I’ve been secretly beavering away on an interior decoration project, in an effort to transform our spare room. We have been trying to create a guest room combined with a home office (for Jules) combined with a craft room (for me): not an easy task.  I will be revealing all next week but in the mean time I thought it would be nice to share with you my inspiration for the room and my tips on how to create the perfect work space.

1. Plan carefully how you want to use the space.

You need to decide whether your work space is needed for just a computer or writing, drawing, crafting. This will then dictate how much space, storage and the type of desk you will need. Be careful to select a desk that is an appropriate shape and size according to the type of work you plan to do.  Make a clear list of everything you need to store and plan a space, drawer, pot for all of these things.

If you only work on the computer you can be a lot more flexible and opt for a much smaller desk. In this case they have re-purposed a small Ercol dining.

2. Keep your desk as clear as possible by using creative storage solutions.

Think carefully about how you can use the wall space in front of your desk for storage, as well as the space under your desk. Could you add a storage unit under your desk or put up shelves above the desk? Also, think carefully about what you will need to use on a regular basis and how you can make these things easily accessible, whilst remaining off your desk.

Hooks, jars and a paper dispenser are used to great effect here. Adding this wall unit, drawers under the desk and the filing cabinet to the left means this desk can remain clear and fully functional.

3. Don’t lose your style!

It can be difficult balancing style and function but there are so many ways you can inject your work space with your own style: antique desk or chair, vintage storage pots, stylish lamp, mid-century shelves. Look for pieces of furniture and storage with both form and function, otherwise your work space will not be a nice place to be.

This beautiful, antique desk adds such style to this work space. The vintage boxes, pots and tins also add personality and character to what can otherwise be a very dull space.

4. Don’t scrimp on stationery.

It’s so nice to be surrounded by things you like the look of and this can only help stimulate creativity. Nice stationery will add to a space where form and function can exist together.

5. Make an inspiration board.

I love being able to see images, post cards, photos, notes that inspire me. Why not make an inspiration board that be put in front of your desk? This can be added to when you are working on something particular to help inspire you. You can also pin up business cards, reminders or post-its to help keep you organsied.

What about making this washing line instead of the traditional notice board?

6. Tidy your desk every week!

I genuinely believe that a tidy desk means a tidy mind. If you can’t find what you need to do your job or make your craft you are far less likely to do it at all! Choose a particular day each week to go over your desk and put things back into place, sort paper work, recycle paper you don’t need anymore. This will definitely help the creative process.

Tidy desk, tidy mind.

7. Develop a filing system.

There is a constant stream of paper work coming into most people’s work spaces. You need to have a clear system in place so you don’t get yourself into a mess and miss bills or a deadline. Generally, it’s a good idea to have three different paperwork stations: Paperwork that has not been looked at yet, paperwork you are currently  dealing with, storage for paperwork that has been dealt with. Try and develop your own system that will work best for you.

Dividing up paperwork is a good idea so nothing gets lost or forgotten.

 8. Invest in a good lamp and a good chair.

Light and comfort are very important whilst working. You can not get by with a kitchen chair or with a dim ceiling light!

Gorgeous Benjamin Hubert lamp (and look at the old mattress springs used as a noticeboard!)

9. Be creative with the space you have.

If you can not dedicate a whole room to your home office use a cupboard, a landing, a corner of your guest room. As long as you are organised and choose the right desk and chair it does not need to be an eyesore.

An inbuilt cupboard in this living room is used as an occasional work-space. They have used a great chair and lamp so even when the cupboard is shut they become a design statement.  

 10. My favourite office accessories with both form and function:

Make your filing a bit more stylish with this cabinet from cb2.

Rose and Grey decorative clipboards – perfect for your filing system.

Mid-century style string shelving.

I will reveal my new work space next week…hope you’ll join me!

I prefer a mix of new, vintage and antique finds in my home. I think it’s hard to create a sense of self and personality in a home if everything is brand new as nothing represents your childhood and younger adult years. I think a home should reflect the people who live in it and this involves keeping or collecting what you’re interested in, what you love the look of, or what has a story behind it; Ikea comes flat-packed, memories not included.

The problem comes when you begin to run out of space.  Antiques are usually so precious and expensive we don’t have too many of them so they don’t prove a problem.  New objects are usually bought for practical purposes.  It’s the vintage objects (post-1960s) that can begin to clutter up our lives as they can be collected easily and are relatively inexpensive. However, vintage objects don’t always have a practical use so seem to ‘hang around’ more than anything else and people can get scared to use them because they are ‘old’.

