A Half-Baked Solution

When I moved into the new rental, there was a big ugly yellow desk there — the generic kind you see in offices.  The landlords asked me if I could use it and wanted it left inside; if I didn’t, they’d move it to the (huge) garage for storage.  I said sure, leave it, I can use it.  I’m setting up a “home office” in the living room, and I have only a small wooden desk, so I can use the desktop as organizing space, not to mention a few file drawers.

The problem, once I got my bearings in the house and started to figure out what I wanted where, was that the desk was in this corner of the room and I really wanted it over there.  It was empty, but even so, when I tried to drag it, it wouldn’t budge.  The combination of a heavy and awkward item (it’s one of those L-shaped things, two pieces bolted together) combined with the shag carpet and the lack of foot caps, meant this thing just wouldn’t slide.

I considered my choices:  I could get someone, or a few someones, to help me move it.  I could “buy the solution”:     (these are plastic disks that are slippery on the bottom and grippy on the top — you put one under each foot of the furniture you’re trying to move, and then everything slides around easily) which not only involved spending money and waiting days until the item arrived, but then would mean more plastic “stuff” I’d have to store or give away. 

I also happened to know that an office nearby had some of these, and I considered asking (I used to work there and they know me) if I could borrow them.  But in the end, I found a faster solution: