Creating an Office Space

I am not a minimalist.

Sorry, enviornment and oddly shame-y guys from that Netflix documentary.

Part of it is practicality. It would be extremely challenging for two people to be minimalists in a 600 sq foot apartment. We have things and a small space, so minimalism is out of the questions.

And frankly, I am not a fan of minimalism. Don’t get me wrong, I love a bresh of fresh, clean, modern design. Cool colors, clean edges – 100% on board.

But the other part is sentimental. I like art. And books. And plants. And I don’t just have one or two of any of those things.

Our walls are adorned with art, our shelves with plants and books. We love to read, and my library card has gotten quite the workout over the past year. We have paintings, sculpture, prints, and photos.

Bare walls have their place; well-balanced white space is important too.

But I like have gallery walls. I love the conversations they start and frankly, I just like looking at them.

Still, minimalism has its appeal in the clean spaces An abundance of things in a tiny spance make it feel cramped and overwhelming. So I need it to be nicely organized before I dive in.

So what’s it called when you have clutter, but it’s well-presented?

Lmk.

Recently I’ve turned my eye to my desk. NY issued a stay at home order almost a year ago, and still until a week ago I didn’t have an office space at home, just a desk we used. Painting the heaters required us to rearrange the room, and I took the opportunity to create a more designated office space. Tucked into the space between a partition and the wall, the desk fits snugly and faces a window for plenty of natural light on zoom calls.

All I did was flip the desk around and place it on the opposite wall, and yet it’s had a profound effect on how I view my “office space” (In the aforementioned 600 sq ft apartment, it’s simply a part of the living room.) But being intention about it makes me more excited to sit down every day.