Tell us a little about your backgrounds. We’re both creatives who spend equal time working out in the world and from home. I’m a freelance photographer specializing in weddings, portraits, and events, but my work is continually evolving. Kyle’s a web developer for Treehouse, a startup creating an online school for technology learning. We collaborate during wedding season when Kyle joins me as a second photographer.

Tell us about yourselves and your work: what you’re passionate about, what inspires you, and where you’re going. I spent a lot of time studying art and design while in school, and photography has been a natural progression into a field where I can hold onto my creativity and make a living. People, beauty, and happiness inspire me, and I feel fortunate to work with clients during their most joyful times.

Kyle’s worked professionally as a graphic designer, photographer, web developer, and snowboard instructor. He’s driven by a love of nature and simplicity, and created a social backpacking network for the Pacific Northwest called Went Hiking. At Treehouse, he garners inspiration from helping people get better jobs and improve their lives through technology learning.

I think this David Bowie quote sums up each of our lives: “I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.”

Tell us about your space. What’s your aesthetic? What do you like or dislike about it? I love all things vintage, and Kyle appreciates a more modern aesthetic. Our apartment has taken on an eclectic combination of our individual tastes that we both appreciate.

The apartment was built in the early 1900s and is bursting with vintage charm. Our favorite room is the sun porch, which is gloriously warm and bright and is currently serving as a small library.

We could definitely use an extra room for our office area. Both of our desks are sharing space with the dining room, which isn’t ideal, but it works for now.

There is a SAYL Chair in your office area. Why did you choose it? I was extremely picky about this decision because too many office chairs are bulky and unappealing. We both love Herman Miller designs, so when it came time to choose an ergonomic chair for Kyle to sit and program in every day, it was an easy choice. The SAYL is attractive and comfortable, and I appreciate its low profile and lightweight look. We would definitely recommend it to others!

Photos: Christy Cassano-Meyer

Give us a little information on your background. I’ve been a freelance illustrator and letterer since graduating from Sheridan College’s renowned Illustration program in 2001. Like most young illustrators starting out I needed a day job in order to make ends meet. So for a few years, I worked full-time as a wiretapper with one of Canada’s largest police forces and moonlighted as an illustrator. Talk about a contrast of worlds. Eventually the illustration gigs picked up enough that I could leave the day job and completely focus on my career.

Tell us about yourself and your work: what you’re passionate about, what inspires you, and where you’re going. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been drawn to vintage things that have character, good design, and a story, whether it be a guitar, tools, products, or random found objects. I like keeping myself surrounded by those types of things because I find them inspiring and they’re kind of like a receipt for a good story. I guess that’s the artist in me coming out, as well as my upbringing. Coming from a family full of carpenters and woodworkers has heavily influenced the way I create; layering and meticulously working with my chosen materials. The deeper into the digital world we get, the more I desire to produce hand-crafted work. Lately, my focus has been on combining the illustrator side of me with the carpenter side of me, hoping that I can satisfy both of those needs while still making the kind of art that I enjoy making. I’m not sure where it will lead to, but that’s the direction I’m currently heading.

Tell us about your space. What’s your aesthetic? What do you like or dislike? What would you change if you could? For years my workspaces were always tucked away in a corner of my living room. So when I bought my house four years ago, it had an unfinished basement which I renovated in order to give myself a dedicated studio. I also built a larger work area for miscellaneous projects, as well as a workshop. My actual studio space is fairly basic but I love it because it’s comfortable enough to hold everything I need to create work and to relax when I need to. As much as I love having my studio in the house, it’s getting tougher and tougher as my young family grows.

You have an Aeron Chair in your space. What do you like about it? Why did you choose it? I love the Aeron. Without a doubt, it saved my back. The vintage wooden secretary’s chair that I used to use looked amazing, but it was causing damage to my back. A friend turned me onto the Aeron convincing me a good ergonomic chair was a wise investment; he couldn’t have been more right. I also use an Eames Molded Plastic Chair at my painting station.

Photos: Darren Booth; bottom photo – Todd Fraser

Tell us about yourself and your work: what you’re passionate about, what inspires you, and where you’re going. I am an illustrator, educator, and maker of things based in Portland, Oregon. I have been a full-time professor for the last nine years and have been making work about consumption for the last decade. The freelance illustration component came along shortly after I started my daily purchase drawing project in 2006. I have three jobs and they fuel each other and couldn’t exist without the other. The following things make me happy: insane collections, John Waters, PeeWee Herman, Steve Martin, maximalism, Louie Armstrong, design that doesn’t look like it was designed, the movie “True Stories,” “Rhoda,” handmade objects found in thrift stores, Carol Burnett, yard sale signs, my grandmother.

You’re in a new workspace. Why did you move? What’s different in this office? Since the last time my space was featured on Lifework, I moved my workspace out of my apartment, which was a brilliant move. It is so nice to have our living room back — ha! Currently, I share a space with five other illustrators/designers (Will Bryant, Clifton Burt, Jason Sturgill, and Tina Snow Le). Our studio is in an old Ford Motor Factory in Portland and we have a tiny corner of the second floor. The ceilings are high and the light is good. I am a happy girl.

You have a vintage Eames Molded Plastic Chair at your desk. Why did you choose it? I scored that wonderful chair from my friend Frank Chimero before he left Portland for New York City. This chair currently acts as my computer desk chair. This space also marks the first time I have had TWO desks. I currently draw on my grandmother’s drawing table. I compute at a different desk beside my drawing table. I do have a small laptop on my drawing desk, but that is also the laptop I travel with and take with me to school. It is easy to put away. The 27-inch iMac is a bit harder to work around. I can’t speak enough for designated work stations. SO GOOD. Also, I love that dang yellow Herman Miller chair. It makes me feel smarter as I do my screen work. Also, it has casters. Every object that touches the ground should have casters. FACT.

Photos: Kate Bingaman-Burt

A number of years ago, Herman Miller conducted research on the “natural preferred habitat,” which are places that our prehistoric ancestors sought to settle in while they were hunting and gathering. In these spaces, they looked for certain features with benefits. One of these was a wide, distant view. With this view from your habitat, you would get a lot of information, like where your resources were located; whether or not danger was approaching; and if there was a clear path available if you needed to move.

As part of the research, we applied this attribute — a view from the natural preferred habitat — inside that of a built environment. We found humans still have this longing for a wide, distant view, just like our prehistoric ancestors. We still want to put ourselves in a place where we can see out and not be seen. This is due to all the helpful information that a view can give you.

As humans, we are also innately attracted to nature (biologist and researcher E.O. Wilson coined the term “biophilia”)—it’s in our genetic makeup and our genetic memory. We have an affinity to and seek comfort in nature, and when we have views of it, it enhances our well being. In fact, there have been studies done in the healthcare arena that indicate that when patients have a view of nature, they heal a lot quicker and don’t need as much medication.

There may be more attention given to nature nowadays because our lives are more hectic. We are always online, always connected, always on, 24/7. It has put us in this continual state of partial attention to everything, without focusing on anything. And that does cause stress. Anything you can change in your surroundings to alleviate stress is healthy — and making sure you have a window view to nature is one of the best, most human things you can do.

