[AD] I’ve been self employed and working from home for a number of years now, first with my book touring business which I closed down last August and now entirely with my blog. I absolutely love my job and (almost) everything about it. If I don’t feel well, I can work in my pajamas. Every day is bring your dog to work day and I can watch Luther from the comfort of my bed on my lunch break.

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Do I still feel a bit silly telling people “I’m a blogger!” when they ask what I do for a living? Yep. But that’s probably more a case of how we’re all conditioned to raise our eyebrows at anything “not normal”. But that’s a whole other post for a whole other time.

Like I said, I love almost everything about my job. The main thing I don’t like, is the fact that I don’t have an office or even a “work space”. I still live at home with my parents (and I have absolutely no shame in that – all our situations are different), my bedroom just isn’t big enough for a desk and there are no spare rooms in the house which I could realistically use.

We have a pretty big loft but it’s not livable. And do we have £35,000 going spare to get it converted? No we bloody don’t.

So despite still living at home with my parents, which at this point in my life, I really don’t mind. I’d love to move out one day (as I’m sure most people would!) and have my own dedicated office space. Although it’s obviously a stressful life change, I can imagine really enjoying the process of moving out and all the elements of it. From house hunting, to packing up and the removal process, which can be assisted with the likes of full house removal man and van companies!

And obviously, decorating my own office space!

So at the moment, I kinda just make do with what I have. Some days, I work from my bed. Dog on my lap. Some days, it’s the living room and others it’s the kitchen table. My Dad is also off work at the moment due to some health issues, so I also have to take him into consideration. Yes, it’s far from ideal. But that’s my reality and I make it work. There are lots of flexible offices to rent in Essex if I get too crazy!

However, we can all dream, right? I’d love an office one day, either in this house or a place of my own. And here are some elements I’d love in my own office:

Garden home office

Last year, we actually bought an extra shed for our garden and my Dad asked if I wanted it as my office. Unfortunately, it’s a bit too small. And it’d have cost too much to get all the proper electrics and heaters fitted (I mean, I’m writing this with snow on the ground, imagine working in an unheated shed!) but a garden home office would be absolute bliss!

I think I’d love the sense of actually going into a different building (albeit, only in the garden) and getting to work. The lack of distractions, the ability to make it entirely your own space and being disconnected from the comforts of your actual house would make a garden room a really good option for a home office.

Plenty of plants 

And if a garden office wasn’t doable, then I’d definitely want plenty of plants in my office. I love nature and being surrounded by greenery definitely improves my mental health and keeps me calmer. I think I’d have a mixture of real and fake plants as well; real for the smell and the feeling of being close to nature and fake ones for decoration purposes.

A proper office chair

I suffer with really bad lower back pain and have done for a good few years now. I think it started from me standing funny all my life (when I’m standing still, I kinda drop into my left hip) but now almost anything can set it off – including sitting down for too long and the surfaces I find myself sitting on when I’m working sometimes (i.e my bed!) definitely don’t help. They can definitely be pricey but for the sake of my poor back, I’d definitely invest in a really high quality office chance. Preferably one that swivels. I miss swiveling.

Light walls and furnishings

I never want to be sat in a dark and dingy room all day (as opposed to my boyfriend who never wants to open the curtains) so my ideal home office would have to be bright, airy and definitely not contain any dark furnishings or materials. I’d love light colored walls, with white or light pine furniture and preferably a nice big window!

Making it my own

Obviously the purpose of an office is productivity and I wouldn’t want anything in there that would take away from that (i.e a PlayStation… because then I’d get nothing done) but I’d definitely want it to feel like my ‘space’. I’d want everything organised exactly how I like it with some finishing touches which make it a place I can’t wait to get to every morning, such as a few books, a cosy blanket, some candles, crystals and most definitely fair-lights!

Do you have a home office? If you do, how you do make it your own? Do you work from home but are in a similar situation to me? I’d love to hear your experiences of making self-employment and working from home work for you, without an office. And most importantly, what would be your key elements of your ideal home office?

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