Work Space

It has been a mixed bag of a weekend. For me yesterday was busy, today was quiet. M has been working the lunchtime to early evening shift; H has been in and out; TG has barely moved off the sofa. 

Yesterday I braved IKEA in search of a desk. Before lockdown I used to do my freelance work either sitting on the bed or on the sofa downstairs if there weren't too many people around. With hindsight, neither was ideal! We use our smallest bedroom as a study, but the desk in there is M's workspace - I could share it as he doesn't spend that long in there, but the iMac is set up for him and I prefer using my laptop, and the desk chair is very comfortable for him but too soft and unsupportive for me. After lockdown started in March and I added in 15 hours a week of archive work at home I realised I needed some sort of proper work space, so I came up with this little pop-up office in our bedroom. It has evolved slightly since, in that I bought another folding table (light wood and very slightly larger and taller) and now usually set it up at the end of the bed rather than between the bed and the window. The pink chair is more comfortable than it looks, but after working from home for nearly six months my mini desk is beginning to feel rather cramped.

During the earlier part of lock down H and TG studied together downstairs at the dining table, but the wifi isn't great there and they were having to use the wifi extender TG normally has in her bedroom, where wifi is non-existent without it. H decided that taking video calls while working from home would be easier upstairs, and so has decided to use her bedroom as her workspace. Last Saturday she went to IKEA to buy herself a desk and chair for when she starts work tomorrow, and that inspired me to rethink my work set up. After searching the internet for tiny desks I could squeeze into the bedroom, where there is very little spare space, H pointed out that if I cleared a cluttered corner of the study there would be room for me to put another desk in there. Why this obvious solution had not occurred to me, I have no idea! 

When H and TG went to IKEA last week they struggled to find a parking space and had to queue for 40 minutes to get into the store (they are limiting numbers). I got there very soon after the store opened which was much better, with only a ten minute queue. After some dithering I settled on this corner desk ... 

It took me two and a half hours to assemble it yesterday afternoon, not helped by a mistake which meant having to prise the back off one of the shelving units, but I am really pleased with the way it looks. I am intending to order a new chair, but the pink one will do for now. Many years of academia and homeschooling mean I always think of September as the start of a new year, so it feels just the right time to have a new place to work.