- As told to Amy Feezor

Find the above featured Nelson Swag Leg Desk, Eames Molded Plastic Chair, Aeron Chair, Setu Chair and other inspiring furnishings for an elegant and intelligent office in the Herman Miller Store.

Tell us about yourself and your work: what you’re passionate about, what inspires you, and where you’re going. I am a graphic designer and a very passionate collector of all things modernism, mostly from the mid-twentieth century. I collect vintage furniture, pottery, toys, ephemera, records, books, packaging, etc.

Living in California has had a direct impact on what I do and what I like. The modern homes, the furniture, and all the history of designers in the area made it a very obvious choice for me. I am very inspired by my collection as well as by folk art, color, and, in general, the warmth of modernism from that era. I like to surround myself with things that inspire me, from the things I sit on to the things I look at.

My work is a direct reflection of the things around me. I have a dresser in my office that is filled with vintage ephemera that I’ve picked up over the years and I like to open drawers and just look at things every now and then. I also have two shelves with vintage packaging and an ever-growing library of vintage books.

Tell us about your space. What’s your aesthetic? What do you like or dislike? My space is an ever-changing showroom in a way. I am constantly looking for things and replace others when I find something that suits the area better. This forced me to start selling the things I don’t need anymore and it’s now growing into a store of vintage things.

You have a few vintage pieces by Charles and Ray Eames in your space. Why did you choose them? I have many of the vintage molded fiberglass chairs in different colors, some upholstered. They are just so fun and I use them all the time. I also have two molded plywood DCM chairs that I believe are some of the most beautiful, simple, and comfortable chairs I’ve ever sat on. Definitely recommended.

I picked them up because, well, Ray and Charles are probably one of the most influential designers in the U.S. — and on me personally. I just had to have them in my home.

Photos: Javier García

Tell us a little about your background. Prior to starting Basik Design a decade ago, I worked at various movie studios in LA. I started as a photo editor, but through the years, gradually transitioned my position into an in-house designer before eventually going out on my own. Liz also worked as a photo editor at several film studios, her final position being a Senior Photo Editor at Paramount Pictures prior to our move to Nebraska. She continues to edit photography for studios but on a freelance basis.

What are you passionate about, what inspires you, and where are you going? Liz and I both love design in the general sense, as in we just like well-designed stuff. Whether it’s a car, clothes, a room, a poster, a house, a computer (we’re huge Apple fans, surprise) or a piece of furniture (also huge Herman Miller fans, surprise), anything that is well designed is interesting to us and inspires us. We truly feel fortunate to make a living in a creative field.

Tell us about your space. What’s your aesthetic? What do you like or dislike about it? What would you change if you could? I’m a little neurotic, so less is more for me. Liz likes to fill a room with lots of stuff, so we’ve had to do some compromising! But living in the Midwest means having more space, which means having more of the furniture and accessories we love without cluttering up the room. If we could just do something about all the cords, it would be awesome.

You have quite a collection of Herman Miller pieces in your space. What are some of your favorites? One of our favorite possessions is our Nelson Marshmallow Sofa. It’s iconic, fun, comfortable, and it just makes us smile. I also love my Aeron Chair. It’s super comfortable and looks great. It’s an office classic. Liz has a SAYL Chair that she loves. It’s also very comfortable and totally unique — there’s no mistaking it. I would highly recommend any of these pieces — the design, the build quality, the classic nature, and the general feeling of delight you get from using (and staring at) them make it all worth it. And as a bonus, they’re made in America.

Photos: Paul David

A cheery potted plant and a grouping of plastic dolls share the desk with everyday supplies in the office of Berlin-based graphic designer Linda Gavin. (Photo: Linda Gavin)

Design studio One by Four‘s collection of cameras share the bookshelf with a poster print and a smile in South Florida. (Photo: One by Four)

Even a pencil/pen holder gets the artistic treatment in the home office of Morgan Satterfield, teacher, artist, gallery manager, and creator of the blog The Brick House. (Photo: Morgan Satterfield)

A shelf in the home office of graphic designer and illustrator Treasure Frey hosts a motley crew in Los Angeles. (Photo: Treasure Frey)

Leslie Roeder and John Eric Byers of Goodjoy Design complement their collection of Eames pieces (an Eames Aluminum Group Management Chair, Eames Hang-It-All, and vintage Eames molded plastic chairs among others) with this colorful collection of random items. (Photo: Goodjoy Design)

Flat files in the home office of freelance illustrator and graphic designer Jim Mezei become an ideal surface to showcase an eclectic mix of paper prints, wood objects, writing instruments, and vessels. (Photo: Jim Mezei)

Top photo: Christopher David Ryan

Book cover designer and lifestyle blogger Anna Dorfman showed us not one, but two home offices: the first in a small rental apartment in Brooklyn, and the second in upstate New York, where she and her husband are slowly renovating an 1891 Victorian row house. (Photo: Anna Dorfman)

Architectural photographer David Lauer gave us a tour of his new mid-century-built home in Denver, complete with a home office centered around bold color choices, like his green Mirra Chair. (Photo: David Lauer)

This weekend-getaway workspace belonged to J3 Productions and Happy Mundane’s Jonathan Lo, who is normally based in Orange County, CA, but instead opted to rent a “second office” near the beach in San Diego for the summer. (Photo: Jonathan Lo)

A sunny view and an original Eames Wire Chair passed down by her grandparents made up this tour from photographer-turned-designer Jennifer Levy of CAVdesign. (Photo: Jennifer Levy)

Artist Laura Hughes let us take a look at her combination home/workspace (Aeron Chair included) in the middle of Manhattan. (Photo: Laura Hughes)

Makoto Mizutani and Ben Luddy — better known as the brains behind multidisciplinary design practice Scout Regalia — let us take a peek at their living space/company headquarters in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. (Photo: Scout Regalia)

We found out just how organized the workspace of a professional organizer can be with this step inside the home office of Justin Klosky, founder and Creative Director of O.C.D. Experience, a bi-coastal organizing service. (Photo: Justin Klosky)

Photographer Clark Lara introduced us to a space filled with modern Herman Miller designs — check out the Embody Chair, Eames Molded Plastic Chairs, and Eames Storage Unit just in the one photo above — as well as his scene-stealing dog, Cooper. (Photo: Clark Lara)

Singer, songwriter, producer, photographer, cinematographer, and director Thomas Piper Jr. showed us around his home workspace in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. (Photo: Thomas Piper Jr.)

Food writer and co-author of The Kimchi Cookbook Olga Massov gave us a glance at her Brooklyn home office (as well as her well-stocked kitchen). (Photo: Amy Feezor).

Our SAYL chairs fit nicely in the newly-built backyard office shed shared by organizer Vanessa Hayes and her husband Dan, a technology/marketing/media consultant, in San Antonio, TX. (Photo: Vanessa Hayes)

Kiwi-born and London-based designer and illustrator Marcia Mihotich — who collaborates with the likes of Industrial Facility and other arts-related organizations — opened the doors to her live/work space, which includes a cushy Eames Soft Pad Management Chair. (Photo: Marcia Mihotich)

What year was your business established? What led to that point? I technically have been organizing since I could walk . . . no joke. I will have some stories about that in a book I am writing that comes out in December 2013. My business, the O.C.D. Experience, was founded in 2008 with the vision to help people find clarity in their lives through my own OCD practice — thus birthing “Organize & Create Discipline,” a bi-coastal service teaching organizational discipline in every area of your life.

