Since I stopped “working” (at an office job, that is!), I’ve become very keenly aware of how important it is to have a well thought-out home office/studio space if: 1) you’re going to spend your weekday, workday ( and then some…) hours in it, and, 2) you want your work to be productive and efficient at the same time. If the space is attractive and comfortable as well, your work is so much more pleasant. I feel lucky to have such a space.
While my space is small, and, to some observers, cluttered, it works for me, and has been highly personalized to suit the way I like to work. I’ve got my music, great sunlight and a view of the Long Island Sound – what’s not to like???
Thinking home office, I happened upon several products while cruising through some Etsy shops the other night. They command a capital “P” for pizazz and a huge “E” for adding efficiency! Here are my picks of the week:
Karen from BaffinBags designs and sews reversible organizers in a variety of great fabrics to organize a desktop or workspace, or any room in the home, for that matter. I could see one of these organizers holding bills and correspondence, receipts, or craft items ready for quick use. With a fine assortment of fabrics to choose from, there is a bin organizer basket to suit everyone’s taste or color scheme. When you need a change, simply reverse the basket for a fresh look. The fabric for the bin basket organizer shown below is called “Starling“. (naturally, for me, a bird motif!)
Dubbed a modern design solution from a shop called SimpleShapes is an innovative approach to a wall calendar, creatively constructed in vinyl. This calendar wall design incorporates a white dry erase vinyl that you can write on, and is applied directly to the wall. Use any dry erase marker to mark appointments, deadlines, etc. You can even customize the color of the calendar to match your office color scheme. The style shown below is 22 inches wide by 15 inches high; a vinyl dry erase memo note pad is also available. How very clever!
Guaranteed to bring a smile to your workday face is the Desktop Moodometer, a fun and creative product from reuseREDESIGN. Fifteen glossy cardstock cards are housed in a mini-display case; each card sports a funny quip to lighten the mood – for examples, “control alt delete IF ONLY LIFE WERE THAT SIMPLE” and “i’m un-stoppable EXCEPT FOR MAYBE LUNCH”. Megan, the creative force behind the shop, also makes luggage tags, gift tags, wedding items and more – all unique, all fun.
Don’t want to create your own to-do-lists, grocery lists and the like? There’s a shop on Etsy that has done the work for you! Carla, from CrownBindery, has constructed several varying sets of downloadable, printable sheets to organize the minutia of everyday life and office tasks. The set dubbed “Home Management Principles” is a series of electronic files in a pdf format that you simply download, print out, and use as needed. It includes such titles as Task Tracker, Expense Tracker, and Project List. So easy, so functional … take a look at the other sets available, too. Fab idea!
Here are some additional resources to check out, now that you’ve got efficient, fun products to help you in your home office!
For the “how do I design a home office that works for me” angle, don’t miss:
- the Flickr “Creative Workspaces” pool for a ton of ideas from photos of real workspaces
- the ideabooks on the website houzz.com - and create your own home office ideabook from the photo ideas (roughly 30000 of them!) on the site
When you’re ready to furnish the space, look into:
- IKEA – functional, affordable solutions that can be configured to virtually any space and storage need. (I have several IKEA pieces in my home office – one of my favorites is a work table which has adjustable legs – mine is set at counter height to make it comfortable to work at while crafting, packing items, etc.)
- not quite as affordable, but fabulous to look at is Design Within Reach - great office solutions and more.
Definitely more utilitarian, but necessary, an article from Real Simple about record keeping. And some interesting and fun stats about “The Office World” from Entrepreneur magazine.
I mean, work can’t be all fun and pretty stuff – I think that’s oxymoron-ish, but we might as well strive to make it as pleasant as we can – right?
As always, I hope you’ll take a minute to comment on my writing and let me know what YOU think, or offer suggestions, input, and other ideas to add to the conversation. It helps the flow! With wishes for a great Wednesday and weekend ahead!
His wife and daughter have Etsy shops as well.
