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From Chaos to Clarity: Interior Design Tweaks That Boost Home Productivity · Seated with Furniture Row

• 0:01
  Hi, and welcome to the Seated podcast with Furniture Row.
• 0:04
  I'm Jessa, creative director and design extraordinaire.
• 0:08
  And I'm Barb, interior designer and buyer.
• 0:11
  Welcome back. Yeah, welcome back to Seated,
• 0:14
  where we're going to help you make your house a home,
• 0:18
  especially in these times where productivity is feeling
• 0:23
  important. You know, we're summer is so I
• 0:28
  know it's the worst, but I feel like it's a time to just really
• 0:34
  like get in the zone in the. Zone of productivity.
• 0:39
  Especially with back to school coming up, you know, just
• 0:43
  getting refocused in the summer, it's, it's hard to really be as
• 0:48
  focused as normal for me because I'm just excited about the
• 0:52
  outdoors. So and then everybody's
• 0:54
  traveling, everybody's out of office.
• 0:56
  But once summer's over, I feel like it people just get a little
• 1:00
  bit more settled in and. The work begins.
• 1:03
  Let's talk about optimizing your space, your interior design for
• 1:08
  productivity. Yeah, let's talk about it.
• 1:11
  Let's talk about it. So I actually have a few
• 1:14
  questions for you and I'm just going to ask you them really
• 1:19
  quickly and, you know, just say what comes to mind.
• 1:27
  Oh boy. So it's like a this or that.
• 1:29
  A this or that. This or that, this or that.
• 1:31
  Or a yes or a no. Yeah, OK.
• 1:32
  Yeah, alright. Well, this or that.
• 1:34
  OK, alright. So natural light or artificial?
• 1:38
  Oh, natural. Overhead light or only lamps?
• 1:43
  Oh geez, only lamps? But but I do like some overhead
• 1:48
  too. OK, so.
• 1:50
  On the layer, definitely. But I I'm hearing you say more
• 1:54
  focus on the lamps. Get some lamps, work from home
• 1:58
  or go into the office. Both.
• 2:00
  Yeah, hybrid standing desk or regular?
• 2:05
  Regular Do you like standing desks?
• 2:09
  I want to like standing desks. I do too, but I I just like to
• 2:13
  sit at a desk. Yeah, some days I'm feeling
• 2:15
  really motivated and then. I have you seen the ones where
• 2:18
  they stand and they're on like a treadmill?
• 2:21
  Oh really? That's what I need.
• 2:23
  I that 'cause then I. Couldn't do that.
• 2:25
  I could get my step goals down. Plants are no plants.
• 2:29
  Plants. OK, dedicated office space or
• 2:33
  work from wherever? I I don't know that I could
• 2:40
  answer that. I guess dedicated workspace, but
• 2:44
  then if you have a laptop, it's kind of nice to just go outside
• 2:47
  and work outside too. I.
• 2:49
  Love it. I love just taking my laptop
• 2:51
  into the grass. Yeah.
• 2:53
  And I mean, maybe that's not best practice, but.
• 2:57
  It's nice just to to be like you have your, your landing area,
• 3:01
  you know your home place and then you know throughout the day
• 3:05
  get up and move around. Like I can see that.
• 3:08
  But it's nice to have a good base.
• 3:09
  You don't want to feel tethered. Right.
• 3:11
  Yeah, I do not want to be tethered.
• 3:13
  No, Nope. That's against who I am as a
• 3:16
  person especially. Creatives.
• 3:18
  I mean, we can't be tethered. Gotta be free.
• 3:20
  Yeah, Creative free. Set us free.
• 3:23
  Free set the creatives free so a lot of people are having the
• 3:30
  same dilemma of do we work from, you know, different places in
• 3:36
  our house or do we have a Home Office because.
• 3:38
  That same dilemma, yeah, I was working on people.
• 3:40
  Put painstaking amounts of efforts into setting up a Home
• 3:46
  Office and then they're, they don't want to work in it.
• 3:51
  And like, we've actually heard a lot on Reddit.
• 3:56
  We, we looked around to see if people had these issues and
• 3:59
  there's one person writing in and I'm gonna, I'm gonna read
• 4:05
  what she wrote and maybe you can give her some advice.
