s a cool vibe. It’s also just big in general, at about 63 inches wide and 31 inches deep. The top has cable management holes to organize desktop and monitor cords, and the buttons are easy to find right up front.
• Soan Adjustable Desk, $370 at Fezibo: Look, I’ve never heard of this brand, and I do wonder why this desk is so vastly less expensive than all the others, but the reviews were good so I’m including it for the price point. You can get it in two different sizes and choose between white and black legs.
• Wright Natural Wood Adjustable Desk, $995 at Living Spaces: This one is a little bit of a mullet. Business at the bottom, party at the top, but I still think it’s a good option. It has a drop-down keyboard key and the drawers have lots of options for dividing into compartments.

Top row, from left:

OE1 Sit-to-Stand Table, from $1,545 at Herman Miller: It’s like a little bistro table but with sit-to-stand functionality! So clever and cute. Pick between several top and base colors; it’s even available square. I love this for a home office that’s not shut away behind a door.

Mid-Century Adjustable Desk (36″), $649 at West Elm: This mid-century design is a best-seller for West Elm, and I love to see it in an adjustable desk. It’s super compact (one of the smallest in my findings), which is perfect for fitting right next to a bed or just for general small-space living. The top comes up manually, unlike the other electric ones here, but under that work surface is storage for all your office supplies and laptop to tuck away at the end of the day.

Veritas 360-Degree Rotating Desk Electric Adjustable Standing Desk with Flip-Top Lid, $2,499 at Hulala Home: Similar to the other E.T. desk I showcased earlier, but with a side component for anyone who needs tons of tabletop space. It swivels 360 degrees to adjust to your needs, has a sedentary warning to remind you when it’s time to stand, and has a big storage cabinet for books, printers…anything you’ve got.

Bottom row, from left:

Lincoln Adjustable Standing Desk, from $4,499 at Room & Board: This is a proper, beautiful executive desk that also happens to be an adjustable standing desk. It’s THE most expensive one on the list, but Room & Board makes a very high-quality product, so if it’s in the budget and you have a need for something of this nature, I’d bet it’s a worthy investment. It was designed in collaboration with renowned architecture firm Gensler, and as someone married to an architect, I can tell you that those brains really think through the most minute of details…

Geiger Leatherwrap Sit-to-Stand Desk, from $3,995 at Design Within Reach: Here is the two-drawer version of the first leather-wrapped desk I showed you. Pricy, but very snazzy and handsome.

Lincoln Adjustable Standing Desk-No Drawers, from $3,799 at Room & Board: This is the same desk as the bottom left (I didn’t even realize when I was making the graphics) but basically, it just has no drawers. I love how sleek and modern it looks.

9 Streamlined & Modern Standing Desks

Alright, we’ve reached the less decorative section of this post, but honestly, I’d consider any of these. Maybe not for my bedroom where most would clash with my existing furniture, but certainly for a proper home office.

Top row, from left:

Branch Four Leg Standing Desk, $1,099 at West Elm: If you’re serious about a standing desk, definitely check out Branch, because they specialize in cute, cool office furniture. They also sell through West Elm, like their popular Four Leg Standing Desk. I can always appreciate a standing desk that doesn’t have those splayed feet, as it looks more like a table.

Copilot Standing Desk, $999 at Burrow: I didn’t know Burrow, the flat-pack furniture darling of the internet, had a standing desk, but alas, they do at a fairly competitive price. It’s even won a handful of awards from CNN Underscored, Business Insider, and Esquire.

Duo Standing Desk, $549 at Branch: Love the color options on this one from Branch. It’s utilitarian but happy and friendly. And at the price, it would also work great in a teen or young adult room.

Middle row, from left:

Steelcase Height-Adjustable Sutton Desk, from $1,919 at West Elm: Four sizes, three tabletop finish options, veneer or laminate (with laminate being the cheapest option). It’s contract grade and can work in a commercial office as well as a home office.

Spout Sit-to-Stand Table, from $2,300 at Herman Miller: Here’s another one with plenty of sizes to choose from, and tons of color (like this glacier blue and even a punchy red). The design feels more traditional with four legs, but the discreet cable management system is innovative. You’ll also find tons of add-on options like bag hooks, drawers, and more.

Aedric Electric Adjustable Standing Desk with Drawers, $1,899 at Room & Board: Very similar in design to the Burrow one, but with all the size and finish options you’re used to from Room & Board.

Bottom row, from left:

Motia Sit-to-Stand Desk, from $1,035 at Herman Miller: Super compact and streamlined, but with some cute colors to choose from. It’s from Herman Miller, so you know it’s made to take the beating of working life (it comes with a limited lifetime warranty).

Heidelberg Adjustable Desk, $250 at Fezibo: I couldn’t decide whether to put this one in the decorative category or here, but I had a hole in the grid, so here it went. I love the brass knobs and the slate color, though keep in mind it has to be assembled, and the top is laminate, not wood or veneer.

Tenon Smart Adjustable Desk, $2,899 at beflo: This one looks simple, but I think it has more than meets the eye. At least according to its description: “Meet the Tenon luxury desk: The first-ever modular, sit-stand smart desk for your home office. We’re talking a touch screen, companion app, power and USB outlets, all standard with the desk, plus add-on accessories to maximize your productivity and minimize your clutter.” Any wood-look desktop is a scratch-proof, water-proof hardwood veneer with a beveled edge (it’s better for your wrists and forearms). Pricey, but top of the line.

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Welp, this whole exercise certainly made me want an adjustable standing desk, especially with the added benefit of there being so many great-looking versions on the market (not to mention being able to put a walking pad under it).

Stick around because I have some more in this “Boring to Beautiful” series. If you have any requests, be sure to pop them into the comments below because I’m open to doing the work for you all where you need it!

Until next time…

Opening Image Credits: Design by Emily Henderson and Julie Rose | Photo by Sara Ligorria-Tramp | From: Mountain House Reveal: How I Transformed an Awkward Space Into My Dream Work Loft