As senior editorial coordinator, Sarah Smithers wears a lot of hats here at The Verge. “The simplest way to put it,” she says, “is that I handle our operations and administrative tasks. Every day is a little bit different. I onboard new employees, send contracts to freelancers (and make sure they get paid), approve expenses, book travel for my coworkers, handle most of our business purchases, and help track our budget.”
Outside of work, “I like to experiment with lots of different crafts and hobbies.” She’s also a big trivia buff. “I would absolutely love to be on Jeopardy one day,” she admits, “even though landing on a Daily Double is far too much pressure and therefore my nightmare.
We asked Sarah about how she created her home workspace.
This is a really lovely room. Where is it located?
Thank you! I live in Jersey City with my husband, Aleks, and our two dogs, Ned and Olive. We bought our rowhouse in late 2018. My office is on the second floor. It’s supposed to be the third bedroom, but it’s pretty small — about 8 x 9 feet. Prior to the pandemic, this was just a bonus room that we called “the reading room” or “the little purple room” because it housed a bookshelf, a chair, and some plants. We also used it for storage.
Aleks and I both primarily work remotely now, so we turned our (much larger) second bedroom into a guest bedroom/office hybrid for him, and I converted this area into my workspace. I clearly still store a lot of stuff in here, though.
Let’s begin with the basics. Could you tell us about your desk and your chair?
My husband and I built my desk together. It was about 95 percent him, but he did hand over the nail gun towards the end and show me where to point and shoot.
We went with a custom build primarily because space is an issue. We anchored the bookshelf to the wall when we first moved in — I even painted around it, so there’s just a sad white wall behind it. So instead of moving the shelf, we just designed my office around it. This was logically the only place to put a desk, so we (really, he) built this one so I’d have as much surface area as possible, while still being able to open the door. It’s small but I love it because it’s one of a kind, even if the design is based off of our coffee table in the living room.
I picked form over function when it came to my chair. I knew I wanted a green one with gold accents. I found this one on World Market. It is not the most comfortable chair in the world, but it looks really nice! That said, my aging back will require a new, more supportive office chair soon.
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