• 4:07
  OK, OK. What's her name?
• 4:09
  You know, I don't know, She's just gonna be anonymous.
• 4:12
  Or you can make up a name for, you know, Lucy.
• 4:16
  OK, Lucy. Or, you know, yeah, I can't even
• 4:21
  think of another name. Pam, maybe?
• 4:26
  Pam. OK.
• 4:28
  Pam out. I've been working from home
• 4:30
  since 2021. I worked in an office through
• 4:33
  the bulk of the pandemic, then switched jobs to a fully remote
• 4:37
  company within the last year or so.
• 4:39
  I found myself working in my living room every day and pretty
• 4:43
  much avoiding my designated Home Office even though my office is
• 4:46
  set up so much better for work. I've got 2 monitors, a a desk, a
• 4:51
  great webcam, keyboard, ergonomic chair, and decor and
• 4:55
  plants. It's a nice space I've created
• 4:58
  but I dread going in there so I end up in my recliner with my
• 5:01
  laptop almost daily. I don't watch TV while working
• 5:05
  and my dogs follow me into my office if I sit in there.
• 5:08
  Am I the only person with this weird problem?
• 5:11
  Hopefully you guys have some insight because it's driving my
• 5:15
  partner crazy when he gets home and sees me clicking and pecking
• 5:19
  away from the lazy boy. Wow, is it reclined?
• 5:26
  Is the lazy boy reclined? We don't know.
• 5:28
  Probably sometimes. OK, you know, I would say does
• 5:32
  it, does it work for Pam? You know Pam, does this work for
• 5:36
  you? It would not work for me.
• 5:39
  I I don't think I could do my work in a lazy boy.
• 5:42
  I mean I could definitely fall asleep in a lazy boy but like to
• 5:45
  sit there and wait away. You start getting awkward, like
• 5:50
  an awkward positions and it's just, I don't know, you can't
• 5:54
  like have your laptop and just it doesn't feel.
• 5:58
  Right. So does it bother Pam or does it
• 6:01
  bother her partner? Oh, that's.
• 6:04
  The question, you know, 'cause the partner said that it comes
• 6:08
  home and it's like I'm clicking away, my lazy boy.
• 6:12
  Yeah, maybe Pam just needs to be like, look, this is where I work
• 6:15
  best, Yeah, don't judge me. And maybe that's the problem.
• 6:19
  Yeah, maybe that is the problem. The other thing I would say is
• 6:23
  what helped me when I was working from home is to get up,
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  get dressed as if you know you're going to be meeting
• 6:30
  people that day, but get yourself ready.
• 6:33
  It's kind of like making your bed in the morning, like start
• 6:35
  your day off right. Yeah.
• 6:36
  And so, but I do understand about like having a designated
• 6:41
  space set up and then being like, OK, I've worked in there
• 6:45
  for three months now. I'm going to go work over here.
• 6:47
  I did that. I had an enclosed room with
• 6:50
  doors and I loved it. And then I got to the point
• 6:53
  where I'm like, no more. And then I started working in my
• 6:55
  dining room and I loved my dining room.
• 6:58
  So there's lots of light. It was just quite nice.
• 7:01
  Yeah. So, Pam, I maybe get ready for
• 7:05
  work, go back into your office, you know, at in your house and
• 7:10
  and try again. Yeah.
• 7:12
  Or maybe is there a way that she could bring a little bit more
• 7:15
  comfort into her office? I think so, yeah.
• 7:19
  Let's let's talk about that. Maybe, you know, what are the
• 7:23
  things that would help her be more motivated to work in her
• 7:27
  office? So could it be like plans?
• 7:29
  Could it be music? Could it be her lighting?
• 7:33
  Maybe her lighting is off, Maybe the colors of her walls are off?
• 7:36
  Things like that. Could be a just.
• 7:37
  Because you set up a space for productivity doesn't mean that
• 7:40
  you're going to be productive unless you set it up for your
• 7:44
  version of productivity. And it sounds like Comfort is
• 7:47
  her version of being productive. She needs to be comfortable
• 7:51
  first maybe. Her office chair needs to be
• 7:53
  changed. Exactly.
