Just what I expect at the end of September in New England: sunny and 94 degrees. If I didn't need to keep my office cool for the computers, this would be perfect weather for removing the vinyl tiles on my office floor without a hair dryer.
I’m slowly deconstructing my home office, hoping to turn it into a nicely furnished room with space for two people to work on separate projects, storage for books and files, power for computer equipment, and good lighting. All I have to do is remove the trim, several layers of flooring, and all the current office contents; figure out how to make the wallpaper paintable; and hire someone to replace the windows and the doors, put up a new ceiling, rewire the room, build desks and shelving, and install a new floor. And design the new space so that it's both functional and attractive. And keep my work going during all of this.
Have you ever thought about what your dream office (home or elsewhere) would include? What would it look or feel like?
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Home office
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6 comments:
I'm pretty sure the flooring will be a classic hardwood. A narrow oak strip floor would match the downstairs. Commercial hardwood flooring is apparently available with an embedded acrylic that makes the floor more durable, and that's very appealing, but it's hard to find in a narrow strip.
The walls are currently horsehair plaster covered with a wallpaper that's in rough shape. Removing the wallpaper would mean removing all of the plaster as well, so the best bet is to find a paste that could penetrate the wallpaper to adhere it to the existing plaster, and then skim coat the walls to make them paintable. Since there will be a lot of light wood surfaces for the desks and shelving, I'm tempted to go with a light moss green color for the walls.
I like the idea of a light wood flooring and a light sage color would be a positive/organic neutral that would work well in the space.
If I were you, and about to fill that room with shelving and desks for two, I would consider using a much more open system than I might choose for my own tastes. So I don't normally like a shelf made of bars between the wood shelves (so metal supports for wood shelves)but unlike traditional shelving which is all one wood structure, it has a tendency to disappear more against the walls. You'll be able to see peeking through some of that nice green wall.
For my own dream office, assuming money no option of course, I'm a big fan of the traditional library look. Skylights over the reading tables. Window seat with drawable curtains for cosying in. Lots of big heavy built-in bookshelves, preferably with a smoothly working library ladder attached. Globe. Fireplace. Tea served to the scholars in the afternoon. You get the idea.
I'll have to settle for the cement block cubicle I share with two other people, the metal desk from 1962, and the old four drawer metal filing cabinets. C'mon Powerball.
I like the idea of vertical bars as shelf supports -- it's a nice modern touch. A practical consideration is that it's a lot less adjustable later, though I don't know how much I'd really want to change the shelf spacing.
I made one discovery as I looked through several (ok, a lot) of books showing various home office setups -- much as I'm addicted to bookcases, I find that a wall of floor-to-ceiling open shelving looks too cluttered. Having the bottom 2-3 shelves concealed by doors looks much neater. So it's tempting to put desk everywhere, with some hard-to-access shelving below which would basically be hidden by the desk.
I love the traditional library look, and there's a nicely light-colored version at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, ME. Painting the wood as they do would be another way to have the green be more visible. But part of what makes their library work for me (it's my favorite part of their museum) is the immense windows, the soaring ceiling, the airiness of a room that's larger than my house, let alone my home office.
I'm definitely having tea served in the afternoon. Although in my case it will be cocoa or a mint tisane.
I see that about open shelving. I like the idea of some cabinets too. If I were not going for my ridiculously posh ideal, I'd put a huge desk top on some cabinets and file cabinets--lots of space to work on top, lots of storage below.
Thanks for the Farnsworth link; their windows are lovely. The sole table in the view is a little austere for me; more rugs...
Of course the truth of the matter is that my desk would be piled high in papers and books with only the barest space for my laptop... Which is why, ideally, my office is big enough for a table and a desk next to each other.
At one office, egregiously cramped for space, we had large, custom-cut "desktops" that sat on top of two-drawer cabinets. I don't remember the sizes, but essentially desks wrapped three sides of the room, and the fourth wall was built-in shelves. One of the desks overlooked a wall-size window, which was nice. Also, I don't use the knee-hole, so we filled it up with file drawers and computer stuff.
On the other hand, that was a very paper-intensive office. I suspect that your office would have lots of paper, too, but I'm not sure how happy you would be with the paper in hanging files, rather than horizontal (or slanted) slots. As for the closed lower shelves, I dislike them only because I (a) can never remember what I've put in them, and (2) tend to put chairs and things in front of them, so opening any of them requires moving things around. That's me.
My dream office would be much like fran's, although our old dream of working at a partner desk has given way to better self-knowledge. In truth, though, it would depend largely on what I was doing in it. If the bulk of my time would be spent sitting at a computer (which is likely), I think there are substantial lighting issues which might well take priority over my other preferences. My desire for a substantial reference shelf has diminished with access to on-line databases, so my ideal office no longer needs to have so many shelves; it could be in the reading room, but it doesn't have to be.
As I settle in to my new place of employment, I find that my needs in that place are very minimal. I would like slightly more space for storage of personal stuff (a clean shirt, emergency cup-o-nutrient, etc) that I don't need every day, but it turns out the chair, desk, screen and all suit me just fine. The desks are far enough apart that we aren't on top of each other, but close enough that we can converse without shouting. I am far enough away from the front desk that I can concentrate on other work while stuff happens there, but close enough that I can come to aid if there is trouble. I would like a cordless keyboard, though.
Thanks,
-V.
My paper storage needs feel pretty extreme. I have 12 active full-depth file drawers (in 3 enormous file cabinets), as well as rolling file carts and file tubs. I somehow need to conceal the file cabinets so they don't seem so overwhelming. My thought is to put shelving facing to the side along both sides, to give them more of a built-in feel. They really have made the room feel a lot smaller.
The office will be pretty full, but I somehow need to keep it from feeling that way. Built-in shelving and desk space rather than separate pieces will feel more deliberate, even if it's less flexible. Perhaps a couple of art niches will give the impression that space is not at a complete premium.
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