From next week, I’ll be working from home, full-time. It’s an incredibly exciting change that’ll see me focusing on content and social media for a Johannesburg-based agency.
While we have a dedicated study, as Luke also works from home, it’s become his space – which we’ve recently upgraded with a Deskstand (and yes, I’ll get to us both working from home in a minute.) As working from the bedroom is a no-no, I’ll be creating my own little office nook in our lounge / dining room area. Thankfully we have a bit of space to play with, so I’m pretty excited to try my hand at some DIY and decoration.
On a personal note, it will take some adjustment for both Luke and I to be working from home – we joked that it feels like we’re moving in together, all over again. We’re both only children, hence quite happy keeping our distance and pretty good at setting up boundaries. I found this article also quite useful in terms of tips for couples who both work from home.
The shelf desk
I didn’t want a massive desk – realistically, all I need it for is my Mac, notebook, diary and a few pens – but, I did want a space that was exclusively mine and exclusively for work. I briefly toyed with the idea of simply spending my days at our dining room table, but the thought of having to pack it all away at the end of the day would quickly frustrate me.
I looked into getting a small table – nothing wider than 1m across – which would have worked fine, but would have been pretty darn boring. After some time spent on Pinterest, I discovered the concept of the shelf desk – and it was perfect.
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As my space will be in our lounge area and visible to guests, I wanted something that was not only practical, but also nice to look at – perhaps more important for me than to anyone who’d visit after hours. I love this concept as it’s more than simply a place for my laptop, but also a featured decorative element.
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After a quick online browse, I found two that fitted my bill, at quite different price points. Yes, the option from @home is beautiful and absolutely perfect, but I couldn’t justify the price – a staggering two thousand Rand more than the option from Mr Price Home. Spoiler alert: I bought the option from Mr Price Home this past weekend and it’s just lovely.
Bringing nature in
I’m keen on keeping my “office” quite minimal, but am determined to use the extra surface area as an excuse to buy more plants. We already have eight or so in our living area alone – I take Luke’s astute observation of the space as a jungle as a compliment. To be fair, most of the decor elements in our home consist of plants, books or bottles of wine. Thankfully two of those three are office-appropriate options.
As my desk unit is almost 1.5m tall, I want to make the most of this height and look into having a cascading plant or two, as well as something on top to add a touch more height.
Images from here
We live a few hundred meters from our local nursery, so all it took was a quick visit yesterday to pick up a few green-leaved friends. I’ve packed the top shelf of my desk unit with plants and it already feels like “mine”. If you’re keen on seeing the final product, check back here in a week or so for more details.
What do you think?