• 7:54
  Maybe that. Yeah, maybe a new office chair.
• 7:56
  Maybe it just needs to not even be like a a chair that looks
• 7:59
  like an office chair. Maybe it just needs to be
• 8:01
  comfortable. But like, I like having that
• 8:04
  designated space because you have a place to put everything.
• 8:09
  Yes. But then you know, like all of
• 8:13
  your office things are there and you know where everything goes.
• 8:17
  But I hate overly being in a routine so I mean, even being in
• 8:22
  a lazy boy every day in your living room, that would be too
• 8:26
  much of A routine for me. So.
• 8:28
  So maybe she just needs to set up different places in her
• 8:31
  office to be able to sit. Different zones.
• 8:34
  Different zones or like just set up different zones in her house,
• 8:38
  like maybe it is some weeks the living room, but making sure
• 8:44
  that she has options so she's not feeling.
• 8:47
  Trapped there and a lazy boy. Yeah, help.
• 8:51
  I'm stuck in a lazy boy have. You switched rooms in your
• 8:54
  house. I mainly go like I'll I'll go to
• 8:58
  the dining room when I'm eating lunch and sometimes kind of read
• 9:03
  emails from there. Or like if it's like a Friday
• 9:08
  afternoon, I'll go sit on my sofa and work, but or I'll go
• 9:13
  sit in the yard if it's a nice day.
• 9:16
  But for the most part, I'm in my office or my Home Office or my
• 9:20
  work office, 'cause I'm hybrid. Yeah, you're hybrid.
• 9:22
  Yeah. But yeah, I mean, on that topic
• 9:25
  of making sure that you are optimizing your space for how
• 9:30
  you work best, people have different productivity styles,
• 9:34
  and it's actually really helpful to know yours.
• 9:36
  We found a study through Harvard.
• 9:40
  Did you take the test? I did and yeah, yeah.
• 9:43
  And we and we learned our productivity styles and so you
• 9:48
  know, that can we can kind of just talk about that a little
• 9:51
  and get an example of how that could affect our productivity,
• 9:56
  like how we could update our space to work.
• 10:01
  And then it might give other people some ideas if they want
• 10:04
  to take the same test. It's in the show notes.
• 10:08
  The link is so you know it could maybe help you think about
• 10:12
  reorganizing your space for productivity.
• 10:14
  For what works for you exactly? Exactly.
• 10:17
  Everybody has their own style. Right.
• 10:19
  Yeah. You know, what works for one
• 10:21
  person may work horribly for another.
• 10:24
  So I took the test and I am a visualizer, which means that I
• 10:30
  like having a lot of projects going on at once.
• 10:33
  I'm good at juggling things, but also being able to see the big
• 10:38
  picture because I'm so visually oriented on the big picture.
• 10:43
  Like I know all the little things that go into making it
• 10:46
  happen and I'm good at taking all sorts of different ideas
• 10:51
  from different people or different parts of that project
• 10:54
  and bringing them together. And I really like to see where
• 11:01
  I'm going. So like having a visual idea of
• 11:05
  what's going on. I love whiteboards.
• 11:07
  I love places where I can just. Come on at home.
• 11:10
  I use actually this thing called Milanote, so it's like a digital
• 11:16
  whiteboard, but I honestly I might go.
• 11:18
  Back to visualizing it like. I like that too.
• 11:21
  Well, and I make a lot of lists, that's what I do.
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  And then I like highlight what's most important for the day.
• 11:27
  It's also very colors based. So whether it's sticky notes or
• 11:31
  highlights or underlines like visually separating one thing
• 11:34
  from another or starring it as this is what's important to be
• 11:39
  able to see what stands out from the big picture and what's
• 11:43
  priority right now is good for me because I am really strategic
• 11:49
  based in being a visualizer, so. Yeah, well, I took the test too,
• 11:54
  and I took it twice. Yeah, changed a few of my
• 11:58
  answers because some of them were like on the fence.
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  And if you take those quiz, you might go, well, maybe I'm really
• 12:04
  not that. Or somewhere I started with one
• 12:06
  and then I changed it. I don't know.
