Original post and photos by Pablo Enriquez. Used in partnership with Apartment Therapy Tech.

Original post and photos by Andie Powers. Used in partnership with Apartment Therapy Tech.

Original post by Marcia Prentice. Used in partnership with Apartment Therapy Tech.

Photos: Marcia Prentice / Apartment Therapy

Shared office space in Atwater Village, Los Angeles, CA

A group of like-minded creatives (a photographer, videographers, graphic designers, and a DJ) call this loft studio in LA their work home. With its “mid-century modern meets the desert” style, it features a brightly-hued array of designs by Charles and Ray Eames, such as their Molded Plastic and Molded Plywood Chairs. (Photos: Bethany Nauert)

Curiosity Shoppe, Austin, TX

Distinctively-cool downtown Austin gets a little more curious with the arrival of this collective space, a multimedia outfit housed in a converted warehouse that’s packed with timeless Eames pieces, including a Wire Chair and Wire Base Elliptical Table. (Photos: Chris Perez)

The Design Office, Providence, RI

Independent designers work side by side in this downtown-Providence-based studio, which features a vintage-modern look led by designs like the Aeron Chair and the Eames Hang-It-All. (Photos: Sarah Rainwater)

Original post by Chris Perez. Used in partnership with Apartment Therapy Tech.

Don’t Forget To Blink
Many of us dramatically slow down our rate of blinking when we’re staring at a glowing computer monitor. Blinking helps to naturally lubricate your eyes, and not doing so makes you dry out and feel uncomfortable. Force yourself to blink frequently as you’re working on the screen. You can even get some help blinking if you must.

Drink (Water)
Help your body by staying hydrated. It’s even easier when you’re working from home, where you can use your favorite glass and always get chilled water instead of a drink from a communal water fountain. If you’re finding yourself hankering for a drink, it’s already been too long. Set “hydration nudges” to remind yourself if you’re not getting enough liquids.

Posture and Ergonomics
If you’re going to be sitting at your desk for a while, make sure you’re comfortably and properly doing so. Find yourself a good ergonomic chair and sit properly at your desk. Keep your wrists and hands comfortable as well with an ergonomic keyboard. (Check out this roundup of ergonomic keyboards highlighted by Apartment Therapy several years ago.)

Clean Air For All
If you’re seeing floating dust particles in the glow of your computer monitor, it’s time to get yourself an air purifier. If it’s stuffy and dry, you’ll need a humidifier. You can even bring a little green into your office to help with the air quality and make yourself feel better.

Get Up And Walk Around
Don’t just sit in your chair all day. Move and stretch a bit. You can even exercise directly from your chair. Keep your body healthy and your blood flowing to your head for a healthy day at the office. Here’s got a great set of 10 exercises you can easily do in the office in just a few minutes.

For more tips on ergonomics and staying healthier in the office, click here.
Original post by Jason Yang. Used in partnership with Apartment Therapy Tech.

Rustum’s biggest indulgence: his vintage Eames Molded Armchair from the early 1950s.

A white Eames Molded Plastic Side Chair with an “Eiffel Tower” wire base balances the bold color of the room’s surroundings.

An impressive vintage lighting collection complements the unique space.

An Eames Hang-It-All stands watch over the area dedicated to working and living.

More white seating, this time in the kitchen area, using a pair of Eames Molded Plastic Side Chairs with wood dowel bases.

See more of the tour at Apartment Therapy Tech.
By Gregory Han. Photos by Rustum Babayev. Used in partnership with Apartment Therapy Tech.

By Lydia Brotherton. Used in partnership with Apartment Therapy Tech.

By Carolyn Purnell. Used in partnership with Apartment Therapy Tech.

Some of my favorite spaces to drool over are offices. Filled with books, art, and colorful writing utensils, they always seem to be the most inspirational spaces. I’m not ashamed to admit that when I see photos of a particularly inviting desk, I’ll fantasize about spending long, productive hours at its helm. Yet despite my love of a good work space, I’m rarely found at my desk, instead opting for the sofa, bed, or breakfast bar.

My boyfriend and I both work from home, so when we moved into our condo earlier this month the first question was naturally, “Where should our work spaces go?” His job requires a lot of phone calls, filing, and storage, where my writing needs are much more mobile, so we decided right away that his desk should go in the spare bedroom, and he’s been happy there ever since. I, on the other hand, have moved from a small desk setup in the open kitchen/living room area, to the dining room, which doubles as the library, and even to the bedroom, where I had a desk/nightstand combo for a while. And yet even when I have a beautiful space to work in, filled with all those books and pens, I always gravitate back to a less conventional work space.

While it seems somewhat decadent and at times unhealthy to spend the whole day on the couch, I find that I’m rather productive there. The mounds of books that constantly shift on the moving cushions, the pens that get lost in the cushions of the couch, the strange angle at which I prop my computer on the sofa arm: none of these disturb my work, and in fact, I barely even notice them anymore. Lately it has me wondering why I’ve always thought that I’ve needed a desk.

For those of you who work from home, or even those who make use of the computer at home in leisure time, how often do you actually use a desk? And if you don’t, are you generally peripatetic, or do you find yourself gravitating to a particular spot?

