Ten years ago, I happily purchased the desk seen in the Featured Image. All wood—no particle board—the thing anchored my home office until our daughter moved in with us a few months ago. I turned over the room to her, and she continued to use my desk (and damage the veneer with food stains; I never ate anything in my office).
But for a reason that will be thoroughly explained in a forthcoming post, we needed to make more space in the room. Something had to go, and I chose the desk for which there was no other place in our apartment. So, on Oct. 14, 2026, I put my beloved desk out in the alley for some scavenger to take. One of my neighbors helped carry it.
I also posted the free item to the Buy Nothing Project, which was a mistake. I should have listed it for free on Nextdoor. A day passed. Then another, which dawned with a surprise. Somebody had removed the hutch, damaging the decorative and structurally functional back leg panel. Then I discovered on the 17th that someone had removed the main drawer. Who would want the desk now?
I assembled the thing in May 2016; I decided to disassemble and dispose of what remained. We had a long relationship as object and human, and the desk deserved an ending better than being destroyed by some passerby. But, yesterday, when I walked into the alley, there was nothing. Someone had finally taken my treasure, and I truly hope they get great value from it.
I now work from the living room, where sits Casabelle Mail Center that I bought from defunct Pier 1 Imports in April 2009. We almost gave away the hutch numerous times over the years, but I couldn’t part with it. Why: Relatively small footprint and big utility.
The Belham Living Everett Mission Writing Desk with Optional Hutch is gone now. The retailer, Hayneedle, is also no more. But how odd: Hayneedle’s YouTube channel remains, and there is a video about the desk. How odd is that?
The parting shot quite literally comes from Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. Vitals: f/1.4, ISO 20, 1/180 sec, 23mm; 8:26 a.m. PDT.