Despite getting all sorts of advice against it, working form home is my absolute favourite thing about having my own business. I love the flexibility that comes with it, I love having my own, personal space to work in and I love the fact that I don't have to face a morning commute. As with all things, there are a few rules that I’ve had to come up with, especially when I work from home and Greta is around, but aside from this creating and working from my home office has been one of the most fun things ever! My project is far from being finished, so see this post as work in progress, but nevertheless I wanted to share with you some photos of my little working heaven.
My working-from-home rules:
1) Get dressed as if you were going to the office. I’m not going to lie, there are days where I’m just wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but I still make the effort of getting dressed and looking presentable, I do it for myself. I think it helps with my confidence and doesn’t make me feel sloppy.
2) Have working hours. The beauty of working form home is that
you can be more flexible than if you were ticking the clock at the
office, but nevertheless I try to stick to normal working hours so that at the end of the day I
can enjoy some time off with my family. In the mornings I always have a breakfast with Greta and then off I go to the office.
3) Close the door. Greta knows that when the door is closed,
mummy is at work and she’s not to be disturbed. It's a simple rule and I've had it from day one, so she finds it normal and accepts it. But there are all sort of other temptations to resist, such as sending a wash or tiding up a shelve. I close the door and that way it's as if I'm not home.
4) Make the space you have work for you. My office is not set
in a huge room, I’ve used a portion of our guest bedroom to create my working pace and before buying any furniture I just placed my desk where
I thought I would want it and lived with it for a while before figuring
out what kind of storage I needed around it. I don’t like for anything
to permanently sit on my desk, preferring and empty space, so I have opened
for shelves by my desk for the “pretty things” I like to look at and a
huge fitted cabinet underneath the bay window to store all the messy
things like files and boxes.
5) Organisation is the key to success. I’m a organisational freak
and I like to have everything classified and tidy so that my office
functions the same as any other office. I have a printer and a scanner,
reliable Internet connection and everything I need from stamps to
stationer. Oh, and I label everything!
5) Have regular clean outs. Almost on a weekly basis I will throw away unneeded papers and tick off the various things I added to my “To Do” list. I have it always in front of me on my pin board so that (almost) nothing gets forgotten.
6) Have a "success wall". We all have good and bad work days, especially when you have your own business. I started a "successes wall" where I pin and frame little things that remind me of the good things I've done so far. It can be anything - I everything from my first page I produced for a magazine fifteen years ago to Jenna Lyon's "Good Luck" card she sent me when I started Wardrobe ICONS and funny photos with Petro that remind me of good times. Just a glance at my wall when I'm having a bad day puts a smile on my face!
7) Stick to a colour palette. I'm not an interiors expert and when it come to interiors decoration, I sort of wing it. The best advice I have been given is to stick to a colour palette. I've done just that throughout my flat, and for my office I chose greys with touches of green.
If you like my office's look - here are some of the things I've bought for it, and if I couldn't find the exact same thing, the next best one!
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