Workspace

Tip for your personal workspace at home

I have been working at home since 1993 and I have succeeded in combining a living space and a working space in such a way that works good for me. I can invite people over, but it is still a family home in the evening. Maybe the tips on this page can help others to create a pleasant working place in their homes.

• For starters, I built a wooden table, that is both used as adinner table and a working table. I chose wood because this material feels like the best choice for an environment in which living and working is combined.
• The table is placed against the wall, so people can be seated at three sides of the table. When the monitors are moved to the side, there is space for 5 people. When the table is moved away from the wall, 6 or more people can join together for a family meal.

• The computers are placed on a long shelf that is mounted to the wall. I did not attach the computers to the table because I want to have the option of clearing the table of all equipment easily. The equipment on top of the table can be detached by disconnecting a small number of cables (two cables for each monitor, mouse and keyboard are wireless). All cables are joined, when detached these cables can be laid down on the floor below the computers.
• The computers are not placed on the ground either. From the other side of the room, the ground is free of any objects so the room looks more spacious.

• I have attached an aluminium plate to two table-legs (see pictures). This plate has two functions: the computers are hidden and also the plates makes the table more solid. Because of this plate the table does not need horizontal bars. So you have maximum space under the table, to bend or cross your legs without bumping into any part of the table!
• To facilitate guests, a power outlet is attached to the bottom of the table. Also a network cable is close-by, so laptops of guests can be connected to the network or to the internet easily.

• The next picture shows my personal workspace, with a view over my garden at the left side of my monitor. The computer at the other side of the table is the workspace of my partner. Her monitor is placed on an wooden elevated box, which covers a hole in the table. It also covers a few other cables, such as two USB cables (for PDA's and digital camera's).
• Because me and my partner do not always work at the same time and we both like to listen to music, I mounted a switch at the top of the elevated box. This switch can be used to connect either of the two computers to the sound system. If you want to know how I have done this, let me know and I can email you a picture of the inside of the box.
• The picture also shows that the top shelf of the two shelves can be used to place dossier folders. The space is enough to place all folders for current projects, other folders and office supplies are stored in a cabinet, in the same room.

• Many living spaces have a small room (closet or wardrobe), often used for kitchen supplies or storage. If you can manage keeping only a small amount of kitchen supplies (eating fresh food daily is good for your health!) and you can store other things elsewhere, you could use this space for office supplies.
• In our case (see next picture) we have filled this space with office inventory, which is hidden from visitors by a closed door. This way the workspace is also a living space, eventhough it is fysically the same room.
• This space also holds a network printer/fax. The network is a wired network, making the printer available to three computers in two different rooms. The printer is huge, but it is not in plain sight. So during the day, you won't even notice it.
• On the pictures you can see a fair amount of letter trays. All invoices in these trays are not yet booked in the digital administration. After they are booked, they are filed in a small numer of ring binders. These can hold one year of administration. Once a year, the contents of these ring binders is archived.

The letter trays might seem messy, but that is because the invoices have different sizes. The system of trays and folders, combined with my (custom made) digital administration is so efficient that I only spend half a day each quarter on my book keeping. My daily routine (communciation, mailings) is automated using Outlook VBA.