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

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

Give us a look into your background, then tell us what you’re passionate about now, what inspires you, and where you’re going.

Growing up in Iowa offered me an appreciation of the important balance between the landscape and how we inhabit it and use it. I have a great love of the farmlands with their big skies and beautiful barns. I guess I am an architectural romantic that way. This background, mixed with graduate school at Princeton and studying with architecture greats like Liz Diller and Michael Graves, and then working for Frank Gehry, helped show me that there are non-traditional models for the practice and work that can be as innovative as the work itself. Both Graves and Gehry were some of the first world-known architects to get into mass-produced products (for companies such as Target and Tiffanys). It got me interested in thinking about an entire building as product.

It was also during the (very painful) process of looking for a home for my husband and I that I realized how difficult it is for most people to obtain a thoughtful, sustainable home. Now that it is no longer a question if people want a green home or not (they do — they want lower energy bills, lower water bills, and a healthy environment for their family), but it can’t cost any more or take any more than a non-green home. And it needs to be easy. I began in my quest for making thoughtful, sustainable homes accessible by looking at models to address those three aspects: time, cost, and ease.

Originally I did it with my previous company that was focused 100% on modular design and construction. I am proud of the work our team did to create over 56 green homes to date and do proof of concept on a very different model for architecturally designed homes.

However, now I am looking at a much larger scale. Proof of concept is no longer adequate. As we look to population projections over the next 40 years, we are going to have to provide shelter for 10 billion people by 2050. At the same time, those buildings are going to have to use dramatically less energy, water, and create much less carbon. Buildings are one of our biggest problems — but this is exciting for architects and designers because it means that through innovation, buildings can be our biggest solution.

I am spending most of my time now looking to the future role of the architect and how we can re-imagine our roles, maximize efficiencies with technology, and realize our full creative potential. I am super excited about the future and all the possibilities.

Tell us about your space. Were there any special considerations that influenced the studio’s design or set up?

Our office in San Francisco was set up with a few main goals: low budget, high comfort, a space where people can be creative, collaborate and thrive. So, we spent money on items we cared most about — mainly the workstation chairs (we chose SAYL chairs because of their comfort, individual controls, and beautiful design), a great espresso machine, and a pizza oven.

We were given various occasional tables, but I didn’t love how they looked, so I wrapped them with old architectural drawings and pages from one of my old Roman architecture bucks. It really transformed the tables into unique pieces. Other items were bought on Craigslist or were donated by friends. We also bought our kitchen counters and shelves used from a restaurant. They are all stainless steel, super functional, look great, and were low cost. We have a green wall by Woolly Pockets where we grow some herbs for the pizzas, as well as some air-filtering plants.

Knowing that people do their best work when they move frequently and sit in different situations throughout the day, we created plenty of working lounge spaces. We are all on laptops, so it is easy to work at our desk, or in one of the lounges depending on the task at hand and if we want a quiet moment or want to be working more collaboratively on a design problem. We also have a lot of books, writable walls, cork walls, and toys to keep our minds playing and encourage conversation and spark unplanned brainstorming sessions.

We bought the chairs before we did anything else – before we built out the office walls or bought any other furniture. So for the first month, we stacked the SAYL boxes to make a curved wall to define our meeting room. I’d say it worked pretty well…

Learn more about Michelle’s award-winning work and strives toward a more sustainable world at michellekaufmann.com.

Photos: Michelle Kaufmann; top portrait by Garret Curtis

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.

What year was TP1 established? What led to that point? TP1 was founded in 2005. Up until then — and for most of his career — our founding partner Jan-Nicolas Vanderveken had been a freelancer. It has been suggested that he launched TP1 because he was tired of working alone in his basement.

Along with fellow founding partner Joseph Blauer, he assembled a team of 35 strategists, designers, and techies who combine their strengths to communicate in new ways — and inspire others to do the same. TP1 stands for “Tous pour un,” which is French for the Musketeers’ motto, “All for one!”

Tell us about TP1: what you’re passionate about, what inspires you, and where you’re going. We love great design, new ideas, and cowboys. We like vintage posters, architecture, retro video games, playing Rock Band, Lego, karaoke, drinking beer, and jamming with the TP1 band (we’re music lovers, as you probably guessed). We also really like fearless clients.

