Home office gallery 1

This is my home office gallery

I spend a lot of time in my home office and I’m very curious about where and how other home workers spend their time. And obviously I’m not the only one judging by the amount of interest shown in these photos!

If you’d like a link to your website and to share your home office, whether it be the kitchen table, garage, shed, attic, studio, workshop, spare bedroom, basement, hammock or somewhere else, just email a photo of it to me along with about 100 words on what you like (or maybe dislike) about it. Or maybe you’d like to show us the view from your desk, the objects that inspire you, or some essential piece of equipment.

“The photo on the right is of my home office in summer, which is just outside the house, an old Victorian school we converted from derelict, but never straying too far from the wireless signal & the kettle. This is the inside/outside place which is great when I’m drawing and don’t want to be distracted by household chores.

The view below is from the ‘bedroom office’ (ie. when I need to do my emails or write & don’t need to ‘properly’ get up) and is inspiring for dreaming & plotting.

Katy Duke, project manager, www.ecohome.org.uk

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“I’ve been running my business Live/Work Network from home in Penzance, Cornwall for over 15 years so I’m a bit of a UK home working pioneer. I’ve written numerous national reports on the subject of home working and I’m an expert live/work consultant.
 
This year my company launched a new service for home workers, www.workhubs.com. Workhubs are ideal second offices for home-based businesses who sometimes need to network with others, and use high quality meeting spaces and equipment. We all know the advantages of home working. Workhubs tackle the downsides – isolation and low visibility. We think they are the next generation of workspace.”

Tim Dwelly, live/work consultant, www.workhubs.com

‘This is the home of Nexus Publishing. Well the spare room of our bungalow here in Telford. This is probably the best office I have ever used as previously I was squeezed into whatever free corner we had available. I’m now able to run my business from a dedicated space, which is just the right size for my beloved Mac and the mountain of books I have around me. Also I now have a view! Staring out of the window is essential in my line of work. Not a great view, but certainly better than the brick wall I used to see.’

David Howell, journalist, writer and publisher, Nexus Publishing

‘I work from the back half of our garage that my wonderful dad converted for me. It’s away from the hustle and bustle of the house but close enough so that my family can come and bug me if they want to. As you can see I often have my cat Kira as a companion, although she usually sits next to me on my writing pad; the comfy cushion I gave her not being close enough to me. My dad is making me a bigger desk area soon which I hope will enable me to be tidier. My walls are full of things to inspire me or to remind me of fun times. I would love a bespoke office in my garden but this beats working as a drone in an office any time ‘

Sharon, web designer, www.baywebdesigns.co.uk

‘My studio is a wonderful place on the banks of a Scottish river – right next to the salmon leap.  The peace of the place helps me to create and I have lots of inspirational bits and pieces around me to help the creative process!  My studio is a place where I can be completely myself and, with the help of radio 4 and my ipod make my best work.  Time both stands still here and flies by!’

Jennifer, artist, www.spanglefish.com/Ashfield/

‘This is my office away from my office, and one of my favourite spaces for working. It’s on the veranda of my home and where I come when I want to take myself down a notch or two because that’s when the creative ideas flow. So I write my articles and newsletters from here or respond to emails while listening to the birds and the trees. It’s a good place for keeping up with reading and attending webinars too. The only “trouble” is, it’s not a place you can get in and out of in a hurry, so if I forget to bring the phone with me and someone rings….well, thankfully there’s voicemail!’

Veronica, business growth strategist, Queensland, Australia, www.pebblesnap.com

‘This is my new attic office. It’s light, bright and airy and an ideal space to think and listen. For the first time ever, all my personal development books and files are together in the same place and I feel comforted to have so much wisdom surrounding me. It’s as if all the authors are supporting and encouraging me in my work. When I’m coaching I sit in my comfy chair and put my feet up. It takes my attention away from my desk and allows me to focus 100% on my client. The greatest joy of all is looking out at magnificent old trees, listening to the woodpecker and savouring spectacular sunsets.’

Carol, trainer and coach, www.WorkLifeArchitect.co.uk and www.C-Changes.co.uk

‘I love this space – it’s where I do all my creative work, as I have a separate area for the left-brained stuff. My creative work includes recognising patterns in my clients’ behaviour which allows me to help them in developing their self awareness and undergoing the transformation they seek. Here I surround myself with creative tools. The iMac is an amazing piece of equipment that I’m now using to make podcasts for my website with some of my own music. I look out over back gardens and often see neighbourhood cats wandering across the roof of our extension on their travels.’

Andy, business and personal development specialist, www.andybritnell.co.uk

‘My elder daughter chose this corner for me to work in; she had been going through the house like a tornado, clearing out junk and rearranging both it and my life. The view is over Looe Bay and St George’s Island it’s glorious in summer, but I get absolutely freezing in winter so I wrap up like a granny and stuff a hot-water bottle down the back of my trousers. The seascape inspires my right brain (which needs a bit of help), and gives me a better balance and outlook, and it encourages me just to potter about and sit occasionally , as well. The air here is ultra clean and fresh, with loads of negative ions – ace for calming incipient computer rage!’

