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In Episode 10 of the And She Looked Up Creative Hour, we dive head first into a brand new them for the month of May: Working From Home.

While this was on our episode calendar for a while, it couldn’t come at a better time with so many people working from home for the first time while the whole planet deals with a health crisis.

It’s probably going to be quite some time before things get back to “normal” and most of us, whether we’re self-employed or not, will probably be working from home more than we have in the past, even as economies start to open up.

For those of you who still have a day job but have been thinking of taking your side business to a full time business, this could be the time where you get to give working from home all the time a trial run to see if it really is for you! (for some people, it’s really not - and that’s ok!)

Or, if you’re like us and have been working from home full time for years, maybe you’ll pick up a few new ideas. We both love geeking out on work spaces and studio spaces of other creatives entrepreneurs to see if we can glean some new idea that we can make work in our own spaces.

So let’s dive into how to make yourself a beautiful but functional work space or studio space in your home.

Listen To the Episode

Here’s a direct link to Episode 10 or you can listen via the player below:

Our Best Tips For Creating A Work Space At Home

We’ve both been working at home for 10 years and we’ve experimented a lot. We’ve moved around a lot of furniture in our time! So here’s some of our best tips to making a space functional and inspiring.

Don’t Let Lack of space hold you back

We would both love to have our own backyard “She Sheds” that look out onto beautiful, green rolling hillsides where we can hear the patter of the rain on the roof while blissfully drinking coffee in a plush arm chair and scrolling through emails. No distractions, no kids, no partners - just some soft music playing from the wired in sound system. Because of course we may be in a quaint, cozy shed surrounded by trees and birds and rolling hills but let’s face it, it’s gonna be state of art tech wise too (all tastefully disguised behind pretty curtains and artwork).

But the reality is, we both work out of small spare bedrooms in our homes in the suburbs - and consider ourselves very fortunate to have a whole rooms to ourselves with doors that close.

A lot of people find themselves working out of spaces much smaller when they first start out. Melissa’s first entire apartment was only a few square feet larger than her current 8 1/2 by 10 foot office!

Through your lifetime you’ll go through a lot of different spaces as you grow and your residences change and the people you share them with come and go. You might be in a tiny apartment with two roommates right now. In a few years you might find yourself in a space that’s just yours and you can do whatever you want. A few years more and you might have left tiny city apartments behind for a place in the burbs with a partner and a new born - to be followed by a few more newborns. And then one day your kids will fly the nest and you’ll feel blessed for choice when it comes to space.

Maybe some of us will even have our dream She Sheds!

All that to say, never let space be what holds you back from creating. A creative person (which you are!) can figure out a way to make it work!

PRO TIP: Check out studio tours on YouTube (just search “studio tours” or “home office tours”) - they’ll give you lots of ideas on how to get creative with spaces. Younger YouTube artists who still live at home or who are in college or are living with roommates can be a great source of ideas for how to use a small space.

Get Creative With Unused Spaces

What is important is that you feel like you have a space that’s yours. No matter how small or how large. It might even be a portable space that gets rolled out when you need it and wrapped back up and put away when you don’t.

If you have an unused room in your house, amazing. You’re very lucky. Have at it - we have ideas for ambiance coming up! But what if you don’t have a room to call your own, except for maybe your bedroom?

Here’s some suggestions for getting creative with unused spaces:

closets - can you make some space in your closet for a small desk space? Or do you have an unused closet you can empty and use? Closets make great spaces for recording podcasts!
bedroom or kitchen nooks - is there a corner in your bedroom you can snag to work from? If not, could you move a dresser into your bedroom closet to make space for a work surface? Some kitchens also have small little nooks with a workspace in them that you could take over as well
stair landings - these are wasted space in so many houses or townhouses but lots of them could fit a small table and chair and even a plant or two
under the stairs - turn this unused space into a cozy work place with some bright paint and bright lights
lofts and attics - these can actually be really dreamy spaces if you give them a little TLC with some fresh paint, good lights and some small scale furniture
window seats or bay windows - window seats can be rejigged to fit a work surface and bay windows are pretty on the outside but can be awkward inside - so why not turn them into a makeshift workspace
unused space in your living room or dining room - could you push your couch away from the wall and move it closer to the center of the room while putting a table behind it with a desk lamp? Bonus is your living room becomes cozier!
kitchen tables - can you create a portable workspace that you roll up to the kitchen table during the day and clear back off at night?

Tech Setup

We both agree that tech setup is one of the least sexy but most important and overlooked aspects of setting up your space. It’s pretty rare to run any kind of business these days without needing tech of some kind - even if it’s just access to email and social media.

