One thing I really wanted to do more of in 2018 is interior blog posts and so I thought I would kick things off with a small photo tour around my home office. I posted a photo on Instagram a week or so ago of my workspace and you guys went crazy for it so I thought I would start with a room that I spend a lot of my time in - my home office.
As a freelancer, blogger and YouTuber my home office is where all the magic happens! It's a room that I couldn't quite get right in our last house and consequently I found myself more often than not working from my dining table. So when we moved house I knew I wanted to create a space which would encourage some creativity and allow me to really knuckle down and get on with some work with minimal distractions.
A big mistake I made in my last office was that I absolutely covered it with prints and all kinds of bits and pieces and it ended up feeling way too chaotic to be able to concentrate on anything. It also turned into somewhat of a dumping ground. It was so important to me when setting up my new office that the space wasn't too cluttered and if anything I wanted it to be a calming sanctuary where I feel I can retreat to. This meant that I really had to de-clutter, throw out the hordes of stationery I owned and pick out my all time favourite pieces only.
Another issue which I had in my last office was that my desk was way too small, which again made it feel impossible to get any work done. When my husband was kitting out his new office he ordered me my lovely big table desk from The Hair Pin Leg Co. and having such a large desk to work on has been almost life changing! I finally feel that I have the space for my large iMac, my laptop, my paperwork, my cameras and even a couple of house plants. I can really spread out all my things over this desk which has helped me to feel that I have more space and room to focus.
Obviously house plants have become a passion of mine so there are a few plants dotted around in my office and if anything I think they help the whole room to feel more relaxing and serene. They also look pretty and I like to surround myself with things that make me smile and feel happy (without going overboard!).
My home office certainly isn't the most minimalist of spaces and that's because it's a room where a lot does happen. If I am photographing things or filming it can soon feel like a mess! It's also where my mail tends to get left and some weeks I get a lot of mail so a lot of the time it can look like a dumping ground but I always make sure that I tidy it up at least once a week and put things away so that on Monday morning I can feel like I am starting a fresh again and that I'm in the position to just get on with the important things.
Prior to moving a lot of my stationery and bits and bobs used to be out on my desk and on display so one thing I knew that I needed was some decent storage. I bought this Alex drawer unit from Ikea and it just so happened to be the perfect fit underneath my new desk. It has enough drawers to store all my things away but it's also not so much storage to encourage any more hoarding. I just love these drawers because it means that I still have all my things that I need close by, they're just not an eye sore out on display collecting dust.
Did I mention I have a problem with buying notebooks!? Well I do. A big one. Currently my note pad drawer is full and there's no room to add any more so this is always at the forefront of my mind when I am out shopping and spot the cute note pad I just have to have. Since last year I am trying really hard to be more of a minimalist, and not in an extreme way (*obviously these photos indicate that I haven't taken minimalism too far!) but in a way which encourages me to stop buying and hoarding things I don't need. I have become way more disciplined with what I buy now because I really value my clean and tidy space.
Having a lot of white wall space is something that is so important to me in this house and consequently we really don't have much on our walls. My office is however the one room where I have allowed more things on the walls because I do like to display a few prints and personal photos around my desk space. It almost makes it a happy little corner for me without going too overboard. I have limited myself to only putting things on my cork board or my gold wall hanger which really helps. It also means that I feel inclined to change things up on my wall more often because they aren't such permanent features.
Having white and uncluttered walls is important to me because it helps me to feel calm and not stressed. It's probably been the main thing I have noticed since moving into our new home just what a difference this can make to your mind and how you're feeling. It really has done wonders for me!
I do share this office space with my husband which can at times be frustrating because one half of the room is his and consequently doesn't look as tidy or pretty! I do find myself nagging him at times to tidy his side up and notice I haven't included photos of his side of the room in this post. But thankfully it is a large room which is big enough for the both of us.
One thing my husband and I both agreed on when we moved was that we needed some kind of media station to house all of our cameras and gadgets etc. This metal shelf unit is basically where we keep all of this stuff and again it has made such a difference having a dedicated space to put these things. In our old house I would find myself hunting around for my camera and SD cards but now I know that once I am done using something, it goes back on the media unit. This is also where we leave all our batteries on charge and it's just made life so much easier for both of us.
I do feel that this room is still somewhat of a work in progress. It was the room where everything got dumped when we moved in and for a long time it just felt that we wasn't getting anywhere with getting it tidy and organised. I still have a lot of stuff in here which I need to sort through but for now it lives in this handy storage trolley!
Anyone who follows me knows that I have recently got into bullet journaling so at the moment my office feels as though it is filled with various pens and colouring equipment. I didn't really want to tidy it all away just because I was taking some interior shots because I feel that this gives a more realistic reflection of what this room looks like on a daily basis.
The marble coffee table we used to have in our living room is now our office coffee table and I love having this chilled sofa space in our office because not only does it provide a great space to make videos, it also offers up another more relaxed working area.
Aside from the current state of the coffee table, this corner of the room is probably my favourite and the most 'instagrammable'.
This is also where my dogs choose to hang out whilst I am working!
I feel so happy to finally have a creative space at home where I really feel comfortable working. Working from home isn't always easy and there are so many distractions. It's so important to make a space you feel happy working from and a space which allows you to be your best. Anyone who has a cluttered space at the moment will understand how difficult it is to work in that and all I can say is that decluttering and leaning more towards a minimalist lifestyle has been one of the best decisions I have ever made.
Anyway I hope you have enjoyed this home office tour and a peek into the space where I spend a lot of my time. If there are any other rooms you would like to see on the blog just comment below and let me know! And I hope this has inspired some of you to get an office space you feel really happy with working in.
I love your office! I have an office at home and really need to upgrade the look. My office/studio is for suited for a blogger/illustrator/graphic designer. Good thing is, I just got an artists table. Bad news, there's no color scheme and I need a bookcase or locked cabinet. This post gave me some great ideas.
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