With some hard work, despite days waking up not knowing what city I was in, and with an incredible group of supportive friends, the business continues to grow every year. When Oprah was in her heyday, very early on in my business, I got to work with her go-to organizer, Peter Walsh, who lent me some wisdom along the way (basically telling me to stay out of this crazy world!). After working with Peter, I continued to build out different divisions of the O.C.D. Experience. I launched O.C.D. Events (Original & Creatively Designed) with Heather Schertz and started discussions on other aspects of the business. O.C.D. Experience also just finished working with Saks Fifth Avenue, Joss & Main, and the Container Store to develop strategic partnerships and product services. We are proud to be growing into a recognized national brand and taking on organizational consultants throughout the country while upholding a solid reputation.

Tell us about your space. Any special considerations that influenced its set up? What do you like or dislike? What would you change if you could? I consider everything when it comes to the way I setup my personal space. It is part of my OCD.

Our entire place has a specific purpose for living. It has been that way since I was a child. My favorite space right now is the O.C.D. Experience office. On the ground, I put in an red area rug, which fuels me, and an ottoman that doubles as a two-person window seat and storage for all our office supplies. Cork boards line the walls for organized visions, goals, and creative expectations. I brought in a large citrine crystal to add life and career energy, as well as “El Jeffe,” our security guard — an office plant of five years, who has traveled from NY to LA, LA to NY, and NY back. The best part of the office is the desk system I built from scratch; I’ve labeled it the “O.C.D. Desk System.” (Did I mention that you can’t see one wire, as the desk hides them all?)

I always like bad news first, so what I dislike about my office is how obsessive I can be about maintaining its structure and flow. Constantly thinking about space, not just outer space (which I love), can take up a lot of time and energy. It also affects the people around me, sometimes causing a little more stress than necessary.

The redeeming fact of this is that I have managed to make sure the positive moments of my space-obsessing outweighs the negative. My office is always clean and my desk never has piles. I then get to help clients throughout the world make stronger choices about their personal space, thought process, and decisions through my practices.

What I would change? I would revamp the desk system, which is in its second prototype process! I have some new organizational solutions that will be incorporated into the next one.

You have an Aeron Chair in your space. Why did you choose it? I have three, actually. I got my first Aeron because I used to work for a talent agency and I remember all the agents having these big, comfortable, ergonomically-correct office chairs. I was 18 and wanted one so bad. The moment I had my own working office, I got one. A few years later, I needed more chairs and had no choice but to buy two more because they all had to match.

It’s the final day to get 15% off everything you need to furnish your home or office (or any space in between). Click here to shop our storewide Holiday Sale now and save!

Design for Mankind’s Erin Loechner keeps clean and contained spiral notebooks at the ready in her own home-office setup: a laptop, desk, and white Eames Aluminum Group Executive Chair combo.

It’s no surprise that notepads filling the desk of designer and illustrator Alexie Hiles contain the thinkings of an artistic mind.

Neat stacks of notebooks — including Field Notes, a Lifework favorite — await reminders and to-do lists from Rick VanderLeek, a Saugatuck, Michigan-based art director and graphic designer.

Loose-leaf paper notes and tracing paper play a part in typographer Nick Keppol’s Brooklyn home office  — a must-see space which includes, among others, a black Embody chair at the desk and an Eames Wire Base Low Table supporting the printer.

Confirmed doodler: designer and illustrator Katie Kirk, author of the children’s book “Eli, No!,” brain power behind Eight Hour Day, and owner of a pair of Eames Molded Plastic Chairs.

A collection of colorful sketchpads and notes helps keep the workflow flowing for Erin Jang, an art director and graphic designer who runs The Indigo Bunting out of her studio in New York City.

Industrial designer Joey Roth, a Los Angeles resident who frequently works in his backyard, knows that a single notebook can help him streamline his time outside. “When I can, I leave my laptop inside and take only a pen, notebook, and cup of tea or coffee with me,” he says. “The less I take, the more I tend to accomplish.”

Photos: Linked to their sources. Top photo: Carrie Strine and Tim Lahan

1. Digital Design Magazines - The digital publishing revolution is in full swing. More and more magazines have taken to the tablet with compelling, richly detailed digital editions. It’s an affordable design experience at your fingertips. Check out the Edition29 series of architecture, art, and lifestyle magazines, including explorations of the modern dwelling in Edition29 Housed. Or click over to DesignBureau for a bi-monthly dialogue of design inspiration.

2. Join an Art & Design Museum - Are you near a design museum? An architecture or historic home museum? Annual museum memberships yield a year’s worth of education and inspiration while simultaneously supporting the creative community (and saving you money, too). Try the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, the Chicago Atheneum – Museum of Architecture and Design, or the Architecture and Design Museum in Los Angeles.

3. Renegade Craft Fair - Throughout the U.S. and even across the pond in London, the Renegrade Craft Fair brings together hundreds of artists, designers, and craftspeople showcasing their work. Explore an incredibly broad range of design products (and prices) in cities like Austin, Chicago, Brooklyn, and more. Keep an eye out in your town for other indie craft fairs, too — it’s a huge and exciting movement.

4. Design in Your Community - Do you live near a college with a design or architecture school? Does the AIA or AIGA have a chapter where you live? Is there a Design Within Reach… within reach? Identifying the design institutions and even retailers in your area is a fast-track to all kinds of affordable — even free — events, lectures, classes, and more. Learn, network, and see what’s out there.

5. Herman Miller Sale - Find your favorite of the most quintessential modern designs, for less, during the annual Herman Miller Sale. Enjoy a storewide 15% off everything from Aeron office chairs to the Magis Tavolo XZ3 Table. It’s all on sale now until December 10, so visit Herman Miller today.

6. Find & Fund Design - Online funding platforms like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo are overflowing with new and innovative design projects looking for partners and supporters. You get in on the ground level of new designs and instantly become a part of their development. Plus, each project you support offers a range of great design dividends depending on how much you’d like to contribute. That’s a great design deal.

Photos linked within text.

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.

1. Aeron Chair, Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick - Sweeping away virtually every tenet of traditional workplace seating, the Aeron has become one the most well-known ergonomic office chairs ever made. Its form-fitting Pellicle suspension supports and cools, moving as you move, no matter what size and shape you might be. Choose from three frame finishes and eight seat and back fabrics to create a distinctive seating solution, on sale now at Herman Miller.

2. Nelson Swag Leg Desk, George Nelson - With its gracefully curved legs, unencumbered work surface, and cheerful cubbies, the Swag Leg Desk answers to the call of our modern, increasingly compact world. Combine it with an Eames Wire Chair for a perfect mid-century pairing. Find them both on sale at Herman Miller.

3. Eames Sofa, Charles and Ray Eames - Combining simplified form and high-quality materials and craftsmanship, the Eames Sofa yields stunning design beauty and luxurious comfort. Its gently angled silhouette unites rich walnut or teak, sumptuous leather upholstery, and polished aluminum for a truly modern design in home or office. Explore all the options, now 15% off, at Herman Miller.