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  But each time I took it, it came out the same.
• 12:12
  I'm a prioritizer. Yeah.
• 12:14
  And so here's what it says about prioritize.
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  I'm going to put my glasses on so I can see my little
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  handwriting. Prioritizers prefer logical,
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  analytical, fact based, critical and realistic thinking.
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  They use time effectively and focus on the highest value task
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  accurately completing significance amount.
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  A significant amount of work which you know, in our industry
• 12:45
  we have a lot of work that we have to get done quickly.
• 12:48
  They analyze project goals and strive to achieve the deserved
• 12:52
  or desired outcome. So yeah, I mean, I feel like I'm
• 12:57
  a little bit of a visualizer too, but definitely a
• 13:01
  prioritizer more, you know, pry lean that way.
• 13:05
  But I also don't like labels. I don't like being labeled.
• 13:07
  Yeah. But I took the test.
• 13:10
  It can help you understand that you do like to prioritize and.
• 13:14
  It's it's a nice little framework.
• 13:16
  Right. I feel like it's true for you
• 13:18
  because you ask a lot of questions to make sure you
• 13:21
  understand the goals and where we're at with things to then be
• 13:25
  able to like know where to go with what needs to be done.
• 13:29
  And then, you know, you get things done so quickly.
• 13:32
  So I do think that that's pretty accurate.
• 13:34
  For you, yeah, that is, that is. But how do you feel like you
• 13:37
  could optimize your space then for making sure that you can see
• 13:43
  your priorities and like know what they are and and to help
• 13:46
  you work through your priorities?
• 13:49
  Well, it's interesting because it says on here that you use
• 13:51
  like a legal pad, which is true. I make a lot of notes on my
• 13:54
  legal pad and then just very simple basic technology.
• 13:59
  I just use my computer. And then I also know, you know
• 14:03
  what's most important and what I need to get done because you do
• 14:08
  have your main projects and then you get thrown in other little
• 14:12
  projects along the way. And so you have to fit those in.
• 14:15
  So yeah, I definitely think I know, as crazy as it sounds, I
• 14:18
  use this and I use my iPhone. I make a lot of notes in my
• 14:21
  iPhone, Yeah. Because it's there when you're
• 14:23
  thinking of it. Yeah, yeah.
• 14:24
  And and then of course, I put things on my calendar.
• 14:27
  I live by my calendar as well, so in my phone.
• 14:31
  Well, I could see also just supporting yourself and your
• 14:36
  mental well-being being really important too because you need
• 14:40
  to stay calm and organized in order to effectively prioritize.
• 14:45
  So you need like whatever makes you feel mentally happy and
• 14:49
  strong. So whether that be sunlight or
• 14:53
  or working with others or you know, whatever it.
• 14:57
  Is, you know, when I was working from home and I moved myself
• 15:01
  into the dining room, I worked really well in there because it
• 15:04
  had a huge door to the back. So, you know, all this natural
• 15:09
  light came in and my animals were in there.
• 15:12
  And I was really like, I felt like I was like just, you know,
• 15:17
  in such a great space there. I loved it.
• 15:20
  And then my office here, it doesn't have a window, but my
• 15:25
  office has painted a bright white color, so it feels like
• 15:29
  I've got a little bit of the outdoors in.
• 15:32
  So that's helpful. Each cabanas in there I.
• 15:35
  Do I like the? I've always I wondered about the
• 15:39
  pictures. Of their striped and it's like a
• 15:41
  in like a 1950s beach changing tent or something.
• 15:45
  It's so funny. I don't even Where'd you?
• 15:47
  Get that, I may have even changed outfits in their ones.
• 15:50
  I don't even. Know I mean why not I?
• 15:52
  Ordered them years ago. I mean, I've had them forever
• 15:55
  and I have bookcases in there and I put all my extra little
• 15:59
  things and then zip it up. Yeah, so it's all put away so
• 16:02
  you don't see it. Now my desk in my office, it's a
• 16:05
  little bit of a mess and I clean it here and there.
