I realize that this blog is about travel, and that desks, bookshelves, and filing cabinets are big and bulky and don’t travel well (usually). But I’ve been thinking about not only dressing with style, but also the ways in which one’s living and working spaces give off vibes.
The topic’s been on my mind in part because of this rad article about Workspaces of the Famously Creative.
The workspace above belongs to food writer Amanda Hesser (photo is from fromyourdesks.com). I admire both its personality and its restraint. There are splashes of color (that stapler! the painted orange!). Things are tidy, and there’s a window to stare out of (a must-have for the daydreaming that leads to good thinking and, one hopes, good writing). I look at this picture and think, dang, I could eat off of that desk (she’s a food writer. Perhaps she does).
My office at my university is more of a clutterbox. It doesn’t have quite as many geologic layers as does the workspace of sculptor Alexander Calder (fromyourdesks.com). I have to say that do some good thinking in that box. It’s a sanctuary for fauna and knickknackery rescued from thrift stores.
I’ve also been thinking about workspaces at home. In just a few short months, I’ll be plighting my troth with my WanderMan and moving into his house, the Big House, I call it. We’re trying to figure out how to combine our spaces. Where will I get my writing, reading, and thinking done in the Big House? What about when I come home from work and just need to stare at a wall? What does it take to make a space feel like your own? (OK, so these questions are not going to be answered in one blog post, no matter how winsome.)