I've been struggling with my workspace lately. In fact, I've been struggling with it since I left the corporate world in '04 and began working from home more, but lately, it's been getting on my nerves.I'm a little out of the ordinary, because I do a myriad of things, and I need a workspace that is flexible and can conform to the different kinds of tasks I have to work on.
- For my photography, I need to be able to darken the room so that my perception of color isn't deceived by stray light sources. Digital darkrooms don't have to be as dark as film darkrooms, but you do have to calibrate your eyes and your equipment properly. For this reason, my monitor has to be positioned to minimize glare, which it should be anyway for ergonomic reasons.
- For my Internet and Web related work, I need desk space and several monitors. Right now, I have two, but it would be nice to have three, and a desk that accomodates them ergonomically, while still giving me enough actual desk space to work with besides.
- When I'm dealing with gear, photographic, computer or otherwise, I need a ton of table space, separate from my desk (or main computer) space, preferably wired conveniently for power and ethernet. I'm the kind of guy who likes to spread out when I'm sorting, organizing, doing research, assembling my underwater camera housings or disassembling gear. There never seems to be enough table space. There's always the dining table, when my wife isn't using it, or when we're not expecting guests, but it's not the sort of thing I can safely leave neat piles of things on and expect them to be where I left them, especially with two cats in the family.
- Then there's storage. Every square inch of floor space, closet space and shelf space is packed with something, and I have a bunch of plastic organizer drawers stacked all over the place. Different vocations and hobbies require different kinds of stuff.
Then there's the question of ergonomics. When I worked at Netscape, we had a choice of having our desks at the normal height or set higher, so we could work standing up if we wanted. Many people with bad backs swore by the latter, though I never tried it myself. I don't know if that would work for me at all, but the idea of being able to work standing up sounds like it might have its conveniences, depending on the project or the state of my back (which isn't great).
This isn't something I'm willing to do a quick fix on, and I don't have the design sense or knowledge of what's available on the market to be able to figure it out myself, and I don't know any designers who really understand what I'm getting at, or how picky I really am.
I was inspired by an article I saw about creative workspaces and it got me thinking that it might be time I dug in and tried to learn a little about what I might be able to do to get closer to a workspace I can live with.
Anyone out there have a workspace story to tell?
3 comments:
Hey Peter,
Pretty busy multitasking..:) One thing I have learned is to invest in a good chair. I know a good ergonomic chair could cost a few thousand dollars, and I haven't spent in one myself, but when the money will com in, it is on my top priority list.
I had kind of the same problem, being a geek and all, always fixing PC's and building. I went to Ikea, and invest in a good and large workstation table. It's modular, so I can split it if I wanted.
And I had an old brown desk, which matched the desks I bought. So on that desk, 2 printers, and printing related objects are located.
I measured my room, and went to see the IKEA guy, and he helped me put together pieces. But now, they have this software on their site that you can design your room and put the products in it.
This is the desk system:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/workspaces/11722/
Bought one of these, plus some boxes to put all the computer stuff in it:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60071358
This would be great for the computer section with all the parts.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20116071
I ended up paying more than thousand dollar for it, but for the past year, it worked out great for me. I have redecorated couple of times because a new PC arrived, and having 3 PC's side by side, wasn't working out, so I detached one table and remote use it.
By the way, I started this new storage system: if I don't use anything in my room for more than 6 months, I'll put them in a box, label it, and it moves down to the basement. (Just in case:) If another 6 months goes by, and still haven't been used, it will be donated to charities, or friends...!
Hope it helps...if you need designing your room, I'd be glad to help...:)
Thanks Reza. Good to know I'm not the only one with this quandary.
Aloha Peter
The way I see it is you have 2 main issues; design and assembly/construction, Everything else falls into place after that.
Obviously the design is strictly dictated by your wants and needs. It's the old form or function dilemma, and you need to let function rule.
I recommend making a detailed list of your wants and needs as a starting point. Once these are spelled out it will automatically direct the design.
Once that is done, I (or anyone) can start using a simple design program to come up with some ideas. Of course we would need the dimensions and layout of the existing space.
The assembly or construction is the easy part(for me anyways), and once again you have a couple of choices.
The first is to go custom, which means that everything is fabricated to be exactly the way you want it. This option may be cost prohibitive due to today's labor and material prices, and/or personal budget.
The second is to go with components as Reza suggested. I still believe that with some off the shelf components from the box stores and a few custom elements we can custom tailor an efficient work space. You may also be suprised at how at how good it will also look when completed.
The lighting issues are easily dealt with after a final design is determined.
The actual time to construct something like this will vary from as 2-5 days depending on the final design.
I trust that this helps.
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