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Are you a freelancer? Here’s how you can create your dream home office
Working at a desk took a new meaning for senior writer and editor Chinmayee Manjunath when she went freelance a few years ago. Discover how she anchors her life to her desk, along with our home interior styling ideas needed to personalise a workspace
I have always had a desk.
As a family, we moved homes a lot, shifting across cities and countries nearly every year. As a shy, anxious child, my room was my sanctuary in each of the houses where I lived. And at the heart of every room was my desk.
When I was very little, it was usually a low table on which my schoolbooks were stacked, and where I did my homework or sat down to draw. As I grew older, my parents would let me pick a desk of my own; I tended to choose an oversized one with lots of storage. It was the place at which I preferred to study and write; and read as well—chair pushed back, feet up on the table, with Alanis Morissette playing in the background. I almost always had a corkboard on the wall in front of it, covered with photographs, postcards and bits of text from poems or books. I would stash journals filled with teenage angst in drawers. For decades, I collected letters and birthday cards from friends in IKEA boxes that I stacked under the table.
My desk has always been the place at which to make sense of the world, and of myself.
So, in 2013, when I made the decision to work for myself, and from home, having a workspace was the most important thing. Luckily, we were renting a flat that had a built-in desk in the bedroom. It had clearly been made for a teenager—I never managed to fully erase the Spiderman stickers from the insides of its cabinet doors—but it would do for me.
Are you a freelancer? Here’s how you can create your dream home office Your workspace at home is where you spend a chunk of your day, so make sure it is arranged exactly the way you like it, clear of unnecessary clutter and with a space for everything you might need. Personalise it with things you love to make it your own.
How harmonious décor can make your workspace a place of calm
After a decade working in newsrooms in which desks are not always sacrosanct, having my own workspace in my house felt like a little piece of heaven. When we moved homes after two years, I decided to experiment with the idea of not restricting myself to a corner of the house. I chose, instead, to work at the dining table or turn a tall end table into a makeshift desk in the living room for some months, but I missed having the fulcrum of a workspace. I bought a desk made of dark wood and created my little sanctuary by the bedroom window. Now, on the verge of moving again, I find myself trying to identify a workspace in the flats we see while house-hunting. I don’t mind the process of moving house—it presents an opportunity to start over—but I have to be anchored by my desk.
Now, six years after I began working for myself, these are the principles I follow when I make a corner of my home into a workspace:
- Choose a spot that gets as much natural light as possible. I always prefer working by a window. If the desk is large enough, a lamp is a good idea.
- Make the space pretty. Fresh flowers are a necessity for me; I keep it simple—sometimes with just a posy of desi gulabs or hibiscus. Plants—especially succulents or money plants—are good ways of adding a bit of freshness too. Small totems are lovely, as are pieces of art or posters on the wall.
- Treat your workspace as sacred. I journal at my desk every morning. I start and end my workday with a quick round of meditation. On my desk is a little plate on which I keep crystals—malachite, black obsidian and citrine are my preferred combination right now. Have on hand whatever makes you feel grounded and steady.
- Keep it as organised and neat as you can. I rely on boxes and folders for this. Once a month, I declutter.
- Create rituals and routines that help you draw boundaries between work and life. When you work from home, this can be tricky, especially in a city like Mumbai where flats are not very large; the room in which I work is also where I conduct much of my life. So, I decide what time to start work every day and don’t use my desk before that. It is not a resting place for my handbag or keys. I try not to fling things onto my chair. And, in that spirit, when I am done with work every day, I switch off my laptop, clean up my desk, decide what time to start work the next morning and leave the room for a bit.
Check out These Gorgeous Furnishings for a bit of Workspace Inspiration
If you’re a freelancer who makes do with whatever space she can find—bed space, floor space, ‘laptop literally on your lap’ space—to get work done at home, it’s time you invested in a good desk. Scroll down for everything you need to add a personal touch to your working space at home.
Chinmayee Manjunath is a content coach and book sherpa, who helps people tell a better story and master the mix of content and commerce.
