How long have you worked from home? And where is home? I’ve worked from home for almost five years and have called home both Los Angeles and, now, the Midwest. I currently live in Fort Wayne, IN in a house I’m renovating with my husband.

When you set up your home office what did you have to keep in mind? Were there any particular obstacles to overcome? For my home office, I really just wanted a casual environment in which I was surrounded by things I love. One important part of our office is our bench seating for guests and/or our dogs. Our pups are a huge part of our lives and I love watching them nap throughout the day.

In terms of obstacles, I have dozens and dozens of paintings and mixed media pieces I love to display. Rather than create an expensive framed gallery wall, my husband and I crafted an art shelf to hold our favorite pieces. It’s a much more affordable solution and I love that the shelf means each piece can be displayed temporarily and switched out every few months.

Describe your style? How would you define your aesthetic? My style changes super often, but I’d say it’s currently best described as casual and eclectic with a fairly Swedish slant. I’m a huge fan of creating spaces that inspire, yet calm the mind.

How do you keep your work space organized? Hidden storage! I keep a giant credenza (pictured below) for mailing supplies, stationery and miscellaneous paperwork. For open storage, I like to keep wire baskets, ball jars and vintage bowls to hold magazines and miscellaneous office supplies.

Is there any piece of home office furniture you covet right now? I’ve been craving a Uten.silo (white!) for nearly a year now. Organized chaos is my favorite form of storage. I’m also on the hunt for a tall industrial storage cart to display my collection of design books. Right now they’re gathering dust in our credenza!

What desk accessory can’t you do without? My desktop calendar! I use Google Calendar most of the time, but I like having a desktop calendar for travel arrangements. I have eight speaking engagements in the next five weeks, so it’s important I stay on top of my dates both in print and online.

What would you change about your work space? Nothing at all; it’s completely perfect for me. I’ve even installed a paper towel holder underneath my desktop for frequent desktop lunch spills!

What inspires you? Art, weather, wise women, history and success stories. Coffee’s pretty high up there, as well.

How long have you worked from home? And where is home? I’ve been a freelance writer for about five years. Up until recently that meant I worked on articles for the New York Times, ReadyMade, and Unplggd from my apartment in Brooklyn, NY, but this past January my husband and I moved to Pacific Grove, CA. We converted our apartment’s second bedroom into an office space we share. I run the pet blog Pawesome out of here.

Describe your style? How would you define your aesthetic? Giant Robot meets Mollusk surf shop. My husband and I have very different aesthetics that thankfully really balance each other out. His side of the office is minimal, with just the bare essentials (and the occasional surfboard leaning against the wall) while my side is a collector’s space. I like to curate little exhibitions filled with art, tchotchkes, and personal memories. We have a mix of new, old, budget, and expensive pieces in the office. My side is much more budget friendly, with both vintage and Ikea pieces.

How do you keep your office organized? I’m thinking here of the physical space but also your computer. Are there any particular programs you find really useful? Honestly, I never feel like the office is organized, but I have a few pieces that help keep the chaos in check. One is my Ikea Helmer drawer unit. Its six drawers are nice and small so I can easily divide items up to make it easier to find them later. The other is my Poketo planner. I’ve used programs like Google Calendar and iCal, but I get too distracted when I’m on the computer to remember to plug in appointments and to do lists. It’s much easier for me to take this little datebook to bed and plan things out for the following day, week, month. Plus it has all these extra sections in it for organizing ideas and finances. When I’m at the computer, as I mentioned before, I get distracted very easily so I’ve found the Instapaper plugin for FireFox (also available for Safari) to be really helpful to keep track of sites, blog posts, and products that have peaked my interest. It’s the equivalent of folding a dog ear in a magazine, but in this case, all your folded pages are on one site.

When you were designing your home office what did you keep in mind? If I can’t spend my days outside, I want to at least feel like I am. We have these beautiful windows that overlook the giant ferns growing in our yard, so we decided to create an office layout that allowed our desks to be as close to that as possible, while not creating too big of a glare on our glossy screens. [Bruce's desk is below]

Is there any piece of home office furniture you covet? My husband’s Herman Miller Embody chair. While I love my little vintage blue chair, it does not do a body good.

What is a desk accessory you can’t do without? Apple’s Magic Mouse. It boggles my mind how Apple was able to build a multifunctional mouse within such a basic form factor.

What would you change about your own workspace? I’d love to figure out a visually appealing way to hide all the cables, wires and modems/routers on our floors. Until we own though, I don’t want to invest anymore in the space.

What do you most love about your space? Having my best friend working across from me.

What inspires you? All of the amazing work I learn about by reading the web. When I see other people being creative, it motivates me to produce great work.

What do you listen to while you work? For years, I’ve listened to the same few jazz albums over and over at work. These particular time-tested selections inspire and focus me because they don’t have lyrics, they’re smooth as silk, and they have just the right energy to stir clear, creative productive work.

How do you listen? Though the little white Apple headphones on my trusty black MacBook, via iTunes.

Do you have any favorite music websites/providers? Shazam, which identifies almost any song when you hold up your cell phone, is a true miracle of our age. So is Pandora. I’m a big fan of Hear Music’s bricks-and-mortar locations and also like the Genius Recommendations on iTunes.

Does music influence your work? Yes. I learned to play the mandolin as an adult and got a deep appreciation for acoustic American hillbilly music along the way. Click here for the essay I wrote on the subject for Reader’s Digest.

Where do you find music recommendations? My brother has an ear for the obscure and the funky. My friend Larry opens my eyes to African soul. I often ask people I interview—including musicians—what their go-to iPod tunes are.

What song or artist best represents the work you create? Perhaps Louis Armstrong. He played the spectrum from silly pop to complicated jazz to deep blues. That’s roughly the territory I cover as a writer.

DAVID’S PLAYLIST:

Lionel Hampton – Mostly Blues

Bye Bye Blues

Someday My Prince Will Come

Take the “A” Train

Blues for Jazz Beaux

Walkin’ Uptown

Honeysuckle Rose

Mostly Blues

Limehouse Blues

Gone With the Wind

Ray Charles – Blues + Jazz, Disc 2

The Man I Love

Music, Music, Music

I Surrender Dear

Hornful Soul

Ain’t Misbehavin’

Doodlin’

Sweet Sixteen Bars

Undecided

Rockhouse, Parts 1 & 2

X-Ray Blues

Love On My Mind

Fathead

Bill for Bennie

Hard Times

Willow Weep For Me

The Spirit-Feel

Stephane Grappelli – The Compact Jazz Collection

Djangology

I’m Coming Virginia

Misty

Shine

Blues for Django and Stephane

Chicago

Makin’ Whoopee

Hot Lips

Minor Swing

This Can’t Be Love

Star Eyes

It Don’t Mean a Thing

Oriental Shuffle

My Heart Stood Still

Afternoon in Paris

Images: David Hochman