Last year, we organized the agency into teams. Instead of being grouped by specialty (strategy, user experience, design, project management, and technology), TP1 is now organized into five small, multi-disciplinary teams comprising a variety of talents to deliver great products. The teams even have names: Shaolin Racoons, Apaches, Right Clique, Magic, and The Jedis. This structure greatly influenced the way we designed the space.

Tell us about that space. What do you like or dislike? What would you change? We wanted a space as creative as we are. That is, a space that could feed — and accommodate — the creativity that fuels everything we do.

First, we selected the building. We wanted an older, but well-maintained location with a lot of natural light. We found everything we wanted in the Castle Building, located in the heart of downtown Montreal. The owner is great to work with, and we even got a rooftop patio.

Despite the very tight turnaround time, the design team at Moureau Hauspy (MHAD) proved up to the challenge. The proposed design concept was resolutely transparent, with well-lit open spaces. Apart from a few closed, but glassed-in offices, the rest of the workspace is entirely open, with five distinct areas for each of our five teams.

The walls are mainly white, although a few are black slate for functional reasons (to display various projects and activities, and for brainstorming). The concrete floor has been left untouched, other than a simple tarnish. This gives the space an urban, industrial look, which is complemented by touches of wood for a warmer atmosphere.

Most of the furniture was custom designed by the MHAD team. A few of the wooden tables, including one in the conference room, were made ​​from recycled bowling alley wood. A “pixelier” — or a three-dimensional flipboard with multi-coloured sides — was installed in the entrance to the agency. It establishes a connection between the visitors’ waiting area and the rest of the workspace. Employees create original images by spinning the small cubes according to colour, making the “pixelier” a unique way to showcase our potential for innovation.

Special attention was given to lighting, both natural and artificial. Workstation lighting is avant-garde and flexible. We installed a system of pulleys, coloured cables, and sockets above each workstation, enabling each employee to adjust their own desired level of lighting.

The layout also includes a large lounge and dining room with kitchenette. Comfort was one of our priorities. And although TP1’s DNA is firmly digital, ideas are still born from old-fashioned words and images. To help keep the creativity flowing, MHAD created an “atelier” room with walls you can write on. Blackboards and white boards cover three of the walls, while the fourth is partially converted into a floor-to-ceiling cork board. The conference room is also primed for productivity with just-right ergonomics and a style that retains the building’s original cachet.

We wanted to create an open, uncluttered, minimalist, functional workspace capable of expressing our collective identity and supporting the team’s vast creative potential.

What we like the most about it? The rooftop terrasse, windows that actually open, the natural light, the “pixelier,” the fact that it can be turned into a great party space (awesome speakers and central sound system) and our amazing Simonelli Appia espresso machine.

There’s not much to dislike. After using the space for a few months, there were a few adjustments that needed to be made, such as the acoustics in one of the conference rooms and a lack of storage space for coats and boots during our Canadian winter.

You have SAYL Chairs in your space. Why did you choose them? The SAYL Chairs are probably the first thing we selected for the new office. There was a demo at MHAD, given to them by Herman Miller’s Montreal branch, and we found the chair to be extremely comfortable and surprisingly well priced. We were also impressed by the fact that the SAYL won a Core77 design award. The Google Montreal office might have even copied us — we spotted a few SAYLs in their new space!

We like that they’re very comfortable and firm, perfect as a work chair, and offer good value, an amazing warranty, and original design. We’ve recommended it to others, and even loaned a few to one of our clients while they waited for delivery of their own.

Do you have other Herman Miller pieces in the office? Eames Aluminum Group Management Chairs (mesh model for the boardroom and leather model for Jan-Nicolas’ office). Great, timeless design. There’s nothing not to like about them. We also have a couple Nelson Platform Benches and some Eames Molded Plastic Chairs.

Lastly, are there any gadgets, desk accessories, or apps that TP1 can’t do without? An orange Link task lamp by Pablo, a Tivoli Model One radio, TODO Blackboards by Erratum Design, the beer fridge (always stocked with McAuslan’s beer, a local brewery). As for apps, we’re avid Foursquare users (don’t forget to check in when you visit). And post-its!

Click here to see a video on TP1’s move into this relatively new space in October 2011.