I would like to show you some examples of how to use vintage finds in a practical way so that they don’t become clutter but turn into interesting conversation pieces, characterful storage and practical pieces of beauty that will add a unique feel to your home. Don’t rush out and buy something made for purpose; recycle and re-use what you have in a creative way and don’t be scared to use it instead of just staring at it!

We needed a TV unit for our ENORMOUS (don’t get me started!) TV. Instead of buying a made for purpose AV unit, which are typically pretty disgusting, in my opinion, we turned this 1950’s G-Plan sideboard into the perfect, stylish TV cupboard (filled with horrible electrical boxes).

I absolutely love these blue and white tiles that my friend Agnes bought me in Buenos Aires. I use them as coasters or on the kitchen table for hot pans.

This blue and white enamel pie dish used to belong to my grandfather and he used it in the bathroom for his soap. I use it for make-up and every time I see it I think of my grandfather so what better reason to re-use this rather than buying a new make-up box.

I salvaged these crates from an orchard whilst on a school trip. They sit on my balcony and keep the pots off the decking to decrease the chance of mould. I love the vintage feel they give to the balcony as well as serving an important purpose. Photograph by Peachey Photography.

A vintage jelly mould, given to me by my friend Farah, that I use for my cotton reels.

This vintage ashtray hangs on my mug hooks in the kitchen and holds garlic cloves.

Instead of buying a brand new utensil holder use a pretty vintage jug, which will add character to your kitchen.

Instead of buying a step-stool for high cupboards and shelves I have re-purposed a vintage children’s chair.

I use these Moroccan tiles in a very practical way: I rest my hair straighteners on them.

Instead of a boring loo roll holder I’ve used this vintage electrical wire basket to hold loo roll and books in the bathroom, which is more interesting to look at.

A mustard jar is re-purposed to make a brush pot.

Use vintage bottles to hold single stems.

I use this iron as a very effective doorstop or it would make a perfect bookend.

I love vintage crockery but it can be easy to buy too much and it ends up sitting in a cupboard not being used. We use one of my favourite tea cups for keys on the hallway table so we can see it and it serves a purpose.

Don’t just stare at your vintage jug, use it as a vase.

I did a previous post about how I up-cycled my mum’s Old School Trunk, rather than buying a brand new coffee table. Photograph by Peachey Photography.

Have a look around your home and see if there is anything you have been hanging onto that could eventually serve a purpose and make your home more beautiful at the same time. x

I recently did a post about shallow shelves that showed shelves don’t have to be merely practical but can be a design statement in themselves. However, the reality is we often surround ourselves with ‘stuff’ and have nowhere to put it so design has to come second. Ceiling height shelves offer the practical storage we need but can also look really good.  Another advantage is that the foot of space that traditional shelves use, which is often too much of a sacrifice, is not needed for high shelves;  they are positioned in space that will never be used, and don’t leave you feeling hemmed in.

We have recently put a high shelf above our bed for books (recognise the book ends from my previous post?); not only does this give us extra storage space but it also softens the room as only books can (when I say we, I mean Jules, although I painted). We also put a shelf above the door of our work-room. By positioning it above the door, when you enter the room, you can not even see the shelf and therefore do not feel the loss of space. We painted the shelves white and used white brackets because we didn’t want to draw attention to the shelf itself but you could make it a real feature if you wanted to.

I love this shelf above the door in our work-room. You can not see it when you enter the room and uses totally wasted space.

Have a look at other ways people have used high shelves to interesting effect…

This high shelf is used for storing crockery that is not often used, which one rarely has enough space in kitchen cupboards for. It is painted in the same colour as the walls so it is barely noticeable but its underside is cleverly used for hooks to add yet more storage.

Even though this shelf is covered in objects it doesn’t feel cluttered because of its height.

This high shelf is used to display art work.

An ‘above the door shelf’ is used here to display treasures and a plant.

This shelf is not quite as high as the others but still high enough so that it does not use too much space or in danger of clumsy kinders. A lovely place to show off plants and kitchen wares.

Love this so much. All I want is a ‘garden room’ with a shelf of cloches!!

Another ‘above the door’ shelf used here to display porcelain and pottery.

This ceiling height shelf wraps around the whole room and becomes a feature of this bathroom.

What about a shelf above the bathroom door to store extra towels? You are very lucky if you have a bathroom big enough not to need to do this.

If this bank of shelves were lower, they would eat into precious living space and make this room seem much smaller. As they are, they provide a huge amount of storage, freeing up lots of wall and floor space.

In the mean time my aim is to learn how to put up shelves myself instead of always relying on my dad or my boyfriend.  I don’t have much confidence of this happening…just being honest. It’s so much more  fun filling the shelves, rather than putting them up!