the perfect office space

I've been having an affair. It's about time I own up to this before it gets too out of hand. It's been going on for years now and I sometimes feel like its spiraled way out of control. 

I am a stationery fiend. There I said it. Lock me up and throw away the key.

Ok, ok so it isn't really a big issue and I don't think I've hurt anyone along the way (at least I don't think I have) but it's certainly something I am pretty wild about. So the moment I got an opportunity to go to Ikea and perv over the home office spaces- sleek and oozing in Scandinavian cool- I leapt at the chance. It also made me think, I need to stop being selfish and share with you my idea of the perfect home office space, how to organise that desk of your's and what is necessary and what isn't. So here goes...

I like nothing more than crisp lines, great lighting and a clean work surface. My motto is, a tidy desk, a tidy mind. Admittedly I'm quite anal when it comes to tidying desks, rooms, whatever, but I like to think it helps keep me organised in an otherwise fairly chaotic world. So the effortlessness of the very Swedish Ikea is like a playground to me. As soon as I entered the store I felt like I was in a race of who could find the best things to create the perfect space. This time, it was the office that needed sorting. 

Here are a few mock ups that took my fancy (sorry for the awful, awful red tags hanging everywhere):

    

                  

   

Let's start with your space. It's small? It's facing a window? It's on a corner? It's in a cupboard? Oh baby, it's so workable. 

                    

                 

    

                 

Floor to ceiling cupboards are going to be your saviour, you get a ridiculous amount of storage space with these bad boys. I love the green cupboard desk too- at the end of a busy day you'll simply close the door and that's it, you're done until tomorrow's nine to five. Noone will know what lies behind it. Sneaky. 

You'll notice most of these office spaces are neutral, I prefer working with light colours (mostly white), it keeps me calm and gives me a cool head. Plus if you go for the pale wood, like beech, you're going to be bang on trend this season. Hurrah! Check out this little idea:

   

Should you be working away until the early hours, here are some excellent hanging lights and table lamp:

  

  

Need some discreet storage jars, with a hint of textured cool? 

  

How about something to perch that bottom of yours on? 

   

And something to watch the last few minutes tick by? 

  

I'm currently having a love fest with this work space. I'll seduce her one day.

  

Here's hoping these ideas will help you beaver away and take away the stress of a messy mind. 

L.