Creating a Cosy Workspace

I’m so very lucky that I can call my home my work space but why do we sometimes think we need a dedicated office space to be productive?  I worked in an office for many years and to be honest none of them have any redeeming features, nasty desks, lots of cables, horrid fabric covered partitions and very ugly chairs.  When you stop working in an office environment and start working from home why should you fill that space with the same utilitarian furnishings of the place you used to work!

My home isn’t very big so we don’t have to luxury of having a separate room we can call the office but I’m quite glad that I don’t.  I like to move about and feel free, I don’t want to be stuck in a room upstairs on my own for hours I want to be surrounded by my things and preferably near to the kettle. I know some may think that not having a dedicated space would be distracting but for me it isn’t.  I have a routine that works and that I stick to, I complete different tasks at different times of the day and take breaks to do the messy things like washing up and life admin.  I also give myself a clocking off time, pack everything away neatly for another day, what doesn’t get finished can always be done the following day.  You would do this if you worked in an office so why should it be any different at home.

One of my favourite places to work is my kitchen table, I create my space with lovely things around me and I’m settled down next to the radiator and can quite happily work away undisturbed for hours and of course everything I need is close to hand, no having to make trips down stairs to make the coffee!    I also like curling up in my chair in the living room, this is the place I like to write with a view out to the garden.  On cooler days or if I’m feeling a little lost in what I’m wanting to write about I sometimes take myself and the laptop up into our bedroom cocoon myself in the duvet and find my mojo.  It’s a very peaceful space with no distractions what so ever and eventually I find my flow again.

If I had a little more space in my living room I think I would create a little nook to work from too, a versatile space that doesn’t have to look like an office.  I like small tables under windows or radiators or even propped behind sofas which can be used as a work station but then can transform itself into something else when not in use.  A cosy chair that can be moved into place when used as a desk but blends back into the decor when not.  Make your furniture work hard for its place in your home, have dual purpose pieces rather than specific office furniture that ruin the aesthetics somewhat.

So I think I have proved you can create a work space almost anywhere if you use your imagination, strive for comfort and why not throw in a few scented candles; why should your work space be boring?

Images ~ 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9