When I downsized my design studio / office last year, to move it back home, I had no idea how my smaller, but more efficient space would become so useful for me this year!
I mean, no one could imagine what is happening now.
When I downsized, I was going through health issues with my mother and mother-in-law, both then needing to move out of their homes into places with managed care. My husband retired (although he went back to work part-time after a few months) and I felt the need to shed the responsibility of having an office / studio space outside my home with employees.
I just really needed more flexibility in my life and less overhead for my business.
So, my husband agreed to give up a section of the third bay of our garage and help me get a studio built out there for my work. I shared the beginnings of the build-out in this post.
I’ve mentioned a bit about it here and there in blogposts and in my Instagram stories, but I'm going to share the full reveal here today and how it is working for us now.
Garage bay cleaned out for new studio
New studio office framed out and ready for electrical and insulation.
I’m also linking up to 3 other design bloggers who are sharing their lovely and efficient home offices, at the bottom of this post.
My studio is not mind-blowing “designer office” material, believe me. :-)
I’m not one to build out a showplace office or a showroom for my work. I have always tended to be a bit messy with samples and papers and notes. I’m one that if I can’t see something I need to do, I will forget it. :-)
Plus, I just love being in a sample room and having all these fabulous materials at my fingertips.
That’s why I have always opted for more of a working design studio vibe rather than a plush, perfectly appointed and accessorized luxurious office.
This was my ideal studio and office that I had for seven years, below. (I had one the year prior, in another space that I split with another industry pro.)
I loved this long countertop in my studio I had for seven years, that filled with light from the windows every day. We laid all our projects out along this counter in big baskets and it worked beautifully.
After seven years, with a bad time for the oil business in Texas and the economy hurting around here, I realized I needed to step it down a bit. I moved to another office space down the street for two years.
When that lease was up last year, I decided I was ready to take it back to my home.
This was where I downsized and stayed for 2 years. It was a perfect step down, in “we work” type of building.
So how is my new studio / office space working for me now?
Beautifully.
Especially since the quarantine, my husband and I both have been working from home.
It’s funny, but I still use my home office inside my home, that I redid about 5 years ago, quite a lot.
This is a quiet, comfy spot and I find I slip in here in the early mornings now, to write and create content for this blog. I can keep going for quite awhile, sipping coffee and getting lost in all this type of work.
My “inside” home office with a built-in desk, at the front of my home. The custom designed window film on my French doors screen any mess I have in there and give me some privacy.
Then later in the day, I head out to the studio where I get more project work done. I’ll sometimes work until dark in there, I find I don’t like being out there after dark or early morning.
So, now that we are both working from home, where does my husband work?
He alternates with me! He’s enjoying my studio office out in the garage too. It’s a great place for conference calls since it is isolated and you can really work out there undisturbed. (As long as he doesn’t touch anything! ;-)
There are times when we both end up on the breakfast table too. I like drawing there, as I can spread out and I do like looking out to my garden and having the windows there.
My breakfast room has a view of the back garden. I like doing my drawings here and spreading my work out on this table.
If we had dogs that barked like we used to, that studio space would really be ideal. That was one of the reasons I moved my office outside my home in the first place. My dogs barked at every single squirrel or bird or anything outside at all.
Of course, I had kids at home then too, so there’s that!
You know though, work is different now from those years ago when I was dying to move out. I imagine more people are finding it not only possible right now, but nice!
People text and email more than they used to. They contact you via social media channels and rarely call. So, unless you are juggling a lot of jobs, you can manage the more limited phone calls these days.
I mean, now, people make appointments for phone calls. Right? No one ever did that 15 years ago! I know I often text someone to see if they can talk, before I call.
There is so much more technology than ever before that we can use to do our work. I’m sure everyone who is working from home now realizes that it is more convenient than you ever thought it would be.
(Of course, having kids home from school and dealing with all that is another issue altogether.)
With all kinds of ways to teleconference, show presentations, etc. working from home, once you get it set up, can be very efficient. (When I think of all the time I wasted driving to and from my office every day, and I didn’t even have that bad of a commute!)
The overhead of rent and keeping a permanent place with staff can really weigh down a business, as I’m sure many biz owners are finding out right now.
My CPA has been sending out info steadily about applying for the small business loans coming available and in her last email she basically said it’s going to take awhile and outcomes may be inconsistent. Even with these loans, it will be a struggle for many biz owners who did not have savings to cover themselves for a month or two.
Of course, any business owner who has employed anyone knows the big expense is the people, not the place. It would have been a real struggle for me, if this situation we’re in now would have happened back then.
I think we are going to see a huge surge in work from home situations in the future.
I imagine it will change the way homes are designed, so that more than one person can have a private space to work. Having two designated spaces has really been great for us.
I think employers will see real cost savings and advantages in their overhead by having remote teams or perhaps partial, work-from-home situations. The more people you can have work remotely, the less square footage you need as a business.
That she-shed idea might just really explode!
So, take a quick peek at my studio in this video, below. I think anyone trying to work from home now would love a slightly separate space like this.
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Video tour of my garage interior design studio office.
I’m linking up to 3 other design bloggers today who are sharing their home office spaces too! You definitely want to click over and see how they have set everything up. They are lovely and very efficient. :-)
Mary Ann Pickett - Classic Casual Home
Cindy Hattersley - Rough Luxe Lifestyle
Annie Diamond - Most Lovely Things
And pin this to Pinterest for me, would you? So you can bookmark it and refer back later. :-)
Are you on a downsizing journey for your home? Whether you want to live smaller or just minimize the clutter, it can be truly life-changing to edit your life in any number of ways.