Living creatively at work
The space where you work is where you spend so many precious hours of your day… why not make it a fun reflection of you?
As a self-employed person who works from home, I have the privilege of making my work space look however I want it to look. But even when I worked in an office – whether it was an actual office, with a door and everything (what a treat!) or a drab grey cube in cubicle nation – I always had the best dressed office on the block, the kind of place where my colleagues wanted to hang out. One time, for a brief while, I had an office that actually was a converted supply closet! But I made it look great. I just found that having a welcoming, personalized, yet still professional space made my creative juices flow and made me feel good about being at work. Some of the personal touches I’ve added to my work space over the years include:
- Small desk lamp with a red shade – casts a slightly pink glow that offsets the awful overhead lights
- Art posters – the Philips Collection used to sell really cheap posters from their long-past exhibitions
- Japanese tea pot w/ four matching cups and wood place mat – got it on sale at Urban Outfitters. Lots of folks stopped by for tea!
- Castoff area rug from an old apartment that I wasn’t using anymore – made those industrial grey carpets look livelier!
- A couple of important personal photographs – too many photos looks junky and unprofessional, but a couple of photos in nice (possibly matching) frames looks great and personalized
- One of those miniature “zen gardens” that they sell at book stores, with the rake and the sand
- A bright blue ottoman – $10 on sale at Bed Bath and Beyond!
- Colorful paper flowers, which I made myself – those bright blue, green, purple, and polka dotted petals never die
- Inspirational books – like quote books, or books w/ questions in them. Right now I’m looking at a book called “Ever Wonder.” Good for a creativity break!
I also love those colorful, pretty file folders that they are selling these days at office supply stores, color coordinated paper clips and binder clips, and all sorts of other fun and funky office supplies.
Maybe this week you could bring one creative thing into your office. If you can’t figure out what to bring, you can also check out “cubicle decoration” tips online – type it into your search engine, and you’ll find thousands of sources of inspiration!
photo: (cc) WorkSpace
Leave a Reply
web development by sws tech