Stylish creatives on working from home
Here at House & Garden, we're all deeply interested in how to work from home without losing your mind during this strange time. We've been thinking about stylish home offices, how to change your Zoom background to something inspiring, and recipes to make the most of our kitchen stores. But some people seem to do it effortlessly. We caught up with other creatives stuck at home during the lockdown to see just how they do it.
1/9Merlin Wright, Design Director at British Standard and Plain English
I work at the end of the sitting room. I have my late grandmother's teak desk and quite a few of her books and objects. The bookcase houses my design books and my maritime collection to help me dream. I don't like to be too isolated so this was tucked away yet in the centre of the house. Also, there is a hinged window to the kitchen so I can request, and occasionally receive, a cup of tea.
2/9My family has a daily routine on a whiteboard: we start with a daily conference where we plan the day including. a daily walk (keeping safe distance etc.) and everyone’s' tasks and chores. Cooking has been quite basic so far as we've been so tired and busy. We'll try to be more ambitious as we get used to the crisis but if the shops are empty we may have to eat the squirrels and huge fat pigeons that loiter in our garden.
3/9Georgia Spray, founder of Partnership Editions
I work from a home office - I am lucky to have a view of the garden which is finally coming into bloom. I wake up at 7 and go for a run on Hackney Downs. I then make sure to always get properly dressed for work as this gets me in the right mental place for a productive day. I'm at my desk by 9 and tend to break for a lunch with my husband at 1 for half an hour - we try and make an effort to sit down away from our computers and chat.
In the evening we wind down with a glass of wine. We've found some great delivery services from local wine makers and as we aren't going out and spending money elsewhere, we are trying to drink nicer wine from independent makers and cook better meals.
4/9I've been using this period as an opportunity to re-hang some of the art in my home and try pieces out in different rooms. It gives the house a refresh and makes you look at the works in a new light. For those who are looking for something to keep them inspired at this time, stay tuned for virtual life drawing classes with the Partnership Editions artists.
5/9Victoria and Emily Ceraudo - founders of Ceraudo
We have 3 young children between us, so where we work completely depends on where the kids needs to be, now that we're all at home together. When the kids are napping or our husbands take over for stints, we quickly plug in our headphones and get our heads down.
We're all being conscious to use every last scrap and get creative with using ingredients from the cupboard rather than always fresh meat & veg. Also, if we do cook meat or fish, we make sure the leftovers can be made into a meal themselves. "For example," says Victoria, "my husband cooked a leg of lamb that we had for Sunday lunch and the leftover meat was shredded and used in a tomato ragu pasta."
6/9We're doing a few projects around the house as well; Emily is taking it back to the 1990s with some Annie Sloan paint and maybe a bit of stencilling! Victoria is pulling decoration schemes together: "Staying indoors all day just makes me think about all the things I want to change in our interior, and the things I want to buy."
7/9Lisa Mehydene - founder of edit58
I love working from this spot as when I look up I see directly out of our front window into our small front courtyard area. We are lucky to have floor to ceiling windows in this room, so lots of light is thrown in and it’s a calming view of nature outside. This table (whether used for work or not) always has a vase of flowers or a bowl with bulbs. I have a lot of dried flowers, so when we can’t get out to refresh the flowers, I’ll put the dried flowers here.
I make sure the room is tidy and pulled together, otherwise I find I can’t relax. I light a scented candle and put my earphones on with a podcast. And there’s always a trusty cup of tea alongside me.
8/9Harriette Tebbutt - Managing Director, Kitten Grayson Flowers
I work at the kitchen table - I like to be near the kettle for copious hot drinks! I wake up, have a little tidy up in the kitchen from the night before, feed our cat Margot and put the kettle on. The light moves from the front to the back of the house as the day goes on so it gradually gets more natural light. I can look out into the garden from here and I’m surrounded by lots of my house plants.
9/9I always have background music, Radio Fip is a favourite. I try to keep light natural or have the fairy lights on. A pot of herbal tea is a must, Yogi tea is my favourite as they write little affirmations on the tea bag labels.
We’ve just painted the chimney breast in our lounge and next on our list is this the kitchen wall currently covered with postcards. We’re testing some green paint samples this week, I have always wanted to paint this kitchen green to bring the outside in and flow through to the outdoors.
