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!

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.

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

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

What do you listen to while you work? We’re all over the place when it comes to listening favorites — from Grimes to Beach House to Philip Glass to Bhagavan Das chants to Circle to Wolves in the Throne Room to Rhett Miller to Robyn. Everyone listens to something different. Most people are constantly in headphones while some people can’t be bothered to think about music at all. When we listen as a group we can really binge on a particular artist. Recently, we went a week listening exclusively to Kid Cudi.

How do you listen? Headphones — mostly one ear on, one ear off. If music is playing out of someone’s computer speakers anyone has the right to ask for it to be turned off without judgment if they are really trying to focus.

Do you have any favorite music websites/providers? Spotify, Rdio, Pitchfork, and Fader, among others. And when traveling, Oh/My/Rockness. [Additionally, Fuzzco mentions great music sources like Said The Gramophone, MBV Music, Urban Outfitters Music Mondays, Cllct.com, and Largehearted Boy.]

Does music influence your work? A lot of us got into design because of music, but I can’t say it has an influence on a day-to-day basis.

Where do you find music recommendations? Who influences your musical taste? Tiny Mix Tapes, Just Outside, Pitchfork, Fader, The Wire, Twitter, Tumblr, microphones in the trees, and friends.

What song or artist best represents the work you create? Kevin Blechdom or Mulatu Astatke.

Ideal place to sit and listen to your playlist: We really do love the Eames Aluminum Group Executive Chair — because it totally recreates the Fuzzco experience. These are the seats we work in and where we listen to our own music.

FUZZCO’S PLAYLIST:

1. The Devil’s Dream, Hobart Smith
2. Are You From Dixie?, John Fahey
3. Kwantu, George Sibanda
4. Uruku Tumi Gushiku, Takashi Hirayasu
5. A Promise to Keep, Brandi Carlile
6. The Swimming Song, Loudon Wainwright III
7. Criminals, The Tallest Man on Earth
8. Rappahanock River Rag, Jack Rose
9. Big Chief, Professor Longhair
10. I Need a Dollar, Aloe Blacc
11. Tighten Up, The Black Keys

Photos: Fuzzco

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

For the past few weeks Susan Lyons, our Materials Creative Director, has covered Herman Miller’s five material design principles over on our Discover blog. We’ve heard about honesty, utility, economy, pleasure, and possibility and the role these principles play in helping us choose the materials for our designs.

One principle is particularly relevant to Lifework readers: It’s the idea of utility. Lyons talks about utility in connection to Embody – a chair that finds its way into many a home office. “When we talk about material utility,” Lyons says, “what we really mean is that we use materials to solve problems.”

To hear Lyons talk about the rest of the principles simply follow these links: honesty, economy, pleasure, possibility.

To find a home office chair check out our tips on how to choose the right one for you. (And FYI – we’re now shipping our most popular office chairs for $29. Read all about that here.)

The brothers are also part of the excellent Phaidon video interview series which I have included below. In this short clip they talk about their designs, their responsibilities and the poetic quality of a well-made object. We also get a great peek into their Paris-based workspace where the interview was shot.