4. Noguchi Table, Isamu Noguchi - Sculptural, perfectly-balanced, and visionary, the three-piece Noguchi Table is a design classic — simple, but never plain. Created in the 1940s, the design acclimates effortlessly to 21st-century living. Get the classic Noguchi, on sale, from Herman Miller.

5. Nelson Basic Cabinet Series, George Nelson - The best storage solutions are functional, efficient, and most of all versatile, just like the Basic Cabinet Series. Create a custom solution from an array of configurations utilizing cabinets, shelving, and even the Platform Bench. Save 15% on yours now at Herman Miller.

6. Eames Hang-It-All, Charles and Ray Eames - Beguiling pops of style and ever-present functionality defined much of the Eameses work, capturing our imagination and attention. Marrying their signature wire lattice construction with vibrant, solid-wood knobs, Charles and Ray created a hat and coat rack with a real hook. Get your Hang-It-All, on sale now, at Herman Miller.

Images: Herman Miller

1. Consider creating a dedicated workspace that offers few distractions.

Jennifer Evans, VP Marketing at Southern Living in Manhattan, lost power at her home in Morris County, New Jersey—one of the top four hardest-hit counties in the state—for two weeks. In turn, she and her husband Jeff took their two boys and their dog to her mother-in-law’s home. Jennifer, who already telecommutes when she can, knows she needs a space that provides little disruption while she’s working, so she usually hits the library or Starbucks. With the power down everywhere, however, neither locations were options. Instead, she found a way to her company’s outside office in Parsippany, NJ. “I just showed up on the doorstep and said, ‘Hi, I work in New York. Can you help me?’ They were great—they set us up on different computers and gave us server access.” Jeff, a high school teacher whose school was out, even ended up joining Jennifer at the office. “When you have to get work done, you just go into makeshift mode.”

Fortunately for Cristina Luna, an Art Director who works in Manhattan and lives in northern New Jersey, her home had electricity and running water. But with family and friends nearby who didn’t, she and her husband welcomed several people into their house to take shelter. Transportation difficulties kept Cristina away from the office for four days, however, and work deadlines were still looming. “With everyone there, it felt like a party—like I needed to be a hostess. But I was the only one who could do my job remotely, so I was also the only person working. And while I was more than happy to help everyone out, it was also unfortunately distracting since my work still needed to be delivered on time.”

2. Be prepared to make an extra effort to interact with people during work hours. 

Working from home means more alone time—and everyone we interviewed mentioned missing out on regular connections with coworkers. “I missed the interaction with my colleagues and also the team environment,” explained Rob Jarschke, a contract senior interior designer for Herman Miller, whose Soho studio in Manhattan was without power for almost a week. “Collaboration is important in what I do each day.”

It only took Brooklyn resident Zovig Garboushian two days out of the office before she found a way to leave her apartment for the change of scenery her midtown Manhattan workspace could provide. “I had power and was able to work from home, but I very quickly felt stir crazy. So as soon as I heard that our office had power, I got approval from my manager to get a car service into the city,” she said. “I needed to talk with people, to laugh. I needed those day-to-day interactions again.”

3. Kids at home? Remember that that’s another job in itself.

With the power out in her Manhattan apartment, Randine Pastrovic, Herman Miller’s Marketing Lead for Specialty and Consumer, spent the week of the superstorm in a Times Square hotel room provided by her husband’s company. With her husband continually having to work and their regular daycare without power, Randine had to take on baby duty for their small daughter. “When she was asleep, that was the only time when I could jump online and take part in conference calls,” she explained.

With schools out everywhere, childcare was also an issue for Jennifer Evans and her husband, who were only able to spend working time in a satellite office after their nanny was able to pitch in again. But it was Cristina Luna’s full household that proved positive on the babysitting end. “I already work from home one day a week, and when I do, I know to have a sitter on hand for my toddler. So while we did have several people in our house during that time, at least I had lots of help with my daughter!”

4. Be sure to take a breather, move around — and step away from the desk.

Weather, power outages, and lack of transportation left many temporary telecommuters stuck inside with not much to do except work. “It made me restless. I really hated not being physically active,” stated Zovig Garboushian. Her first stop after getting to her office right after the lights came back on? Her nearest gym location. “I needed a break from not being able to really move around.”

Randine Pastrovic let breaks from work in her midtown hotel room turn into much-needed exercise — and regular check-ins on some people who needed it most. “I took my daughter for walks down to our apartment in Union Square,” she said. “Our next-door neighbors are older, and one can’t walk well, so they weren’t able to get out. We were able to bring them a transistor radio and other things they needed. We made sure to take that walk every day.”

Did you learn anything while working from home during Hurricane Sandy? Let us know in the comments section.

There are still many victims from Hurricane Sandy that need aid during this recovery period. To learn more about how you can help, click here. 

Photo: Gabriela Herman

Give us a little insight into your background. I am an artist by nature and a graphic designer by profession. I’ve been drawing as long as I can remember. My earliest memories are of my mother drawing words in bubble letters and me coloring them in. As a child, I was an avid comic book collector, often doodling my own comics mostly consisting of army ants and nuclear dinosaurs. After high school, I enrolled at the Art Institute of California’s San Diego campus. I knew I wanted to do something creative for a living and I liked working with computers, so it was an easy decision to major in graphic design. While in school, I worked part-time for a print shop near campus, learning the in-and-out’s of the print industry. The hands-on experience I was learning at the shop was more than I was learning at school, so I left college after two years and returned home to the Bay area. I put together a portfolio of school projects so I could look for a job. It turned out the print company who printed my portfolio was looking for a designer, so I began working for them. I bounced around different print shops for about eight years before starting my own business as a freelance graphic designer and print broker.

What year was your studio established? What led to that point? I began working in my current studio in 2004. While in college, I began experimenting on canvas. I was interested in showing art in galleries and began submitting my work to group shows in the area. The living room of my apartment quickly became my studio: art on one side, design on the other, somewhere in the middle was the couch, TV, and other clutter. It was obvious that I needed a dedicated creative space, but I didn’t have much money, as the print shop I worked for wasn’t paying much.

My grandfather, a retired general contractor, built a workshop in the early 1980s for his wood-working hobbies. The space was perfect — he had everything an artist needed: a light table, a projector, a large drafting table, and a wood-burning stove to keep warm on cold days. He loved working with his hands and his personal projects kept him young. We ended up sharing the studio for few years until he passed at the age of 92. Times working next to him, often on the same project, are some of my fondest memories with him. I’ve continued to work in the studio, transforming it to suit my needs, but still leaving room for his wood-working tools.

Tell us what you’re passionate about, what inspires you, and where you’re going. Art and design consume most of my time. When I’m not creating, I’m studying other artists work and technique, researching future pieces, and day-dreaming about what they might look like. I also love baseball. I find it most relaxing to work in the studio with a Giants baseball game on the radio. Though I wouldn’t consider myself a math brain, I’m fascinated by the statistics and percentages in sports.

What inspires me is always hard to answer. The world around me is inspiring. Daily experiences, my friends — most of whom are artists and designers. I’m inspired by books because I like to imagine what the story looks like. Dreams often find their way into my work. Architecture blows my mind, especially Victorian-era buildings.

