How to Design a Workspace at Home | Christine Against the Office

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0:28Elyse Ayoung:Chevy is called the heartbeat of America for a reason. With SUVs made to move with your rhythm. The versatile Equinox tackles your entire day. The spacious Traverse fits your crew and your whole weekend. And Trax brings style with value you can count on. All infused with tech that has your back. So your drive always hits the right chord. Chevrolet. Together let's drive. So now that I'm regularly working from home, even two years into this, I actually haven't given much thought to my space at all. Literally none. So most days I just open my laptop, plop down on my counter, and there's wires and there's like a stack of notes and a big ass clock.

1:14But that's about it. It's all very functional. But am I missing out on something else? I mean, it doesn't really look like an office or a desk or anything more than just stuff. I get decor, but I need to know more about design. So if I want to improve my space, where do I even start? And how do I even make my space into a place where I feel energized and productive and creative? If you're looking for tips on how to design a workspace that best serves you, we're going to walk through some suggestions so that you can feel good and work good wherever you are.

1:55I think because we've now been working from home for two years and have removed ourselves from this office environment, we're able to now rethink our own productivity. That's Elise Ayon. She's a designer at Architecture Firm Gensler, and she's the co-founder of The Mid Collective, a professional network for BIPOC interior designers in Boston and beyond. Like all of a sudden I go into plan mode. Like I see it like everything 3D is around me, but then I'm thinking about the plan. I actually used to live in a studio during the pandemic and I, because I'm an interior designer and I had like so many materials, it just, it, it wasn't big enough at all.

2:36So now this is a attic space that I turned into an office. And it's very interesting because I typically like neutral spaces, but for my office space, I wanted it to be a little bit more colorful. So you'll see behind me there's like an orange chair and I have a very colorful rug because I want to be like, I want to feel upbeat throughout the day in times where something I'm doing is maybe boring.

3:07I like to look at it from sort of a purposeful space. It could be beautiful, yes, but is it purposeful? Is it meaningful? In other words, good design is just purposeful design, which is such a relief because I don't think I can do pretty, but purpose I can do. We're going to play a game called Is This Purposeful? I have my probably disgusting use it everyday cup. The purpose there is to keep stay hydrated. Random stickies so I don't forget things. Notepads. I am a person who likes to write things down. A cute pen holder. Obviously it's holding pens, but I rarely grab a pen from there. I usually have just pens strewn around my space.

3:56inspirational notes. Does it have purpose on my desk? Maybe. It's kind of cute. Obviously, a lot of times the purpose of anything is physical, but many times a lot of things, their purpose is not so obvious. It's emotional. And it's up to you to decide what's meaningful. I like to bring in, I like that it has a little bit of color and I'm a plant mom. So those are like important, important factors for this space. So it feels true to me. So that's the most important part. When I'm at the office, I just have like a desk and a chair, really simple setup. But yeah, I thought that was just kind of the normal working situation and translated it to my home.

4:39But guess what? There aren't any rules. I love, is that wallpaper? It's beautiful. Cool. It's a commissioned mural. Oh, wow. And then my laptop sits over there. Yeah. Do you actually need a desk or do you need a work surface to do your work? Maybe you're a person who does their work from like your typical workday is like I'm in the kitchen, then I'm on the sofa, then I'm in a park. What allows you to do your best work? Just forget all the office trappings and redefine your new normal. When I was in the office, I did not sketch on a sofa. But now I'm like, oh, this is great. I feel like I'm much more productive because I feel more creative when I'm like kicked back and laid back.

5:28Even though you may not be a designer, you want to sketch out some possibilities. Just explore some fun ideas on paper. Think about what are some elements you can bring into your space so that you can do your best work. Oftentimes, I'm moving around the objects in my office. I move around lamps. So I think it's key that just because it's in its place now doesn't mean it has to stay in that place. Have fun, move things around the house. Get excited because I'm about to sketch the home office of my dream. Let's go. My workstation, what I've decided is I want a cute hydration situation. There's my laptop.

6:04I love my post-its, so way to make the zone better, love, you know, all my cords and outlets and things like that. Maybe I can put some subpar, not the most A team, B team plans. My alt desk, which it has other pros and cons, which is great. You got a window, no power. Maybe this is like where I just kind of unwind or like get off the grid. So I got to address this topic that a lot of us are being asked to return to the office. and we we call it the office now but i almost feel like we need to call it something else i'm working on that the hive the yeah the compound how can we create that home office or home environment in the workplace now i've been working on a few projects where we were looking at the current idea of the workspace and started to look at, okay, removing a lot of the desks.

7:03And instead of having desks, we had more living room type setups. Reasons why people are going back into the office is to collaborate and to do it in an environment that feels a little bit more natural and kind of dressed down. So we're seeing a lot more lounge environments of conference rooms that aren't just the table, but they could be a stool and a high table. They could be anything. Policy-wise, there's only so much you can control, but it does not hurt to ask your company to change things up so you feel more comfortable. Just by varying the furniture types and the layouts, it gives people the opportunity to choose the way that they'd like to work.

7:45I want to know what things in your home office are really purposeful. What things have changed in the way that you've worked in your space? Let me know in the comments. Love to see them.