Welcome to my office! I love seeing other peoples' homes, so I wanted to give you a tour of my workspace and show you the framework I used to create a home office in a small space that works for me.
When I quit my full time job to do freelance photography and design, I knew I needed a spot at home where I enjoyed being and also could be productive. The environment I'm in affects me a lot, so I decided it was important that I had one space to call my office/studio that I could leave at the end of the work day. Mentally, this has been very helpful for me!
Thankfully, though we live in a small space, we have a second bedroom/office/guest room/art studio/machine shop/yoga room/greenhouse in our apartment (city living at its finest), so I had one wall of space to work with. Since this room is used for so many things, I needed my office space to be compact yet versatile for all my work needs.
1. Find a desk and chair that work for you
This is probably the most important thing about your home office. Find a desk and chair that work for you - if they're uncomfortable to work at, you're not going to want to sit there or you'll be distracted by being uncomfortable when you do work there.
This does not have to be a huge investment. I thrifted my chair and bought a desk online. Because I'm small, my husband was able to shorten the legs of my desk so I can sit with proper posture (PTL for handy husbands). I also like to keep a blanket behind my chair to up the coziness level.
2. Spacial structure
I like to work in a nook, so I hung some himmelis from the ceiling to the right of my desk and a shelf on the other side. These himmelis make me happy to look at and give my office space the illusion of a nook by adding visual structure.
3. Inspiration and decor
What inspires you to do your job well? For me, it's bright colors and quirky, pretty things. Sometimes I'll hang up one of my own paintings that is meaningful for the season I'm in, but I love having other artists' work to look at. I also like having fresh greenery around me.
4. Vertical organization
I used a simple shelf with various wooden bins to organize all my art supplies. Make sure to keep your most often-used supplies somewhere that's easy to grab.
Thankfully, with my compact office space, we still have room for a small sofa-bed/dog throne in this room to keep it a multipurpose/guest room.
If you'd like to see more of my small space living, check out my living room tour!