I can’t tell you where I’m going because I don’t think I know myself. I love being creative. I’m fortunate to have the resources and space I have. Art has taken me on some incredible experiences. With every show and mural, I become more confident that art is where I need to be focusing my time. Not knowing what’s next inspires me to work harder. I have faith that everything will work out and that if you concentrate on something long enough, anything is obtainable.

Were there any special considerations that influenced the studio’s set-up? What would you change if you could? The studio space is special to me for the very fact that I’m carrying on something my grandfather started. The space itself isn’t very big. One room, about 400 square feet. No running water, but lucky for me, there’s a faucet nearby to wash brushes. The heater is a wood-burning stove, but the climate in California is pretty mild and I don’t build a lot of fires. The space is perfect for what I need it for. I have room to paint, shelves for supplies, and desk for my computer. Yogi, the sweetest 13-year-old dog ever, keeps me company every day, often laying at my feet while I work. I wish the space was a little larger and had more natural lighting, but I make it work.

You have an Embody Chair and your grandfather’s Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman in the studio. Tell us how these both came to be. I do design work for Trope Group in Santa Rosa, CA. On occasion, I go into the office to discuss design and marketing strategies. They have a showroom where I enjoy test-driving the chairs on display. I’m not one to splurge on office furniture. Most of what I have now are hand-me-downs or pieces donated from past employers. I liked to imagine how nice it would be to have a real office chair. And then I sat down in an Embody chair and fell in love. The relief it gave my back was instantly noticeable. So I bought one and use it every day. I’ve yet to regret the purchase for a second. I love the look on someone’s face when they sit in the chair for the first time.

The Eames Lounge is something that I’ve known my whole life. It’s been in the family longer than I have. As a child, I remember curling up and napping in it, waiting for the adults to finish talking about things I didn’t understand. I never knew anything about the chair until a few years ago. It was always just a comfortable leather chair that was great to sit in with a good book or listen to music. So out of curiosity, I asked my mother about chair. This is the story she told me.

“In the summer of 1963, we moved into a 1940′s stucco house in San Anselmo. It had a large, well-lit area — empty except for a dining table and three chairs at one end, a hi-fi at the other, four Parsons-style end tables, and a matching coffee table (made by my cabinetmaker grandfather). It was the heyday of Swedish modern, and my parents were both working and had saved enough money to have — for the first time in their lives — a living room that was in style.

So off we went one Saturday to buy furniture in San Francisco. It’s probable that from his former profession in architecture, my dad had cards that got him into high-quality showrooms.

I was 16, the decorating gene had skipped me. What I loved were books, so armed with a copy of ‘Betsy in Spite of Herself’ by Maud Hart Lovelace (Betsy and I were the same age), I planned to spend the day reading in comfortable chairs.

They bought, that day, a mustard and grey Swedish modern sofa, a black Swedish modern chair, and a 3″ x 5″ red Rya rug. I was underwhelmed: they were uncomfortable and, to my eyes, ugly; the mustard was a disgusting color and all three items were wool — to which I was allergic.

However, I’d had a splendid time with Betsy, curled up in a seriously comfortable chair. When they were ready to leave, they came to find me. ‘Do we have to leave?’ I asked, stretching in the Eames Lounge.

They looked, not at me, but at the chair. They knew what it was; they’d admired Charles and Ray Eames for years. And they needed one more chair.

The rest is history. If you look at the feet, you’ll see scratch marks from Jack, the Springer spaniel puppy who hated being left alone and took it out on the furniture: he gnawed the Eames Chair legs, jumped on the coffee table so often his claws gouged out long tracks, and tore up feather pillows on the Rya rug. So much for style.”

Photos: Ricky Watts

Every inch of the wall above the desk in the home office of interior designer Laura Clayton Baker contains photos, magazine pages, postcards, and random pieces of artwork. (Photo: Laura Clayton Baker)

The Portland, OR, space of illustrator, teacher, and book author Kate Bingaman-Burt displays an eclectic mix of drawings, art, posters, paper cut-outs, and plants. (Photo: Kate Bingaman-Burt)

Art, books, and neat stacks of papers make up the Venice, CA-based home office of Scott Flora and Jerinne Neils, co-founders of wall graphics company Blik. (Photo: Blik)

The workspace occupied by Brian Haines, Alejandra Abad, Natasha Maria Fernandez-Fountain, and Bruno Torquato — otherwise known as design studio and collaborative One by Four — has walls and windows filled with creativity and color. (Photo: One by Four)

Materials and tools for art, design, and illustration projects take over the work surfaces at Logical Art, a creative design studio in London founded by Yoo-kyung Shin and Hanhsi Chen. (Photo: Logical Art)

Photo of Ray Eames’ desk via eamesoffice.com.

Tell us about your background. As a kid I grew up drawing logos, cartoons, and Nintendo game characters with my older brother, Brad. I was always more attracted to simple graphics. Along with drawing I was always taking something apart and trying to rebuild it or re-purpose scrap components for something else. Every day I was making some type of Rube Goldberg machine or drawing in my sketch pad (an 18″ x 24″ spiral bound).

I got my BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD. I moved back to Cincinnati after graduating and got married to my wife Jennifer. We considered moving somewhere else, but made the choice to stay and invest in the city and continue to grow the amazing friendships we had here.

Most of my inspiration comes from word puns, strange human interactions, and the overlap between Art and Design. Some of my favorite artists include Henri Matisse, Charley Harper, Saul Steinberg, M.C. Escher, Paul Rand, René Magritte, and Josef Albers.

I have always wanted to build our own house. I love the concept of the Eames House, Case Study House #8, and the environment it created for their work.

Tell us about your space. Any special considerations that influenced its set up? The studio is the top floor of our house.  I used to have my studio downtown, but after we moved we compressed our residence onto just the first floor to allow for a studio to be combined. The setup is great because I have all my workspaces on one floor.  There is a main studio where I make most of my work, a workshop with all my tools and materials, a music room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. The space is very efficient. I can walk downstairs at any time to see my family, eat a snack, hang out, and head back upstairs to work. The idea of the home studio is extremely appealing and I would love to have it also function as a guest house for friends and other artists.

You have a few pieces by Charles and Ray Eames in your office. Why did you choose them? They are just as nice to look at as they are to sit in. Every line is so simple and beautiful. They are easily the best chairs we own.

Photos: Andrew Neyer

How long have you worked from home? What lead to this decision? I’ve been working from home since February 2011. I came out of college with a business degree and worked on Wall Street for about ten years. I felt like, as an immigrant, it was the sensible, practical thing to do. But it wasn’t something I loved. Until my last job, when I wound up with a pretty amazing boss and worked with incredibly talented people, it was rather unexciting. I spent all my free time, however little there was of it, cooking and writing. I started a food blog which made me feel much more alive than any work project I ever had to do. All I wanted to do was hang out in my kitchen, learn various cooking techniques and dishes and write about it. At work I was pretty unfulfilled; but when I came home and made dinner, no matter how simple it was, I would come alive. In 2008, after the markets tanked and the economy fell apart, I really started to ask myself what I wanted out of my life, but I was too timid to leave. Around February of 2011 an opportunity presented itself to try to do food writing/recipes full time, and so I took the plunge. I got to work with amazing folks like Melissa Clark and Andrew Scrivani of the New York Times (I still work for Andrew), and Melissa introduced me to Lauryn Chun, with whom I wrote my first cookbook, The Kimchi Cookbook. I’m now working on my second cookbook with a famous chef, trying to freelance, and spend a lot of time at my desk writing, researching, and everything in between. I practically live at my desk in my office chair.