• 16:10
  But like at home when I work from home, like it was all super
• 16:13
  nice and tidy. I don't know if that's because
• 16:15
  it was my dining room and it was on display to the whole world.
• 16:20
  I don't know. But yeah, it's, it's interesting
• 16:24
  how different spaces, like it's one way at my office and then a
• 16:28
  different way in my home. Yeah, I feel like I keep my Home
• 16:31
  Office cleaner than my work office, to be honest, and I
• 16:36
  don't know if that's just because I have more time to
• 16:38
  clean it or what. Maybe maybe that's true because
• 16:41
  like when I come in, I'm like hitting the ground running.
• 16:43
  Like at the office here. I mean, I just turn my computer
• 16:47
  on and start. But yeah, at home it was
• 16:51
  everything had a place. It was super, super organized.
• 16:54
  Yeah. And that actually was really
• 16:56
  helpful. Yeah, I'm like a dog.
• 17:00
  I need to like settle in sometimes, you know, my legs
• 17:04
  falling asleep, I scratch about and then find the nice resting
• 17:08
  spot. So anyway, so if you hear
• 17:12
  rumbling to the people that aren't watching, that's why.
• 17:16
  That's why I needed to reset. She's settling in her I'm.
• 17:19
  Settling in. Green Chair.
• 17:21
  I'm seated and settled and we're.
• 17:23
  And, you know, I got to be productive and I got to find my
• 17:26
  productivity zone. But yeah, I mean, I think that's
• 17:30
  also important. Like, so being a visualizer for
• 17:35
  me, yeah, having a whiteboard or something.
• 17:38
  I mean, and we have all these digital systems, but I always go
• 17:41
  back to writing on like an actual physical thing that I can
• 17:45
  see and look back to. And even if I don't have the
• 17:47
  task on my whiteboard, I see myself looking at it in
• 17:51
  conversations when people are in my office and we're trying to
• 17:53
  reference what's important next. And like, I just, I like to have
• 17:58
  like a big visual space. One of the shows I used to watch
• 18:03
  Silicon Valley on HBOI don't. Know what that?
• 18:06
  Is it's about developers, but they do like sprints
• 18:13
  essentially, which is you take different tasks that need to be
• 18:19
  done and you divide them up into like these little sprints, you
• 18:23
  know, like as if you were running, you Sprint and then you
• 18:26
  walk and then you Sprint and then you walk.
• 18:27
  So it's like these two weeks we're really focusing hard on
• 18:30
  this task. And they, they had all these
• 18:33
  sticky notes of what needed to be done and they would
• 18:36
  physically move one sticky note from to do to done when they
• 18:40
  were done with it. And it just gave me the most
• 18:42
  satisfaction. Really.
• 18:44
  Yeah. And then I came to work and I
• 18:46
  was like, we need to do sprints and we started doing them
• 18:49
  digitally, which is like, it still gives me satisfaction to
• 18:52
  be able to check some thing off and digitally, but it just
• 18:56
  wasn't the same as the sticky note because I like the.
• 18:59
  Did other people like the sprints idea?
• 19:02
  Yeah, I mean, I think it's really widely accepted.
• 19:04
  It's just I think I like the the physical part of it.
• 19:08
  Like I I keep trying to keep to do lists in my computer but I
• 19:13
  end up putting them in my notebook because I love crossing
• 19:17
  things. Off with off.
• 19:18
  Your pen, it's just like connects with my brain like you
• 19:22
  did that way more than if I did it just digitally or didn't keep
• 19:26
  track of it. I really like that physical
• 19:30
  thing. So I really love tactile
• 19:32
  notebooks. And then I lose my notes.
• 19:34
  You know, it's way more efficient digitally.
• 19:36
  But I just love tactile things that I can like look at a big
• 19:40
  picture vision and then look at all the little steps that I need
• 19:44
  to take to get there. And I kind of have that build
• 19:47
  out on my head. Yeah.
• 19:48
  But I get super energized when I, like, learn something or
• 19:52
  something clicks and I'm like, this is the game plan.
• 19:55
  We need to be doing this and that.
• 19:56
  And then it just like gets me energized for the next like
• 19:59
  couple months because yeah, I'll listen to like YouTube videos
• 20:04
  about different topics related to work while I'm getting ready
• 20:08
  or like making breakfast before work.
