The Contemporary Home Office

Work from home is more popular than ever; a look at the contemporary home offices of 6 women across different industries.

The work from home concept is catching up fast in India and an increasing number of women are now looking to set up comfortable and practical home offices. Here we talk to 6 women who have tailored their home offices to suit their individual tastes and business needs.

They share their thoughts on home office interior decoration including home office furniture and contemporary home office decor. After all, a home office works best when you set it up to meet your needs, be it in terms of ergonomic seating, a nook for reading or absolute quiet to focus on your work.

The No-Nonsense Home Office

Arthi Anand-Navaneeth works with an MNC in the manufacturing industry. She shares her thoughts about working from her Bangalore based home office:

“I began working from home a couple of years ago, once we moved to Bangalore. It was a trial arrangement to begin with. But right from the start, I wanted to keep the sanctity of work and my sanity intact. Hence I isolated myself from the family from 9 AM – 1 PM and then again from 2 PM – 6 PM.

I chose the kids’ room since they do not need access to it, for most part of the day. It has a large work table and a shelf on their book cupboard where I store paper work and other official stuff. I prefer to keep only the essentials – a laptop, a printer, a land line and a desktop calendar (my organiser essential) on my desk. There are multiple plug points behind the printer for all the chargers etc.

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The chair is a firm and erect one and there is enough room to pace around when stressed out! And in case you are wondering, the room also has an attached wash room to answer nature’s calls!

On the days I travel (about once a week) the room is open to the family and the table also receives some TLC. The view is of a few bamboo trees and is peaceful and unobtrusive.”

Arthi’s Home Office

The Eco-Friendly Home Office

Prerna Malik is the co-owner of Social Media Direct, a digital agency providing social media, web content and SEO solutions to small business owners, worldwide. She says about her home office:

“Minimalistic is a choice in our entire house. Everything is functional, has a purpose and looks simple but nice (at least to us!).

It is a paper-less office, since we’re trying to be as eco-friendly as possible. The only paper is the diary you see next to my laptop. I use it for brain dumps, to-dos and basically jotting down anything that comes to mind. Other than that, everything is stored on the laptop or in the cloud- Dropbox.

I use the speakers for Skype since the speakers on my laptop are quite low volume. The chair is from Fabindia while the desk is custom-made to fit into our little nook and also, has drawer storage for pens, my spectacles, mobile phone, books I’m reading or any reference material that hasn’t yet been scanned. We have a printer next to the desk to print or scan anything important, like contracts, reading or research material.

I like keeping my desk completely clutter-free since that makes working so much easier. Hence, the bare bones, minimal look.”

Prerna’s Home Office

The DIY Home Office

Neferi Lunamira, a graphic and web designer allows us a peek into her home office:

“I work from home and use a standing desk. As you can see, it is definitely a DIY approach, but one that works incredibly well.

I have three levels to it: the lowest is the table which is the foundation. Above it is my keyboard, which rests at the perfect height for typing with my arms relaxed, hovering over the keys. Above that, the clear glass top lets me see my keyboard as well as providing a surface for the mouse and a place to use my graphics tablet. Behind everything sits two shelf-type units that hold my monitors. Yes, those are tabletop gaming books under them!

The bronze things holding up the glass and the board are empty cat food cans with the label removed. They are very handy for getting just the right height on everything.

I’m really proud of this desk hack. My husband and I worked on it together and he has a similar setup. The tri-level idea was mine, but his was the genius behind the cat food cans!”

Neferi’s Home Office

The Eye-Catchy Home Office

Lakshmi Rebecca is the founder, director and anchor of Chai With Lakshmi, an online general interest chat show. She too works from home, with 2 other team members. According to her:

“One of the bedrooms in my 3-bedroom apartment has been converted into a self-sufficient office space where 3 of us work. Rules came into place about decorum in the house during office hours and the office room itself was made very self-sufficient, we put in enough desks and gave staff enough storage + good chairs.

I painted the yellow wall myself, we moved everything in ourselves and the pictures on the yellow wall are from a Chai Time photography contest we ran. We have a room that’s come with plenty of storage space and plug points. Helps!”

Lakshmi’s Home Office

The Creative Home Office

Sheetal Wathodkar owns and operates Aroma Orchard Natural Perfumes, an independent niche perfumery from Bangalore. She shares:

“While designing the interiors of our new home I got this work station designed specially to suit my needs. It has a work table where I blend my perfumes. I have a top shelf which is half open and half closed. The open part is used to store perfumery ingredients which makes it easy for me to pick and keep back. The closed section is for my arts/ craft stuff. I usually make the packaging boxes / cards as I am quite a crafty soul. I have a library to keep my books and also a section to keep my perfumes. I store the files and other documents in the drawer below the work bench. It is a compact work station and I love it.

Perfume blending requires “no smell” areas so my work station is away from our dressing room and kitchen. My flat is located away from the hustle and bustle of the city in quiet green surroundings close to a lake making it ideal for my creative work.”

Sheetal’s Home Office

The Colourful Home Office

Tejasweeni Iyer is a proud mom of 2 children who was always inclined towards art. She is based out of Bangalore and weaves Ojo-de-Dios, a Mexican art from a small and cozy space in her home. She adds:

“I love being there every little time I get apart from home chores and taking care of my 2 kids and the rest of my family. This is one thing that gives me peace of mind and de-stresses me and is MY SPACE.

I learnt this art a year and a half ago and wanted to keep weaving them. The colours was what I loved about this art. My boy who was a little younger then would not give me enough time to weave peacefully. But after he turned 2 last December, I decided to start something concrete. I take workshops at my place once a month on an average.

Until now I used to work from a spare room. But now I’ve moved to this small corner where I know my things are at my reach even when I’m sitting on my chair and working. I have a few shelves with glass sliding doors on the wall to store my extra stuff.

I work with sticks, yarn and beads. Storing sticks and beads takes minimum space but the yarn was my major concern before shifting to this space. I just bought baskets and store them in it. It is more handy as I can see the colours through it.

I needed a comfortable place to work hence I’m using the table with a comfortable chair with good back rest as posture is something that I need to take care of.”

Tejasweeni’s Home Office

The Functional Home Office

Swapna Ravish is a 28 year old mother of 2 who is based out of Sydney. Although she works full-time with a Tech company, she decided to launch The Purple Orchard, which produces vibrant and eco-friendly baby clothing. She talks about her home-based business:

“Owning and running my own business that is organically sustainable has always been a dream of mine. I am really passionate about making this world a more sustainable place for us to live and reducing my family’s carbon footprint is just a small start.

My home office is a place where I can completely remove myself from the daily routine. When running a business from home that distinction is needed as it helps me clearly differentiate ‘work’ time and ‘home’ time.

I like the fact that it is isolated from the rest of the house. Peace and quiet can be a luxury with two small kids at home!

I keep all my documents and paperwork at arm’s length in a cubicle and plenty of books I refer to from time to time in a shelf. I use a simple ‘laptop desk’ to save space and a very comfortable arm chair customized to my height and posture to avoid back aches.”

Swapna’s Home Office

Do you work from home, regularly or occasionally? Share with us what additions/modifications to your home made for a comfortable working space!

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