What do you like and dislike about working from home? I’ve been working from home for more than a year now, but some of my work takes me to other people’s houses. For example when I work for Andrew, I’m at the photo studio where we cook, style, and shoot food. When I was working for Melissa, I was at her house. But when I work on my blog, on freelance assignments, or on the books, I am in the living room, at my desk. I’ve always joked that I’d do my best work from 7am until 1pm in my pajamas. Sometimes, that actually happens. I’ll be up since 6am and by the mid-afternoon realize I need to shower, but I’ve been writing and working non-stop. What I like about it is that my home is cozy and comfortable. If I’m working on recipes and need some reference, I’ve all my cookbooks around me so it’s incredibly helpful. Our cat Forrest provides ample entertainment and is a pretty outsized personality and he loves it when we work from home. When my husband Andrew works from home (he’s a climate science writer), we sit back to back at our respective desks and for most of the time, all you hear is just a bunch of typing noises. Sometimes I make a mad dash for the kitchen to test a recipe. If it works — we have a delicious lunch. Otherwise, we have an okay lunch. It’s also nice to have a little bit more freedom with your time. If I can fit my work into a 10-hour day, I can go for a run or a workout at a time that’s convenient to me. I can run out and meet a colleague for a coffee and just exchange ideas and thoughts. It’s nice to be your own boss especially when you’re pretty disciplined about setting your own schedule and meeting deadlines. I’ve always been a very dedicated worker and if my former employers trusted me and let me have a bit more wiggle room, I might have been more motivated.

Our kitchen is pretty amazing, considering it’s a rental, and the space is very intelligently laid out with quite a bit of storage. I initially took the apartment because I’d never seen a rental with a kitchen like this. That, in and of itself, is a glimpse into my decision-making!

What I don’t like about working from home is that sometimes, you realize you’re still in your pajamas and it’s 2 in the afternoon! That it’s too quiet, and that it’s a little lonely at times. You really can get lost in your work and realize that you’ve become a tiny bit hermit-like. Writers are introverted to begin with, so in some ways it’s great to have that time to be in your head, but it can also not be great, too.

Basically, the stuff that you love can also become the stuff that drives you crazy.

The last piece of working from home that I dislike is this: you can never leave work at work. It’s here, with you, because you also happen to live here. And if something is messy and out of place, you focus on that and have to fix it before you can focus on work again. I’m a total neat freak and I feel like I spend my days sweeping, dusting, putting things away, when I’d rather be in a quiet room, just writing.

Tell us about what you’re passionate about, what inspires you, and where you’re going. I’m a food writer/blogger. I create/test recipes for my blog and freelance assignments. I love the process of testing a recipe. When I’m on a very tight deadline and the recipe refuses to work it drives me crazy, but I also love the process of learning. You always walk away from a new recipe having learned something new — and it’s an incredibly empowering feeling. I am constantly humbled by other talented bloggers and food writers. There’s a discipline, a drive for excellence, that’s a great source of inspiration. It keeps you from getting stagnant.

The first book I worked on as a co-author, The Kimchi Cookbook, I walked away with such better understanding of fermentation, Korean food, how similar agrarian societies are to one another (Russian vs Korean), how the intimidation factor of making your own kimchi is really just in your head. I learned a lot from Lauryn (Chun) and I’m learning a lot from the chef I’m writing my second book with. He has worked so hard to get to where he is and he is an incredibly focused, driven, nice person.

I am hoping to write many more cookbooks with other chefs/personalities. I really like the process of collaboration and I am pretty good at taking on the voice of the person who is writing the book. I’m a bit of a chameleon that way. My best reward is hearing from the person, “This really sounds like me!” Then I know I’m doing my job.

I think down the road I want to write my own cookbooks and stories. I love writing and I think I have some good stories to tell and great food/techniques to share. But right now, I am eager to be learning from people who have years’ more experience and wisdom than me. I’d love to do a stage at some restaurants and just keep my head low and learn from anyone who is willing to teach me. It’s like my culinary school.

Tell us about your space. How would you define your aesthetic? Any special considerations that influenced its setup? I love my desk. I recently splurged on it because I realized I needed an older desk to work at. I have a pretty short torso and most desks are too high for me, which results in really awful shoulder pain. When I was finishing up the manuscript for the second book, I wound up writing the last two weeks of it at a friend’s home office near by. She had this old secretary desk, and I realized that because it was made for shorter people, it was perfect for someone like me. I happened to spy one the next day at a local antique shop and it was a mint-condition mahogany secretary desk. My aesthetic is eclectic. I don’t like matching pieces and I really like to mix old and new. Our dining room table is something I got on sale at Crate and Barrel and the grey chairs around it were hand-me-downs from one of my best friends. And then, since I needed a fourth chair, I splurged on an orange Eames molded plastic chair, and it’s one of my favorite items in the house. Our coffee table is a Danish mid-century modern elongated table. I’m told they’re quite rare. It’s been somewhat beaten up in the last year or so, but I am hoping to, someday, restore it to its old glory. I also hate clutter, and always fight to get rid of it. This can be hard because as a writer, I am surrounded by paper, paper, and more paper. And also kitchen items take up room! So while it’s clutter with purpose, I wish there was a bit more room for it.

I’m not much for flower prints, so a lot of the colors in the apartment are mid-century modern. My desk is a Chippendale mahogany secretary desk and my SAYL chair is a bright apple green. I totally love the juxtaposition. It very much reflects my personality. I love that I have a work space and that my heart delights in seeing it every day. But I wish that I had a small room where all I did was work. It’s hard to have work in your living room, especially when you have visitors or when you want to say, “I’m done for the night.” Because literally a few inches away is our couch.

Why did you choose the SAYL chair? I love the SAYL for so many reasons. I think its price point is excellent. I also think it looks terrific in a small space, particularly if you have to make it part of your living room or bedroom. It can be a very cool accent piece. People who come over to the apartment always ask me about where I got such a cool-looking office chair. If I knew about the lumbar option, I would have gotten that on top of the chair. But I didn’t realize there was that option. Now I put a pillow behind my back (because I have a small torso/frame on top). But the chair is awesome and I love it. And even though our neighbors’ kitten sort of did a little damage to it, I love it even more.

Tell us about your work: what you’re passionate about, what inspires you, and where you’re going. I’m a professional organizer and I love to help clients go from chaos to calm. My business’s tagline is “Life; Simplified, Organized.” That’s what inspires me and that’s how we strive to live our lives, too. Dan’s passion is simplified design and technology that makes people’s lives better. He also has a gift for breaking down complex tasks and explaining them in a way that people just get it. For us, life is better simple. We like to help people who want “more simple,” not “simply more.”

