know yourself, know your space

Have you ever wondered where bloggers blog from? Wondered what their office or work space looks like? Wonder what certain entrepreneurs home/work offices look on the inside? I often do.

Occasionally, design studios and designers will give us a wonderful glimpse of their amazing spaces via their online sites like DwellStudio:

Photo credit: DwellStudio.com

or even Etsy:

Photo credit: Lifehacker

It's why I love reading SeenandSaid, BabySpace, Leah's The Way We Are, Ohdeedoh, Will's Brights.Bazaar and BloesemKids (bkids has incredible posts on entrepreneurs and their spaces!) as well as PirouetteBlog (this blog also features great one on one's with designers and their kids), and many many more. They all introduce, share and showcase office spaces of fantastic bloggers, designers and regular Joe's like us.

Why this curiosity? Perhaps it's the voyeur in me. I like to see what inspires other people, other designers, companies. How their surroundings affect them. I used to say when looking for a job that it wasn't the space that I sought but rather the people and most importantly, the work itself. Today, after having worked in many different companies throughout the years, I know for a fact that I am adversely affected by my environment. I have a deep interest in how companies set up windowless offices, how they've managed the lighting to counterbalance being in a, let's face it, box (or as I call my office space now, the Morgue). I check out desk placement and layouts, decor and location.

A view to me. My home office, surrounded by my favourite photos, magazines and showcasing some of my product designs on the shelf above.

Keira decorated my computer for me. My desk is always a jumble of wires, numerous sd cards and magazines.

I also love to see the environments of bloggers & designers. How do they get inspired and how do their environments inspire them?

This being summer, I walk into work from morning sunshine and am ready to face the day's challenges yet as I sit in a dark environment with low lights, I can feel my energy and creativity start to wane as the day goes by and my spirits plummet. It's a crazy experience as I create some of my best designs late at night with the very same conditions (i.e. dark room, low light)! Perhaps it's because I'm at home, I am surrounded by everything I love. Working late into the night, I can hear my daughter's slow and steady sleep induced breathing (my office/her playroom is 2 steps down from the bedrooms), my desk is setup the way I like with frames, photos, trinkets of everything I love. But the best, oh yes, the best experience is being able to work from home. I merged my office with Keira's playroom in the second largest room of our home. Instead of 1 large window, we have 2 on both ends of the room looking out either to the front of the house or the backyard. It's an incredibly light-filled space and I love it. I get a huge sense of peace when I sit there and my spirits and creativity soar when the room is lit up in sunshine.

These are just 2 of my mood scrapbooks started way back in the late 80's early 90's. Filled with artists, designers and anything else clipped & pasted of things that inspire me. My love for anything California can be seen even back then!

As well as all things Scandinave...  Who can *not* love Björk?

My love for Isabel Marant has not waned through the years. She's incredible!

As any parent knows, it's hard to really work with your kids afoot. Knowing that I'll probably get most of my work done at nights, it's easy to be interactive with Keira during the day. She loves to check out what I'm doing, loves to be able to 'draw' on the computer and we'll check out what's she interested in at that moment (i.e. a video on youtube, figuring out what a certain character's name is in a show etc). Luckily, her Barbie dolls call to her and her interest in the digital peters out quickly or she'll make me get off my duff and head outside with her.

I am planning on changing the colours in this room but in the meantime, this is where my heart is, where my creativity gets recharged and my spirits soar.

Where do you love to be and how does it inspire you daily?

Pin It