Category: Organizing

Philosophy: Creative Work Space

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As someone who does a lot of writing – blog posts, songs, poems, speeches, workshops, fiction – I have found that one thing that has really “upped” my creativity game is to have a work-space at home that inspires me. If you are looking to bring more productivity or creativity into your life, maybe my story can help you!

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We live in a moderately-sized house (3-bedrooms, ~1,500 square feet), and when we had our child my dedicated home office became the nursery. The third bedroom is a multipurpose music, exercise, guest-room space and can not accommodate a writing space as well. Because of all these space constraints, I ended up converting an 6-foot interior closet in the living room into an “office-closet,” complete with awesome LED-strip lights and lots of electrical outlets/tech accommodations and shelving that made it very productive.  This office-closet was fantastic for many reasons: 1) I could shut away the messiness by closing the closet doors and 2) I could be part of the family activities even while working at my desk.

However, after 4-years of the office closet I found myself continually migrating to the dining table to do my writing, which proved annoying because I always had to move my materials around when we would eat. So I asked myself the question, “why do I prefer the dining table to the office-closet desk?” The answer: 1) natural light and 2) a view. I found that I was SO much more productive at the dining table and SO much more creative, that I decided I needed to figure out a way to create dedicated work space that had those 2-items. Whenever I have a question without an immediate solution, I always plant a seed in my subconscious by asking it the question directly. I asked myself, “how can I create a dedicated work space that will have the light and view I desire?”

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Some time passed and I had an epiphany. If i moved a couple of pieces of furniture around, and edited out an item that was barely used, there was a small space by a living room window that could accommodate a petite desk. I took the measurements of the space and noted the absolute maximum size that the desk could be. Around the same time I found a picture in a design magazine of a desk/table combination that I liked. I don’t recall which magazine it came from. You can see the picture on the right. What I liked about this combination was the yellow cushion on the chair, the black/gold color combination and the soft lines of the pieces. I felt that the desk/chair was strong but feminine and very conducive to creativity.

I ended up finding the PERFECT desk and chair, and they, along with their placement near the window, has increased my productivity and creativity EXPONENTIALLY. I look forward to sitting down at my little space every single day to write. To find out more about the process of finding these furniture pieces and rehabbing them, subscribe to the blog and get notified about the upcoming blog post (I’ll link to it when it is up.)

Be sure to “FOLLOW” my blog with the links at the bottom of the page (mobile) or on the right-hand side (desktop).

 

If you want to bring more of “something” into your life, whether it is more creativity, more health, or more mindfulness, find a way to carve out a space for yourself to do this thing. Whether it’s work, creativity, exercise or meditation, having a dedicated space that is conducive to your needs will help you immensely in your practice and therefore in your quality of life.

Be a spark in the world!

#Creativity

#WorkFromHome

#EmberLiving