How long have you worked from home? What do you like or dislike about it? We’ve worked from home for the last two years. We actually had two different home offices that were separated from one another by only a few feet: one was the dining room table and the other was a glider we bought in anticipation of the birth of our now five-year-old daughter. As comfortable as the glider is, it didn’t make for much of an office. We both run our businesses from home: I have my Get Simplifized! business and Dan does technology/marketing/media consulting. Together, we’re on a quest to simplify all aspects of our lives, from family lives to digital lives to our business lives. I spent much of my work time on site at clients’ homes, businesses, or schools and Dan has no desire to have a traditional away-from-home office. Further, we both wanted to be more available to our kids, family, each other, and even ourselves after nearly three decades of structure. Working from home allows that. Typically, Dan wakes without an alarm, takes the kids to school, prepares for the day, and then hits the office after his short commute (about 19 steps from the back door to the office door). I still commute to serve clients, but the major change for me is the burst of creativity I get when I get back to our office. I can really focus on writing blog posts and planning out videos. There used to be many distractions when I worked in our home; those don’t happen anymore when I’m in the office.

What inspired the building of your office shed? How has it changed your workday? We both got pretty tired of our temporary offices and the clutter that inevitably takes over. We decided that an actual office was not only necessary to keep the peace, but also to keep our sanity. So, we built our own. Thankfully, Dan has a passion for design, and after looking around the Internet for some inspiration, he designed one for us. The biggest change with having the office shed is the options we now have with clients.  With a separate office, I’m able to coach/consult with organizing clients virtually no matter where they are in the world. I couldn’t do this as effectively without a dedicated space. Dan can now have clients in for training sessions without having to disrupt the rest of the family or find an off-site facility.

Tell me about your new space. Any special considerations that influenced its set up? We mapped out our goals before we started, so the things we needed were designed into the office. We think that is what good design is all about. We absolutely love the modern aesthetic but form must equal function — for us they are mutually supportive attributes of good design. The result certainly achieved our goals of having a space large enough for two separate work spaces, that can host three or four clients comfortably, and is tech-infused, meaning Dan could have all his gear integrated in (and as cord-free as possible). It needed to be comfortable in the hot San Antonio summer and cool winter and look great in the back yard. Finally, if we had the choice, we would choose sustainable options over non-sustainable. We love the result. We get lots of light from the clerestory windows and the glass double doors. But, the one “wish” we have is that the design would have allowed for one tall casement window on a wall to help with circulation on those mild Central Texas winter days. That’s it…we feel we nailed everything else we wanted.

You have a pair of SAYL chairs. Why did you choose them? We absolutely LOVE our SAYL chairs. These were a splurge for us — but it really makes sense that, if you’re going to spend a lot of time sitting, you really need to invest in a good chair. We were well aware of Herman Miller’s commitment to design. With a bend toward the contemporary aesthetic, the SAYL chair line caused a Pavlovian response in Dan the moment he saw it. To us, it was the embodiment of the same function-meets-form test we applied to the whole project. A former paratrooper, Dan has some back issues, and since we both were previously in the military, we each still feel the effects of years carrying around a rucksack. We knew it made perfect sense to invest in solid ergonomic design. After using the chairs for over a year, I am still amazed how comfortable they are and how much better we feel at the end of a long day sitting when compared to other chairs we’ve tried. Dan says sometimes he gets jealous when showing off our “world shed quarters” and the first thing people notice is the SAYL chairs before his design and DIY skills! Jealousy aside, we enthusiastically recommend the SAYL…it just doesn’t make sense to skimp on yourself, your back, or your productivity.

Any tips for couples who share a home office? First tip: Make your space “yours.” I have a few things on display that to me represent peace: a little tea pot I bought in China, some little boxes I got in Korea, and a small plant. Dan doesn’t have decorations, but has his gadgets — podcast equipment, an iPad, etc. — and these things make his space his own. Together we love to listen to music via Pandora or radio stations on AppleTV. We didn’t have those options in traditional offices. And when it’s time to take a break, we like to take it together and spend a few minutes enjoying the day on the deck. So, I guess my first tip would be make your space individual but take time for togetherness, too.

Second tip: Headphones work great! And third: It can be easy to fall into the trap of chit-chat and letting conversation rob your productivity. So, let your partner know if you need to completely focus on a task — and commit to respect each others’ efforts during those focused times.

Photos: Vanessa Hayes

By Heather Blaha. Used in partnership with Apartment Therapy Tech.

Photos: Heather Blaha

2. A bookcase that magically stores chairs and tables at PSFK.

3. ”Are You Spending 1,000 Hours Preparing for Your Next Job?” at the Harvard Business Review.

4. LA Observed’s short chat with Allon Schoener, author and periodic guest at the Eames House in the 1950s.

5. It comes equipped with Wi-Fi … could you use this as an occasional outdoor office? (Via Design Milk)

6. These home-office solutions for cords, cables, and devices at Apartment Therapy.

7. The Selby’s tour of jewelry designer Philip Crangi’s NYC home and studio.

8. Did you see our SAYL Chair on True Blood? (Via latimes.com)

9. This discussion about design knockoffs at last weekend’s Dwell on Design home show. (Via Dwell)

10. Hither and Thither’s coverage of our Pop-Up Shop in Soho, NYC. There’s still time to stop by — it’s open through this Sunday, July 1.

1. A hidden home office created from a spare closet, featured on the Home & Garden blog of the Los Angeles Times.

2. “A Love Letter to Plywood,” a short video by sculptor Tom Sachs, in which he declares plywood “a delicious wood sandwich” (via swissmiss).

3. 20 gadgets to help you make the most of the summer — including some great items to help you take your work outdoors — from Netted.

4. Colorful ideas for waking up your home-office decor from Real Living.

5. An artistic way to deal with unsightly cords at Dwell.

6. Architect Sigund Larsen‘s “Shrine” project, a mini multitasking storage solution, detailed at Architizer.

7. Have you ever tried to go paperless in the office? (Via Apartment Therapy).

8. We spy a smart white Eames molded plastic side chair in the home of Mary Jo and Steve Hoffman at Design*Sponge (and also in the photo above, by Mark Andrew of Studio 306).

9. The Ridge House, a rural Canadian hideaway designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, at ArchDaily.

10. A fascinating aerial photo tour of New York City’s rooftops at Co.Design.

Photo: Design*Sponge / Mark Andrew of Studio 306

Along with these growing stats, the research offers a few of the pros that result from working out of a home office, such as increased focus, which can lead to better productivity. Cons, of course, included feeling out of the loop and burned out because of the fuzzy line between “home” and “work.”

Are you part of this growing trend? What are the positives? The negatives? Let us know in the comment section, then take a look at a few thoughts from some telecommuters (and some in-the-know self-employed workers) we’ve featured here on Lifework.

PR Consultant Melissa Riche on the advantages of working from home: “It gives me flexibility and freedom to do what I want when I want. I can work early in the morning or late in the evening. I don’t get constant interruptions from other people. I control my own noise level — I can play music if I want, and I don’t have to listen to other people’s chatter. I can wear what I want and I can bring my dog to work! I can eat lunch at home and save lots of money. I don’t have to take time traveling to work, sitting in rush-hour traffic.”

