Neighborhood Notes

Everyone loves the idea of working from home. Although the thought of setting your own hours, working in your PJ's, having the world's best boss and eliminating that pesky commute is incredibly alluring—the reality is that working at home is incredibly difficult.

Get in the Zone

First things first: It's important to do a little checking and make sure that your home office meets local zoning requirements. There are reasons for residential and commercial zoning—it's not always possible to run your business out of your home. Your business can impact the traffic, parking and livability of your neighborhood. An upset neighbor, Homeowners Association or Neighborhood Association will definitely dampen your productivity.

In Portland, the City recognizes two types of businesses that are suitable for residential zones:

• Type A. A Type A home occupation is one where residents use their home as a place of work; however, no employees or customers/clients come to the site. Examples include artists, crafts people, writers, and consultants. No permit is required.

• Type B. A Type B home occupation is one where the residents use their home as a place of work, and either one non-resident employee (business partner, co-owner, or other person affiliated with the business who does not reside at the site) works at the site OR up to eight customers/clients per day come to the site. A home occupation permit is required.

Location, Location, Location

This popular real estate mantra is also applicable to your home office. Your home can provide a whole new set of distractions—television, snacks, the garden, friends, neighbors and more—it's important to know your weaknesses. If working at the kitchen table is keeping you on top of your household chores, but distracting you from work, it's time for a change of scenery.

Size Does Matter

Get yourself a large work surface. The office itself can be small, but surface area is vital to your success. Your desk should be able to keep all of the necessities within reach, but also allow you a little "elbow room" to spread out when required. Keep this surface as clean as possible. 

Set the Right Tone

A professional work environment isn't just for clients—it's for you too! An organized and attractive work space can boost your productivity, because you'll enjoy working there. Getting the right tools for the job is important, but don't skimp on the things that inspire your creativity.

Eliminate Distractions 

As much as we love it, Technology isn't always our friend. Here are a few tips that have increased productivity in our office:

• Check email several times during the work day. Don't leave your email program open. The "ding" of new mail (and other indicators) makes it all too easy (and tempting) to check it repeatedly.

• Turn off your phone. Check voicemail several times during the day. 

• Close your web browser, so you won't be tempted to surf, tweet, update your status on Facebook, or anything else that can distract you from your work.

Create Firm Boundaries

This is a tough one. There is a general misperception that if you work at home, you don't have a real job. Although it's not intentional, many folks simply don't understand that working at home involves deadlines, load-balancing and paperwork—just like a traditional work environment. Being home is often confused with being available. It's not uncommon for friends, neighbors and even clients to assume that you're available to help them, simply because you're at home. Bad boundaries kill productivity.

• Learn to say "no" and feel good about it. Guilt sucks!

• Return calls and emails that aren't work-related during non-work hours.

• Unless you're expecting a client or delivery, don't answer the door.

Transition Zone 

When you work from home, your commute to and from work is eliminated. Unfortunately, so is the transition time. If you need help getting into the right headspace, try taking a walk before or after office hours. This creates a nice buffer between personal time and work time, even though they're spent in the same place.

  Alex Wijnen is the most organized and efficient freelancer that I know. It's no coincidence that her home office is incredible. We spoke with Alex about her office, its design and the impact on her productivity. Enjoy!

 

After a while, I realized that I needed a larger work space and decided to remodel a portion of our basement. Since budget did not allow for any structural changes, I spent hours sketching floor plans to figure out how my office would function at its best within the existing space constraints.

The resulting space is one of my favorite rooms in our house! Because the basement tends to be dark, I kept the paint color very light (white and putty) while using antique furniture pieces to add warmth. The white bead board respects the age of our house while the 4" ledge creates the perfect display spots for in-progress work as well as various collections. And a series of different storage pieces (built-in cabinet, shelves, and buffets) keep my office beautifully organized.

When I sat down to design my new office, I considered the various ways I wanted my new office to function. Because I tend to spread out while I work, I needed a desk that would accommodate a large monitor and keyboard as well as general office must-haves (pencil cup, stapler, rolodex, day planner) while still allowing enough elbow room to spread out the contents of a typical job ticket. What I ended up with was an old work table on casters that came from a shirt factory back East—it's perfect!

I also needed plenty of storage for design samples, paper swatch books, and reference materials. The solution was a combination of built-in shelves and cabinets, an old side board that I stripped and restored, and a sleek, modern buffet from Ikea. A vintage tea cart holds my printer, scanner, and current job tickets while an old kitchen cabinet houses all the various trade publications that hit my mail box.

And finally, I needed a couple of comfortable chairs so I could meet with clients.

Does working from home pose any different distractions or challenges than a traditional office? If so, what are they and how did you address them?

I love working from home! While there are certainly distractions (dirty dishes in the sink, dogs who want attention, and the occasional unwanted solicitor), I actually stay very focused. For one, I'm very driven and deadline-oriented. If I know I have to get a project out the door, I don't stop until it's done. For another, working in a basement without much natural light often leaves me with a sense of timelessness. I don't really know whether it's a gorgeous day that just beckons for a walk—and I'm quite thankful for that!

How does your office design contribute to your success?

Because I love my work space, I love going to work. Loving what I do and where I do it definitely translates into better work for my clients. Plus, being self-employed and working from home can sometimes lead to certain assumptions and first impressions among potential clients (like you're not really a professional, you must not be able to get a real job, you probably play hooky a lot). Having a nice, professional office where I can meet with clients, quickly pull relevant work samples, and point to my monitor to share work in progress definitely helps set the right tone when trying to land a new client.

 What was the style inspiration for your office?

Since I work from home, it was very important that my new office fit in with the rest of our house, a 1939 English Tudor. I love antiques and had a blast hunting down the perfect pieces of furniture. I then mixed it up with a few colorful Angela Adams rugs, a couple of new chairs from Dania and some sleek pieces from Ikea. Staying within a basic color palette of white, putty and wood tones with accents of chartreuse (my company's corporate color) helped tie the whole space together.

What advice would you give folks who want to work from home? How can they create an office space that works for them, instead of against them? What are the critical starting points? And, can this be cost effective?

My advice would be to first figure out whether you can handle the freedom and distractions that come with working from home. Do you have the self-discipline to "go to work" even if you're office is just down the hall from your bedroom? Can you stay focused on your work rather than be pulled away to take care of household chores or to watch TV? If the answer is yes, then ideally find a space in your home that can be your office 100% of the time (working at your kitchen table might be too distracting and unorganized if you have to constantly pack away your office at the end of the day). And if you're just starting out, by all means reuse and repurpose furniture and storage pieces that you already have. Then try to pull it all together visually with a fresh coat of paint on the walls (and maybe even your furniture).

Number one on the list is Ikea. It's only 10 minutes from our house so I can go during the week and avoid the crowds. I also like Dania for a slightly more traditional twist on major furniture pieces. The Container Store at Bridgeport Village is a great place to find storage solutions (as well as the cheapest packing peanuts I've found in town!) And finally, I love hitting all the antique malls and the Portland Antique Expo for anything from major furniture pieces to small accessories. It's fun to find new uses for old things—a collection of vintage marmalade jars holds pens, scissors and paper clips; a metal brief case now houses blank CDs; and a square pottery vase corrals all my incoming mail.