Photos: Cindy Boyce

This new SAYL recently became part of the London-based workspace of interiors stylist, writer, and publicist Kate Baxter of the blog Fabric of My Life — and its new owner was sold on its benefits right from the start. Kate explains: “…the very first time I sat down to work in it, I was the most comfortable I’ve ever been sitting at my desk.” (Photo: Kate Baxter)

TreeHugger design editor Lloyd Atler doesn’t use office seating — he instead opts for a standing desk — but his wife Emma does, and she reviewed this SAYL chair for him on the eco-focused website.

“There are so many ways to adjust it that it’s quite easy to make it fit you properly,” Emma says. “You can get your back right up against the mesh for support and it’s comfortable enough to sit in all day.” The only downside? “The cat loves it too, and I occasionally have to wrestle him out of it to get my work done.” (Photo: Emma Alter / TreeHugger)

She’s a fashion model by trade, so Ruth Crilly has to have good posture to make a living. But it wasn’t until the arrival of her SAYL chair — and instruction for adjusting it to fit her — that she learned how to not slouch off the runway, too.

“With the back tilted forward but set to ‘free float’ it’s like having continuous, gentle support for your back, neck and shoulders — you’re right where you need to be, right over the desk,” she states. “But instead of slouching your back makes contact with the chair back, guiding it into a long, upright position!” It’s helped Ruth stay comfortable during long days sitting in front of a computer and writing for her website, A Model Recommends. “I can’t tell you what a difference this is making,” she says. (Photo: Ruth Crilly / A Model Recommends)

See how other SAYL owners rate this chair and leave your own review now at store.hermanmiller.com.

1. Could you work in an outdoor office? (via Co.Design)

2.  A cartoon by Charles and Ray Eames linking creativity, innovation, and data at The Atlantic.

3. 6 devices you need to update in your home office (via Apartment Therapy).

4. Details on the Getty Conservation Institute’s initiative to conserve modern architecture at The Architect’s Newspaper.

5. The Redesdale Residence designed by Space International in Los Angeles (via Contemporist).

6. “The War Against Sixties Architecture” at Design Observer.

7. The Mid-Century Mundane blog.

8. The offices of Russian IT company Yandex (check out those Setu and SAYL Chairs) featured at Office Snapshots.

9. More things to do during New York’s Design Week from Core77.

10. An interesting way to spend a little time today? Search “HermanMiller” on searchinstagram.com (or just click here).

For more from Yves on SAYL check out this week’s post over on Discover.

But let’s listen to the designer himself. Below is the interview Behar did in Milan this year with Dezeen magazine for their Dezeenscreen designer series.

Interview: Sayl chair by Yves Bahar from Dezeen on Vimeo.

Above: Core 77 did a great interview with Herman Miller’s Jack Schreur and Yves Behar on the evolution of SAYL.

“I was born and raised in México city. I studied Psychology and had my private practice for a while. Since 2008 I have owned a small independent publisher for children’s books, the books are written by specialists and I put much effort in finding great illustrators so the illustrations look artistic and creative that way not only the kids can enjoy the books but the adults too. The publisher´s name is Sana Colita de Rana.

I recently moved to Dallas, TX with my husband. I continue with the publisher work but since I don´t have an office I use the kitchen/dining room which works out just fine…so far.

I am huge fan of desing objetcs and furniture. I spend my weekends looking for vintage or designs stores and reading desing magazines or looking at architectural books. Everytime I buy something, anything like a vintage radio, a high-end  lamp,  or a great sidetable or chair I feel it´s just for my collection, the same way when little girl I used to collect stickers or cool pencils.”

You can follow Herman Miller on Twitter here.

Among the many projects Hello has worked on with Herman Miller is the Design For You competition.You can read Hello’s post on the competition here. And, of course, they are a huge part of our new online store. I’ll be posting more about what went into getting the store off the ground including some very cool images of the shoots that take us to iconic houses all over Los Angeles.

We’ve been hinting for a while now about a new design for Herman Miller by Yves Behar. It has finally arrived. Yves’ SAYL chair. Dexigner has jumped up and got the first interview – check it out here. Julia Bauer, who writes for The Grand Rapids Press also gave it a shout out. I have a feeling there’s going to be a lot of interest in this rather beautiful piece of design.