Transforming Your Room to Include a Home Office

Today’s employees are more mobile than ever, often working from home. When you consider master’s classes, children’s homework, social media networking, and keeping current with changes in business, a home office is a necessity in today’s households. You may wonder how to fit a small office into your home, when space is at a premium.

Nowadays desks come smaller, suitable for our laptops and wireless networks. Your printer doesn’t have to be on the desk anymore. It can be in a centralized location for the entire family to use. Manufacturers are beginning to offer 40 to 48 inch desk work surfaces that are only 24 to 30 inches deep. This is the perfect size for a laptop user!

There are many places suitable for a small desk, aside from a home office. How about your bedroom? Do you have extra room in front of a window so you can look outside while you work? Pair the desk with a nice upholstered chair that corresponds with your bedding and the space can look amazing.

Find a spot in the laundry room. Or perhaps you have a small loft space upstairs? A desk might work perfectly there. A dead end hallway can allow for even more opportunities. Try fitting a small desk there and it will accommodate the entire family.

How about your family or living room? What a great way to keep an eye on your kids while they are surfing the Web or doing their homework. It can also be great way for you to work while watching your favorite television program.

Speaking of the television, did you know that your computer can hook up to your set and allow for larger viewing during conference calls or Webinars? Now that’s what I call functionality!

Whatever fits in your home, you can’t go wrong with a small home office. How have you turned your room into a work space?

Man Vs Machine: Has computer based programs replaced skilled hand rendering?

I remember being home from grade school sick and getting to watch Bob Ross on public television. In case you are a younger member of generation Y and you are not familiar, Bob Ross was a painter who specialized in landscapes and fan brushes. He had this ability to make art look easy. He would start with basic techniques while teaching about shading and highlights and before you knew it, the hour was up and he had created another riveting nature-focused awe inspiring piece of art.

I think interior designers should have that same grace and artful hand. Only instead of “little trees” and fan brushes, we focus on interiors using (most likely) Sharpie markers. However, with the influx of technology, are we losing a bit of the hand-drawn quality of solid interiors work? Are we instead doing the right thing for the client and providing more realistic computer rendered images? Are we losing an art form or moving forward with technology?

I believe this has been a long time battle between designers and especially design educators. There are many design educators out there (institutions and individuals) that have the mentality that you have to learn the basics (hand drafting and rendering) before moving onto more advance methods of visual communication. I have to agree. “Fundamentals are the building blocks of fun!” But, as we move forward daily with technology, is there really a chance that as an industry, we will really have to revert to hand drawing and rendering? Probably not, but as one of my associates once put it to me, “There is nothing more impressive or awesome than to see a talented designer just grab a pen and be able to sketch ideas right in front of the client.”

So with this in mind, I think it is safe to say that hand drawing skills are impressive and needed. Even though as an industry we may never actually need to do much by hand, it is nice to know that you can rely on your basic skills. Plus, what are you going to do if you are in front of a client and your laptop dies??