This custom-built desk is only part of a fascinating (if crowded) office space.
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.
Tell us about the various tech devices you’re using.
Honestly, I am probably the least techy person at The Verge. I have a 13-inch MacBook Pro from 2020, courtesy of our parent company Vox Media. Sometimes I wish I had a second screen, but I’d have to move too much stuff around to make space for it. I’m also used to solely working out of a laptop at this point. I don’t always want to sit at my desk, and I like being able to move around throughout the day. Sometimes I want to work from my dining room table or from Vox Media’s New York office, and I can just unplug and go.
I’m definitely an Apple gal. I currently use an iPhone 15 and have an Apple Watch Series 10 that forces me to get up, go outside, and walk around. I also have an iPad Air (3rd generation). It was a gift and I mostly treat it like it’s a Kindle. Sometimes I prop it up on a stool so I can watch Netflix in the tub.
I did break out of the Apple ecosystem for my headphones. I bought a pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds2 after reading a review on The Verge. I’m not that picky. I like how the rubber ear tips feel in my ears, and they were affordable. Also, they’re purple, a color I am clearly a fan of.
I handle most of The Verge’s purchases, which means I also fill out a lot of credit card authorization forms. I ended up buying an Aurora AS420C Paper shredder so I can destroy those forms after I’m done. It was an entirely unnecessary purchase, but sticking stuff into a shredder is fun!
Aurora AS420C 4 Sheet Light Duty Crosscut Desktop Shredder
Where to Buy:
You end up doing a lot of math when you’re working with budgets. I have an English degree, so I need a calculator. Of course I can access a calculator using my laptop, my phone, or my watch, but I still like having an old-school one on my desk.
There are so many lovely photos and interesting tchotchkes here I hardly know where to start. Let’s start with the photos over your desk and around the room.
Most of my photos are of people and things that I love, but two of them are of complete strangers.
I bought a gold frame at a thrift store about 13 years ago, and when I opened it up to put my own photo in, I found this portrait of an older woman sandwiched between two pieces of cardboard. It made me sad to think about how she got all dressed up and did her hair and makeup to sit for this photo and then just ended up in a second-hand shop. So, I kept her in the frame and named her Gladys. She’s been a fixture in this room since I moved in, but I added the “Employee of the month” placard once this turned into my permanent workspace.
The other strangers are in the round golden frame: it’s a couple on their wedding day. It’s basically the same story as Gladys. I found them while digging through frames at an antique shop and thought they deserved to be proudly displayed in a home.
Then there are all those shelves full of plants.
Oh, I am definitely a plant lady. I am also a pottery enthusiast. I started taking wheel-thrown pottery classes almost two years ago, and began dabbling in hand-building about a year ago. It has been a real challenge for me, but I’m determined to improve — which means I have to practice a lot. My original plan was to replace my existing plant pots with handmade ones, but then the handmade pots started outnumbering the plants, so I had to get more plants, and now I have sixty-two plants in this house. Eleven of them live in this office.
There’s only one north-facing window in this room, which isn’t ideal for sustaining succulents. They like a lot of light! I bought a grow light for them a few months ago and that has been a huge help. I’ve only had one plant death in the past four months!
That is a really beautiful lamp on your desk.
Thank you! Prior to moving in with Aleks, I used to live with one of my best friends, Liz. She has a background in interior design, and had a Tiffany-style lamp in her bedroom that I always admired. Plus, I was raised Catholic so I’m just naturally drawn to stained glass. I wish I could say that I found this at an estate sale or while thrift shopping, but the truth is I just bought it off of Amazon because it’s pretty.
You seem to have a spoon collection.
I do! My parents started buying me a spoon as a souvenir whenever we’d go on vacation, and I’ve kept up with it throughout the years. I had to expand and get a second rack a while back, so now I keep spoons from trips that Aleks and I have taken together in that one.
I’m really grateful that my parents started this collection for me. Each spoon has a memory attached to it, even my oldest one from a trip to Universal Studios when I was two. I obviously have no memory of the actual vacation, but I do remember that my grandma used to let me take that spoon off the display rack and secretly eat cereal with it when she would babysit me.
Tell us about the flying eyeball.
His name is Icarus. I met the artist who created him, Sammy Jane, at a craft fair a few years back. She practices ethical taxidermy and creates these fantasy creatures called Optopods. They’re very cute and a little bit creepy and I love them so much. I have three others hidden around my house, and have gifted two more to friends. Icarus likes to watch me work, and my dogs like to come in and gently sniff him.
Finally, introduce us to your dogs.
My white dog is named Ned Flanders, and I think he’s around ten years old. Aleks found him on Petfinder right after we moved in together in 2017. He’s actually a former street dog from Cairo who had suffered some abuse. The original rescue agency who picked him up was overcrowded, so they partnered with one in New York and flew him over with about a dozen other dogs. After reading his sob story, I insisted that we adopt him right away.
I am sure he has zero recollection of his former life, because he is now the Most Spoiled Dog in America. He’s also the sweetest, cuddliest, clingiest dog alive. I happen to be his favorite human, which means I am constantly tripping over him and I am constantly covered in dog hair.
My black dog is named Olive Loaf, and she’s eight. I’ve always had dogs growing up, but Ned was my husband’s first ever pet. About eight months after we adopted him, Aleks was like “Okay, but I’ve never had a puppy, either, and Christmas is coming up…”
Olive is definitely my all-time favorite Christmas present. She’s allegedly a husky/boxer/cocker spaniel/pit bull/pug mix and she understands way too much English for her own good. I have to be careful not to say “walk” during meetings, or she’ll lose her mind. She definitely helps make sure I get in at least 10k steps a day.
Photography by Sarah Smithers / The Verge