• 20:09
  And then I by the time I start work I'm like I am.
• 20:13
  Jazzed about this idea. So yeah, do.
• 20:17
  The same, not the Sprint thing, but like in the morning as I'm
• 20:20
  getting ready and even, you know, driving into the office,
• 20:23
  I'm always listening to something off of YouTube and it
• 20:27
  gets me, you know, pumped up for the day and, like, gets me
• 20:31
  thinking about, you know, what I need to be thinking about.
• 20:34
  But yeah, I definitely have to have that mode of, you know,
• 20:38
  have that information coming in in the morning before I even get
• 20:42
  to work. Right space needs to have like
• 20:45
  multiple screens to be able to see or like have something
• 20:49
  interesting going on on YouTube, but or you know, motivational,
• 20:53
  I'm watching it a lot of the time or like I just need like
• 20:58
  multiple inputs of So while I'm working on something, I need
• 21:01
  something else interesting to be happening because again, I
• 21:04
  thrive with juggling. So like the screens are
• 21:07
  important. A whiteboard is important or
• 21:10
  some like chalkboard or whatever, but just where I can
• 21:13
  post up, you know what the game plan is from time to time and
• 21:20
  and I really need natural light because it makes me feel
• 21:23
  connected to the bigger picture. Yeah, so.
• 21:27
  I need to. I would not work well in an open
• 21:30
  office concept. Like I've got to have my own.
• 21:34
  And I say Openoffice, I'm talking about like an office
• 21:37
  space where multiple people are all working like in a bull, what
• 21:41
  do they call a bullpen? Or like I could not work in
• 21:43
  that. I have to have my own little
• 21:46
  space 'cause I get too distracted.
• 21:48
  Yeah. I can be to stay focused, but I
• 21:52
  feel like I'm. I get a little bored when I'm
• 21:55
  closed away in my office from time to time.
• 21:58
  Well, that's when you get up and get a snack.
• 22:00
  Exactly I need, but I it does keep me on task so that's good.
• 22:05
  So if we could bring up some examples, these are places that
• 22:12
  either you styled or Furniture Row styled, actual little study
• 22:18
  spots and examples of how you could set up your space to
• 22:21
  optimize productivity. So one of them, both of them are
• 22:25
  kind of like in a corner tucked away, you know, your own
• 22:31
  individual space, but one of them has, you know, the windows
• 22:35
  outside to be able to see what's going on.
• 22:37
  And the other one has like a nature photo just so you can
• 22:41
  visualize something beyond what's going on, just like.
• 22:45
  Well, and I can tell you like both of those were at the Saint
• 22:49
  Jude dream home, different locations.
• 22:51
  And the one on the left was at the top of a of a stairwell and
• 22:56
  it was kind of like in this little corner.
• 22:58
  So, you know, that was just such a neat little space to make, you
• 23:03
  know, like for a little desk. And then the other one was in a
• 23:06
  bedroom. Well, yeah.
• 23:08
  And that's The thing is you don't have to have an enclosed
• 23:11
  space where the door is actually closed if like there's a natural
• 23:14
  nook. But imagine if like you're a
• 23:18
  family and you have several children, all you know, school
• 23:21
  age, even high school, whatever. But maybe one works better in
• 23:26
  their bedroom versus out in the open, like where the desk is in
• 23:31
  the stairwell. So.
• 23:33
  But you know the thing about that blank?
• 23:36
  It's like a post it board that. Would work for you, huh?
• 23:39
  I really like it, but I'm also extremely motivated when it is
• 23:44
  blank because I am such a visualizer that it gets me
• 23:47
  excited about all the things that could be there.
• 23:50
  You know? I just, like, dream about the
• 23:51
  sticky notes. Yeah, I'm like.
• 23:53
  I love it. But it makes me want to get like
• 23:56
  push pins. It's a push pin board.
• 23:59
  So that would be fun too, because sometimes you have
• 24:02
  notes. Actually, I should get a pushpin
• 24:04
  board because they take notes all over the place in different
• 24:06
  notebooks. And then I should put the
• 24:09
  pushpin in the note that I took at the office and be able to
• 24:14
  have that on the board. I need to set that up.
