We think every day how lucky we are to be able to live where we live, and continue to run our website design business. Not only does it provide us with an income, it keeps us creative and in contact with our clients. But, we have had the dilemma of where to actually work from, in the house. Because we have a lot of visitors, especially from Spring time onwards, we need the house to be like a house. Not an office. And, to be honest, we didn’t really want to carve out yet another office space. Having worked in various places around the house since we moved in, we think we might have cracked it. We’ve got rid of all of the files of paperwork which have always clogged up every office space we’ve had. We’ve got rid of “officey” furniture. And we’ve integrated our working spaces into our living spaces, hopefully meaning that we can much more easily slip between work & play.I’ve set myself up in a corner of our living room, which luckily is large enough to accommodate my work area. Although we have shifted out pieces of furniture which looked too “worky” and “officey”, we have to obviously have somewhere to sit comfortably, and the sofa option was unfortunately becoming just a little too comfy. On one of our many frequent trips to IKEA, I spotted this Lisabo desk and liked the shape of it and the 70s feel to it. Likewise, the Skruvsta swivel chair, which I figured could always be used as additional seating, especially if accessorised with a cushion and a throw.
As I’ve explained many times before, real plants and me don’t really go together. I forget to water them and feed them and so, what looked beautiful when it entered the house, usually leaves withered and very sorry looking. But, I do love being surrounded by greenery and so the decision was made that it had to be the faux route. My first foray in faux was via Rose and Grey, but I’ve since discovered places closer I can get faux from, so there’s no stopping my inside garden emerging! Our house is definitely taking on a different feel in the winter. Despite having powerful woodburners, there are still cold spots, which we’re working on, but these do provide a good excuse for getting the candles on. Instant atmosphere, and definitely not an office vibe, even when working. So, here’s my little corner, where I can be found most days…
But, I’m not the only one who needs a bit of space to work, and as the real work – the design – needs to happen somewhere that’s peaceful and calm (and at the moment, away from the continuous building work), we’ve carved out another work space in one of the bedrooms. Again, we didn’t want to go back to an office set up, with PCs and printers and shelving and all of that paraphenalia associated with a working environment. We also had to ensure that the room was still a bedroom, so that when needed, we weren’t doing major change-arounds. This bedroom has two single beds which can be combined to make a double – perfect for guests who’ve had a fall out 😉 We have had it set up as a double but it made the room seem small – so it’s now been separated and with a few softening touches, such as swathes of greenery, artwork (by our nephew), a comfy swivel chair, a warm, thick rug, cushions and lamps, this is now a lovely place to design websites from. I’ve even donated a couple of candles to the cause. And, even though I love my corner, I think that this room has now become something very nice, indeed…
So, without creating specific work spaces, we now both have specific places where we can work – but with just a few tweaks, all signs of work can be removed.
