Right now, we are all being forced to stay inside our homes… pretty much all the time. Making home, a home you love is so important. Now, more than ever. With so many of us working remotely, making sure the hours spent at your desk are both pleasant AND comfortable is vital. I for one, can’t feel at peace unless I like looking around myself. Right now, that’s within these four walls.
So, for my #lockdownrevamp last week, I wanted to create a beautiful home work space for the whole family – in the hope of inspiring more work! You really only need one square metre to create a good work from home space. It can be an alcove next to the fireplace, like I used, or under the stairs even. I created this in lockdown – so made a ‘shared workspace’ in our kitchen; with an existing industrial cart, (great for storage).
Points to remember when creating your working nook:
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Clear your space. So you can start re – designing your work nook from the bottom up.
- Make sure you you like the spot you pick. Good light, near a window, or quiet; if that’s what you need.
- Set up proper lighting.
- Make sure your seat/stool/chair is comfortable to sit in. If using a dining chair, add pillows for back support.
- Enjoy your vista.. whether it be a mood board, cork board or a view from the window.
- During lockdown, try to work with what you have.
- Make sure what you are surrounded with what delights you. For me it was a couple of pin boards, and a green wall hanging/plant hanger from a local maker, Macrame Emma.
I didn’t have spare pin boards to hand so I repurposed this old one from Primark Home and also decided to make a couple. A ‘how to’ on making your own pin board will be up on my instagram stories soon.. @emilyrickardstylist and in an upcoming post. However, the long and the short of it is, if you have cardboard, any old fabric, tape, drawing pins and string. You are good.
Foraging around the house and decanting toys you never really use or books/magazines you never really read will lead to all sorts of new storage ideas. I emptied some old wooden toys and other bits, to create storage baskets to hold the kids home school work, craft stuff and computers. I was more than impressed when they turned out to be the perfect size. You see, you just don’t know all the little treasures lying around until you start to re – arrange, re-purpose – it opens up a whole new world of using items in a new way. There is no better time to start this. Right now.
Finally a couple of tips/hacks on using the workspace efficiently… and you can start revamping.
- Use a bulldog clip on the side of your desk to hold together cables and wires
- Re-use old shoe boxes, or repurpose baskets to create under desk storage for the family
- Use old jam jars for pens, pencils and scissors.
- Set up a schedule for desk usage if it’s shared, to ensure everyone in the family can enjoy the space
Try to enjoy the space in which you live, try to make it a place you love. Whatever your situation. Right now, it’s so important not only for it to feel safe, and grounding, it’s also so valuable for your mental wellbeing, to open your eyes each morning, look around yourself and enjoy what you see.
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