• 24:16
  Yeah. But anyway, so those are
• 24:18
  inspiring spaces and they have they have a little bit of
• 24:21
  greenery still, so that's nice. And some some interesting Knick
• 24:25
  knacks so that it's not just like, you know, you're in a
• 24:29
  white space with no stimulus. It's like there's stuff going on
• 24:33
  that's like interesting and you feel comfortable and like you're
• 24:36
  in a personalized space still. One thing I'll say this, even
• 24:41
  though they, the spaces look great and they're very
• 24:44
  functional, like different, you know, depending on your style of
• 24:48
  what works best for you, some people can't face a wall and
• 24:51
  work. Like I couldn't.
• 24:53
  Yeah, I couldn't be up against the wall.
• 24:54
  I have to be. Out.
• 24:55
  It feels too much like when you're putting time out or
• 24:58
  something and you're just like, you have to be in this corner
• 25:02
  and it's just you feel trapped and it's a little claustrophobic
• 25:06
  for some people. I the one.
• 25:07
  With the windows not as. You do fine with the windows.
• 25:10
  I would be because that's cozy. Like it's tucked away, but
• 25:13
  there's still stuff going on behind because you said it was
• 25:16
  at the top of a loft. There's a window.
• 25:19
  Yeah, that, that one's quite nice.
• 25:21
  Yeah, yeah. And then I think we have some
• 25:24
  more. This is, yeah, the similar
• 25:30
  thing, but it's more of like a girl's bedroom space.
• 25:35
  But I really like how ornate the desk is.
• 25:39
  How do you too? It's it's that same collection
• 25:41
  as our our bookcases here. Oh yeah, it's.
• 25:45
  So true, but they're just in black.
• 25:46
  Yeah, but I like how ornate it is.
• 25:49
  But it still has the storage, so yeah.
• 25:53
  I do like that, and I like that it's in front of that window as
• 25:56
  well. Yeah, but again, depending on.
• 25:59
  Dream big. Yeah.
• 26:01
  See all the possibilities in the clouds in the sky.
• 26:05
  Yeah, butterflies chasing butterflies outside.
• 26:09
  Yeah. But, you know, whoever's room
• 26:11
  that is, they may decide, you know, I like it in the window.
• 26:14
  You know, sit in front of the window and then move it
• 26:17
  somewhere else. What I like about these desks
• 26:19
  are the scale. They're small enough that you
• 26:22
  can move them around. They don't take up a lot of
• 26:23
  space, so they're very multi functional, functional purpose.
• 26:29
  I mean, they could even go like if you wanted, if your kid was
• 26:33
  like, you know what? I can't work up here in my room
• 26:35
  anymore. That could probably easily go
• 26:37
  behind a sofa. And still look nice.
• 26:40
  Absolutely. Yeah, totally.
• 26:42
  And that's another great point is like a writing desk or
• 26:45
  something that's a little bit more mobile can be a nice option
• 26:49
  because then you can move around a little bit, which is great.
• 26:54
  Yeah. So yeah, I think it's nice to
• 26:58
  have it movable. Yeah, it's not like you're
• 27:00
  chained to the desk. It's like you're a desk or here
• 27:03
  you're on a journey together and you can go wherever you're.
• 27:06
  Free wherever you want. You're free.
• 27:08
  You're free. That's important to me.
• 27:11
  And then some people work well in a collaborative space like
• 27:14
  you're saying. And so I think we have some who.
• 27:16
  Are these as people that work in an open space?
• 27:19
  For me, it's good for like meetings or yeah, when you're
• 27:23
  actually trying to get creative juices.
• 27:26
  Showing like for collaboration? Yeah, absolutely.
• 27:29
  It's nice for everybody to like come up with some ideas and come
• 27:32
  together and talk through the ideas.