Think hard about what you will need and prep for that before you do anything else. Here’s a few things to consider:

is your wi-fi fast enough and reliable enough or do you need an upgrade?
what kind of computer specs do you need? Will you be doing digital design? Video or photo editing? Sound editing? Will you be storing large files? Will you be traveling a lot (maybe not right now but one day!)? Can you get away with just a laptop or a tablet or do you need something with more horsepower.
Screen time - if you’re in front of a screen all day or do a lot of visual design? Do you need an external monitor or a large display? How old are you? If you’re in your late 30s or early 40s, get ready - your eyesight is about to change! You might not enjoy working on a phone anymore! Make sure you have room to set your screens up to feel comfortable for your eyes (and neck!)
File Storage: do you have enough digital storage space or do you need additional external hard drives or file systems? How are you backing up those files?
Printers - do you need one? Or will you be using your printer as part of your product creation (ie photographs, prints, stickers, cards, etc).
Can your devices communicate witch each other? Can you sync files across different devices easily? If you travel a lot, are your files accessible when you’re on the road or on vacation? Can you get files off your cameras easily if you do photography or video production?
Cable management - nobody wants a rats nest of cables to faff about with so think about how you’ll keep all those cords neat and tidy and easily identifiable and accessible if you need to reboot or unplug something.
Music or video streaming - how will you listen to music in your space? Podcasts? A lot of illustrators, designers, painters and those that work with their hands also like to stream video content while working. Do you want some built in sound or will you plug in your headphones? Do you want a screen mounted on the wall to have another episode of The Office playing while you paint?

When your tech is working, life is easy. When it’s not, you’ll want to rip your hair out. So spend the time to get it right. If tech isn’t your jam and you can afford it, hire somebody to come set it up. If you can’t see if you have an IT friend who is happy to help you out for beer and pizza (we’ve done this!)

Ergonomics

Ergonomics are also not sexy. But neither is a screaming headache from a kink in your neck - at least we don’t think so! And not being able to work because your dominant arm is aching from writing all day (or painting, or stitching, or using your mouse) can affect your bottom line.

So set up your space to be comfortable while supporting your body’s physical needs. Your needs will differ based on what you do. If you’re at your desk most of the day you will have different needs from a physical maker. Even sitting in front of a screen is different than sitting at a sewing machine. Typing is different from photo editing. Here’s some things to consider:

height - make sure your screen and work surface height are appropriate
do you want to stand during the day - can your desk convert to a standing or walking desk?
do you use a mouse a lot?
are you seated a lot?
do you do packaging for your products?
when you’re working are things easily accessible?
do you walk to the printer a lot?
do you need different chairs for different jobs?

Spend your first month of working from home making note of all the things you do during the day and how often you do them. Start to plan your workspace accordingly. Don’t make large investments in furniture until you have a good sense of what your daily movement (or lack of movement) is.

Packing Station.jpg — reuse old items

Melissa uses this old kitchen tray meant to hold napkins, condiments and cutlery to create a portable packing station for her Etsy shop

Organization and Storage

Create space for office supplies - whatever they may be for your business: pens, printer paper, ink refills, scissors, packaging supplies, envelopes - and keep them on hand. Keep extras on hand too - nothing is more aggravating than printing out name badges for an event and running out of ink (this may or may not happen to Melissa on regular basis) and having to run to Staples to restock - only they’re out of that colour… You will always run out of something at the most inopportune time so keep extra supplies on hand.

You’ll need a filing system of some kind. Whether it’s digital or physical or a mix of the two, plot out how you’ll store the things you need to keep. It can be anything from tax returns and receipts to product prototype samples. Just remember if you store things digitally, have a back up - especially for business critical files and documents (like tax returns and receipts)

Try to find furniture that’s flexible and can be used in multiple ways. Ikea is a great resource for furniture that can do double or even triple duty (see below for some of our favourite pieces). A bar cart can become a portable office that moves with you (great if you’re in a small space or have roommates) or provide extra shelving in a closet that can easily be rolled out to get to other, less used items hiding behind it or it can become a makeshift packaging station.

Second hand furniture can also be great - especially if you want items with a little bit of character. You might need to give them a coat of paint or two but something as simple as a set of folding table legs and piece of plywood or an old door can make for a big, wide open work surface. Old baskets, cans, mason jars can all be used as storage containers for markers, pens, paint brushes, and small supplies. Get creative and really make your office your style with unique (and usually inexpensive) pieces.

Go up! Don’t forget your walls if you don’t have a lot of space. Floating shelves or can add lots of extra storage. The things you use less often can go up high and things you use daily can be within easy reach. Walls are also a great place for inspiration boards, art work - don’t be afraid to display your own or that of other creators you support. Wall calendars are a great way to see things at a glance when you’re on the phone.