Jennifer Kennard of Letterology on the obstacles: “I find the most difficult thing about working from home is balancing the work part from the living part. I love what I do, but it consumes much of my life right now. I try to take breaks to either go for a daily walk or a run or meet up with friends when I can. Some of my work is self-imposed, but [my] teaching [job] consumes a tremendous amount of time. When I’m not teaching, there is new software to learn, and maintenance to be performed. It’s a constant task having to be your own IT person, too—or MT—a misinformation technologist, in my case.”

Designer Jason Munn on the challenges he faced transitioning from working in a design firm to a home-based office: “The biggest drawback for me about working from home versus in a design firm is the lack of communication or feedback while you are working on project. More and more I miss that aspect of a studio. Dirk Fowler, another designer and friend of mine who also works from home, and I often send images of what we are working on back and forth to get feedback or advice from each other …. I think the distractions of working in a firm versus working at home probably balance out. In the long run, I feel I have less distractions. I do miss the commute to work a little bit, as I used to walk to work and that was perfect for starting the day. Now if I have any errands or anything like that, I typically do them first thing in the morning, so that becomes my commute.”

Architect Matt Gagnon on the ideal home/work space: “I think living above the store would be an ideal scenario. It is necessary to create boundaries when living and working in close proximity. The ability to lock up work and go ‘home’ would make the distinctions between work and play easier to communicate to oneself as well as to the rest of the family.”

Architect Bruce Bolander on balance and not bringing work “home”: “I have a separate studio that is about 100 feet away from my house. Every once in a while, my kids pop in after school and sometimes some of them will spend the afternoon in the studio working on their homework. But once I cross the driveway and head back into the house, I am home for the evening.”

Rob Ford of the Favourite Website Awards on scouting out the right setting: “Finding a location in the countryside, with stunning views and excellent dog walks, was crucial when we moved. Being able to relax and suck in clean air is essential for anyone working from home. It’s also highly inspirational, as walking stimulates parts of the creative side of my brain that sitting in front of the computer tries to kill.”

Technologist Chris Pirillo on having a personal office space: “It’s perfect for me in the way I’ve set it up. In a traditional office environment, you never come close to what you need, what you want, how you want it to be – no matter how much you rearrange things or add items. It’s always just an office created by someone else for you to use. For me, my space is ME — through and through.”

Designer Cameron Moll on why he needed a dedicated workspace: “My workspace is a continual work in progress. I’ve worked out of the home both times [I've been freelance], and my office has usually been tucked away in the corner of our master bedroom. This doesn’t yield a lot of room, figuratively and literally, to be all that creative. Only recently did I finally secure a room in the house as a dedicated office. I’m still defining what I’d like that space to be.

Boing Boing Founder Mark Frauenfelder on what’s great: “I don’t have to commute to work. It would kill me to have to drive on the LA freeways every day.”

Photos: Linked to their sources; top photo: office of Bruce Bolander

1. This thoughtful interview with industrial designer Yves Béhar (creator of our SAYL chair) from Tastemakers@Google on YouTube.

2. “30 Eye-Catching Interiors Featuring The Iconic Eames Lounge Chair” at Freshome.

3. This tour of Vitamin, a design and marketing firm in Baltimore (via baltimore.citybizlist.com).

4. A look at how tech is creating workplaces everywhere — and shrinking the office — from USA TODAY.

5. “The Wit and Wisdom of Alexander Girard” at Metropolis Magazine.

6. Tips for converting space into a home office from Arizona Daily Star.

7. Back in March, we featured a post on Sinuous Guitars — and we’re glad to see Greg Opatik’s Eames-inspired instruments continuing to create buzz (via Rapid Growth).

8. “The 15 Things Charles and Ray Eames Teach Us” at DARE+.

9. Huffington Post’s photos of the George Nelson exhibit opening this weekend at Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

10. Apartment Therapy’s coverage of our Alexander Girard exhibit at NeoCon 2012 (where we were very proud to be recognized with multiple awards).

Photo: Janel Laban for Apartment Therapy

That dreamy desktop wallpaper may be the first thing that catches your eye, but look closer and you’ll see an Eames Wire Chair hiding in the shadows of this home office belonging to Vero Escalante, an illustrator and textile designer in Buenos Aires. (Photo: Vero Escalante)

The Hamburg headquarters of web-based design studio The Future of Everything includes, among others, a white Eames molded plastic armchair. (Didn’t we tell you we were sensing a white Eames chair trend?) (Photo: The Future of Everything)

With six computer screens, an Aeron Chair, and lots of apparent bells and whistles, the attention-getting workspace of Stefan Didak feels extraordinarily space-age. (And since Stefan posted this photo, he’s moved — see his more recent launchpad-like space here.) (Photo: Stefan Didak)

This small-but-cheery private office belonging to “Soeren” (mysterious!) reveals a classic: an Eames molded plastic sidechair with a stacking base. (Photo: Soeren)

Atlanta’s Second Hand Studio includes a supportive Mirra Chair. (Photo: Second Hand Studio)

And the opening photo? It’s the Copenhagen-based home studio belonging to digital designer and owner of The Wall Company, Mathias Høst Normark. Get his streamlined look by choosing a wood dowel base on your favorite color of an Eames molded plastic side chair. (Opening Photo: Mathias Normark)

Elding Oscarson used an Eames molded plastic armchair with wood dowel base to complete the home office in this thin, glass-walled Swedish townhouse. (Photo: Åke E:son Lindman via eldingoscarson.com)

This office space by Amoroso Design uses an Eames molded plastic side chair with wire base to help make a minimalist-goes-glam style statement. (Photo: via amoroso-design.com)

White Eames seating takes on a vintage typewriter in the home office of Alison Williams of The Academy of Archivists. (Photo: Cara Robbins)

Several Eames molded plastic side chairs with wire bases spotted at Art Basel in Miami Beach.

DailyCandy Lead Designer Audria Brumberg gets to work with a Eames molded plastic armchair with wire base. (Photo: Audria Brumberg)

Prop stylist and interior designer Lauren Nelson’s Cambridge, Massachusetts home also contains an Eames molded plastic side chair with wire base. (Photo: Hector Sanchez and Lauren Nelson via Design*Sponge)

When two people share the same home office, however, that’s when things can get complicated. In a recent post about a George Nelson-inspired home from Apartment Therapy Tech, we showed you an office designed to easily accommodate a husband-and-wife team in Austin. Here are few more smart ways we’ve seen couples, partners, and friends tackle the same issue.

Online art gallery owner Sonja Teri’s Los Angeles apartment uses light-blue Eames Molded Plastic Side Chairs with Wire Bases on opposite sides and ends of a long desk–not too close, but not too far apart. (Photo: apartmenttherapy.com)

More side-by-side desk spaces, this time from artist Carrie Strine and graphic designer and illustrator Tim Lahan in New York City. (We’re wondering, though, why is the right Mac eight minutes behind the left?)

Two Aeron Chairs, face to face, separated only by computers screens and the real estate of a shared square desk. Brilliant–or brave? Photo: sorenrose.com

Opening photo: Freelance writer Alissa Walker and illustrator, graphic designer, and art director Keith Scharwath share a space but not a desk, giving both room to spread out but still stay in close contact.