Photos: Chris Perez and Tara Bellucci / Apartment Therapy

Organizing your schedule, both personal and professional, is always a challenge. Tools in the digital space let you create to do lists, communicate timelines, and keep track of your scheduling in integrated ways, but sometimes you still need physical reminders to keep you on task. By consistently color coding the different roles in your personal and professional life using both digital and physical tools, managing your lifestyle at a glance becomes much simpler.

Google offers a great online calendar, which, tied to your Google account, lets you create multiple color-coded calendars in a weekly, daily, or monthly view. I like to use this to track my time, both professionally and personally, and have created different calendars to reflect different roles and tasks I deal with from day to day. To be able to quickly spot what I should be doing through the week, I’ve selected color codes for each calendar, often choosing a color pertinent to the task. Outside of the digital space, I bring the same color coding to life by keeping a set of colorful markers and sticky notes around, matching the colors used in my online calendars for consistency.

As a freelance designer, I often work with several different clients at once, and so I like to choose a color to represent each client (often one which matches a color used in their branding). When outlining a project on bristol board as I often do, I might use a colored marker I’ve associated with a client for headings, or quick fills in mock up sketches, to ensure I can easily spot notes for a specific project or task amongst a pile of others. In setting up a calendar to manage tasks for a specific project, I would again choose a color I can easily associate with the client for quick reference of my schedule through the day.

Outside of a professional workflow, color coding can also be useful for managing tasks around your home. For delegating chores to your kids, or for organizing between you and your significant other, have each member of your household pick a favorite color. Use these colors to create color coded Google calendars to outline and share schedules between each other. Match those colors up with sticky notes and whiteboard markers so each member can make their mark in the real world, sharing easily recognizable color coded messages with each other in a shared space.

Color can also be helpful for managing diet or exercise. Schedule your meals and fitness regiment using a bright color in your online calendar. Leave sticky notes for yourself using a matching color on the fridge or on those cookies in the cupboard for a quick reminder (via color association) of your plan for personal well-being.

Adding a splash of color to your organizational workflow helps bring an eye-catching visual component to task management, but it also helps to beautify and personalize the tools we use to organize ourselves. Maintaining consistency is key, as is choosing colors that have meaning to you in the different facets of your life. Simple associations work great, for example using green for finances or red for things that are high priority. As does picking less obvious associations — for example, you might have a favorite supermarket you like to shop at with a bright purple sign, in which case purple might work well as a color for a quick reminder to pick up a loaf of bread on the way home from work.

Remember to keep things simple; if you find a set of sticky notes that only come in a few colors, try to limit the categories used in your calendar to those colors. This will help you stick to a simple system of organization that is easy to maintain, and quick to reference using just a few bright colors to simply outline how you manage your time.

By Sean Rioux. Used in partnership with Apartment Therapy Tech.

Photos: Sean Rioux

Wunderlist HD: While the built-in “Reminders” app on Apple’s iOS mobile operating system is great, it doesn’t sync across non-iOS devices, which can be a bit difficult if you work on a combined Android and iOS team. Wunderlist solves that problem. The thing we love most about the app (in addition to the design, of course) is the ability to share tasks and lists via email, which is an easy way to remind colleagues of any work that needs to be done. Free

Evernote: There is a reason why everyone talks about Evernote so much: it works really well to help you get more things done. The app provides an easily searchable way to organize notes and files, sync them across devices (and platforms), and share them with colleagues. Free

QuickOffice HD: Pretty much the grand dame of office apps that work on both Android tablets and the iPad. And while the price is a bit steep at almost twenty dollars, remember what you’re getting: a very robust Microsoft Office editing suite that works seamlessly on cloud services. $19.99

SyncSpace Shared Whiteboard: We’re just going to come out and say it: shared whiteboards are cool. Being able to sketch together with team members is very useful whether you’re all in the same conference room or across the globe. What sets this app apart from the rest is that the drawing space is zoomable. Collaborative in real time, it works across platforms. Free

What apps help you get work done?

Photos: Joelle Alcaidinho / Apartment Therapy Tech.

The home office housed within the second blue container allows Wardell to hole away for work from behind his desk (and in his Aeron chair), where he operates Chester’s Blacksmith Shop, an online art gallery representing a selection of West Coast artists like Mark Ryden, Liz McGrath, Margaret Kilgallen, and Thomas Campbell.

Overhead, a bunk bed/napping nook makes for a great vantage point and place to catch a few zzz’s. It’s a fantastic setup where the work area is separated from the rest of their living area inside an expansive warehouse space, keeping the clutter related to operating a business hidden from view…or rather, contained. Other features include electronically switchable privacy glass and custom made industrial-style exposed plumbing

Like the idea of converting a shipping container into your own home office, for inside or outdoor use? Prices start at $25,000, so start saving!

By Gregory Han. Used in partnership with Apartment Therapy Tech.

Photos: Drew Kelly for Dwell

Read the charming story behind the Nelson finds and see more of the tour at Apartment Therapy Tech.

Photos: Chris Perez