I’ve been working from home for around 8 years now — something that I’m incredibly grateful for and don’t ever take for granted. Only last week, in fact, I was reading the blog of another mama who — as she’s a doctor by profession — is struggling to decide on whether she can even afford to go back to work. It’s a tough call and one I’m so thankful I don’t have to make.
That said, working from home offers it’s own set of conundrums. Not as heart-wrenching, I grant you, but problematic nevertheless.
Before I had the twins, I had a room on the 1st floor of our home, given over to my office equipment. And boy, do I have a lot of stuff.
When I was freelancing I had a laptop and a memory stick. These days I have two giant iMacs, an enormous printer and a lot of cardstock.
A LOT.
Plus hoards of magazines that I use for reference, my Pantone books, a folding machine, a couple of cutting machines… yep… these days I don’t travel light, that’s for sure.
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All Change
But, in readiness for the twins’ arrival, bit by bit my ‘office’ was dismantled and moved to other locations. Even though we have another floor in our cottage, with another couple of spare bedrooms, the stairs to the top floor are steep and narrow and getting the desk — let alone the printer — up there would have needed magic, rather than brawn to get them up there.
Or the roof removed. Whichever was easiest.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I now have a desk in one corner of the dining room, that houses one of my Macs (the other has been relegated to it’s box under a bed). The ginormo printer also sits in the dining room. And this irks me no end. My desk is relatively good looking — it’s a piece I up-cycled and I love it — but the printer is big and ugly and it’s no shrinking violet, that’s for sure! It sits like a big fat elephant in the room.
So the piles of card stock have been squirrelled away in various locations too — an upstairs cupboard, the chest in our conservatory — and the rest of my paraphernalia has been shipped out to Dickie’s office (in another county) and is quietly residing there until the day comes that I can be reunited with it.
Which hopefully may come sooner than later!
A Garden Office
My boy and I have been talking about getting a garden office!! Note the heavy use of exclamation marks here — to say I’m MEGA-EXCITED about this prospect would be a huge understatement!
The thought of having a dedicated space to work in again and rid the house of all the clutter that my work brings with it, is a lovely thought. I’ve had a quick look and there are some fabulous ones on the market.
Some are hugely expensive, others less so. Some are really contemporary looking and clad in timber, others have a vintage feel and are painted. Some are even supplied in their raw state for you to put your mark on. The possibilities are endless and I’m so excited about the thought of having a new interior space to put my stamp on too!
These are the kind of things I’ve been looking at.
Perfect Spaces for Working from home
1. The Garden Office
2. Warwick Buildings
3. Dunster House
4. Warwick Buildings
5. Garden Spaces
At this stage, cost is a real factor but also what type of space would suit our property and garden. I’m veering towards a traditional looking building, similar to number 4, but that may all change once we start having a proper look at them.
Needless to say, I’m going to be writing quite a few more posts on the subject as we get round to organising it.
Caro Davies is a former art-director turned writer and content-creator, and editor behind UK lifestyle blog The Listed Home. She writes about home-related topics, from interiors and DIY to food and craft. The Listed Home has been featured in various publications, including Ideal Home, Grazia, and Homes & Antiques magazines.
Oh number 4 I love it, I so want to work from home just so I can have a garden office it would be so calming and incredible out there I know I would love it, cant wait to see which you choose x
Me too Sarah — love it :) It would make a change to having my dining room table strewn with my work stuff too — that would certainly make me feel a lot calmer!! LOL!
I’m well and truuuuly drooling here! I’ve just tonight been chatting to hubby saying that I would love, love, love a space in the garden to do reiki treatments in :) We’ve got a nice, big garden too… Nothing is impossible… :)
I absolutely can’t wait Carol!! It may take a bit of time to organise but I’m SO happy that my boy has finally agreed that we can do it :) Fingers crossed you get yours too x