Caroline, editor and writer, www.magic-words.co.uk

‘This is the cubicle where I have been trying to set up my websites over the past year. I now have five sites and am slowly gathering in a list to mostly mail free stuff to. I am a gardener by trade but only work mornings. I have caught the internet marketing bug and now work afternoons learning techniques for creating websites and squeeze pages with opt-in forms. I find this business fascinating and really enjoy the buzz being around like-minded people. I enjoy helping people to get on and willingly spend lots of time doing exactly that.’

Andy, internet marketer, www.andymoore-online.com

‘I am currently editing my 1^st book which is called “Instant Attraction” and is based on the Law Of Attraction. My writing space is my bedroom which I share with my husband Pete. My gorgeous husband has recently decorated it for me so I might find it an even more attractive place to work. I love to come up here and type away on my laptop, plus I am far enough away from the rest of the family to not get drawn into “family issues”. Pete is extremely understanding and always encourages me in my work. The space has a lovely big window which I love to muse out of when looking for inspiration!!’

Lynn, part time writer

‘This is one of my treatment rooms and it’s the one that is most special to me. As a holistic massage and bodywork practitioner working from home presents interesting challenges, outweighed by which is the opportunity to create a space I think is perfect for my work. It is a space of balanced energy which I share with my clients where they can deeply relax and de-stress. My clients often comment about how relaxed they feel when they step inside. It is in this room where many realisations and changes take place and I love being a catalyst for that.’

Leora, holistic massage and bodywork practitioner, www.freemyself.net

‘This office is a shared space, which means sometimes I work here and other times I ‘hot-desk’ to the dining room table. Colour is important to me so I like to think that the rug, storage units and knick-knacks add a touch of style to balance all the stark technology. The bright screensavers and lava lamp lend some visual movement and creative inspiration to an otherwise still room.
If you work from home I can recommend a dog like this one; he is a quiet companion when I’m busy, but because he insists on regular walks he also forces me away from the monitor screen and out into the fresh air for well-deserved breaks.’

Sara, freelance writer, www.sarabarrett.co.uk

‘Each morning I have a hot date with my shiny green Rayburn to cook breakfast for my guests. I found the Rayburn lurking in the small ads of a free paper, at just about the price I could afford. So we stored it in a horse box for a year, before it was born aloft by a tractor and into my new kitchen. Slightly temperamental, it can blow out unexpectedly – it has a track record of not “doing winds” of any sort - which usually coincides with most major sporting events, bank holidays or hotel inspectors visits. But I love the rusty old piece of iron. Now I wonder what the weather will do tomorrow?’

Christine, B&B proprietor,www.ednoveanfarm.co.uk

‘When I set up my studio I deliberately put my desk facing away from this window, as the view is just too distracting to have in front of me all the time!  But I have a swivel chair so I can turn and look at it whenever I need a break.  Our house is at the top of the old cobbled lane in Lyme Regis and over the top of the houses I can see a strip of blue sea and the cliffs of the Jurassic Coast leading east towards Portland Bill.  In the foreground I can see the church clock and the seagulls landing on the rooftops.’

Margaret, author and illustrator, www.margaretchamberlain.co.uk

‘I love my writing room as it is my refuge, my thinking space and the place that houses all my books. The shelves are decorated with precious mementos such as my collection of china cats, and my mother’s little Chinese and Japanese pieces.  The walls have family photographs and paintings by my mother and my niece. Through the windows I can watch birds feeding on peanuts – blue tits and great tits, woodpeckers and nut hatches. And I can see the seasons change in the garden outside as the year passes. Plenty of inspiration all around!’

Mary, coach, www.daretoblossom.co.uk

‘You can probably tell from the rough brick walls that this is an old building – in fact they used to make coffins in here years ago!  I have two computer screens so I have more room to work on my projects.  The pad in front of the keyboard is a pressure-sensitive tablet I draw on.  I can get much more detail on it than on the screen – for example, a thin line if I press lightly, a thick one if I press harder.  From the windows I can see the clifftops to the east of the town.  I took the picture in the morning so I expect there was coffee in that mug!’

Ian, illustrator, www.dicks-chamberlain.co.uk

‘This is the largest room I’ve worked in at home. In fact, we can both work in it and there’s still plenty of room. The room faces southeast-ish and so gets plenty of light and warmth. The green and yellow glass panel in the window is half of a window commissioned years ago. It makes me feel less exposed and is prettier than the view of the street. The Post-It notes on the wall relate to setting up this website and business – most now have green dots on to show they have been done! I stick pictures on the wall facing me to inspire me and remind me of friends and family.’

Judy, writer and working from home enthusiast, www.workfromhomewisdom.com

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