• 27:35
  But like a dining table can be a great place to collaborate if
• 27:41
  you have multiple kids or you know, roommates or you know,
• 27:48
  whatever the case is, you and your family, you and your
• 27:52
  spouse. Like it's nice sometimes to sit
• 27:55
  at a table together and collaborate and be like Co
• 27:57
  working. Yeah, I I definitely like the,
• 28:00
  you know, being able to collaborate around a table, but
• 28:05
  just working out in the open, you know, with a lot of other
• 28:08
  people working out in the open. I just wouldn't be for me.
• 28:11
  But I really love this room because it incorporates like a
• 28:15
  family sitting room, you know, with games and then the table,
• 28:19
  you could do games or crafts or it could be a homework table.
• 28:23
  I I love that my office at my the actual office is a giant
• 28:29
  table. It looks like a picnic table.
• 28:32
  Right, it is a dining table or something.
• 28:34
  Like that, but you just made it. Into a desk.
• 28:37
  It's a desk and it was actually handmade for me, which was so
• 28:40
  sweet. It's like the nicest.
• 28:43
  It was so thoughtful and I love that desk.
• 28:46
  It means everything to me. And I like that you can spread
• 28:49
  out. Some people need to spread their
• 28:51
  things out when they work. I do best like that, yeah.
• 28:57
  So this this table would probably work for me too.
• 29:00
  Yeah, so, you know, a dining table could even go in your
• 29:03
  office or whatever enclosed space that you want.
• 29:07
  But, but here it's nice because if you're working on like more
• 29:10
  of a crafty project work that you need to get done, which
• 29:15
  often times like I need to draw a little diagram or something.
• 29:18
  And then it's nice to be able to do that while you're, you know,
• 29:21
  sitting near the living room to have something on in the
• 29:24
  background or whatever. And then like the dining
• 29:27
  servers, a dining server could actually be a great like
• 29:30
  organizational. Space, absolutely.
• 29:33
  You could put all your supplies in there.
• 29:35
  And depending on the type of work that you do, I use a lot
• 29:38
  of, you know, tactile things like I'm looking at floor plans.
• 29:42
  I've have fabric work swatches, we're on swatches, so I'm
• 29:45
  looking at all of those things. So it's nice to be able to put
• 29:49
  them away. So yeah, I think definitely a
• 29:52
  buffet or server is nice for that.
• 29:55
  Or, you know, we have those little tuffets.
• 30:00
  It's a little Ottoman with the tray.
• 30:02
  It flips over and it's a tray. But you can easily put things in
• 30:04
  that. And you could organize it like
• 30:06
  those come in different colors. You could organize it by color.
• 30:09
  Like those are all of these supplies.
• 30:11
  These are those supplies. And then you tuck it away and it
• 30:14
  it's all nice and tidy. Yeah.
• 30:16
  Put your feet on. Multifunctional and then some
• 30:19
  people go even a little bit further than a casual communal
• 30:23
  workspace and they just need to be comfortable to feel like
• 30:27
  motivated because if they're stiff and structured, they just
• 30:31
  want to get out of there. So I we have another example of
• 30:35
  just well actually this if you go one further, this is a great
• 30:41
  example of where to. That was our.
• 30:44
  Yeah, yeah. Where to just be really cozy.
• 30:47
  So across from this, you know, sofa bed is a desk.
• 30:55
  So you could kind of have, you know, a lot of people's office,
• 30:59
  Home Office is also the guest room.
• 31:01
  But it's kind of nice 'cause you could go back and forth between
• 31:03
  sitting on the sofa in there and sitting at your desk, and you
• 31:07
  could get all cozy with blankets.
• 31:11
  This. Might be the perfect solution
• 31:12
  for Pam. Yeah, you know, instead of the
• 31:14
  recliner, she's like, let's call going.
• 31:17
  Back to Pam from Reddit. Yeah, absolutely.
• 31:20
  Love maybe to just have like a sofa and I like to how there's
• 31:25
  so many colours of pillows and curtains worked into that space
• 31:30
  and fun art and then. Fun room, yeah.
• 31:35
  And right now it's it's opened up kind of like a bed and it
• 31:39
  actually that's so sofa lays out into a bed and then you fold it
• 31:43
  up and it and it has storage too.
• 31:45
  Total sofa. Yeah.
• 31:48
  So it's really a very versatile piece and I like that.
• 31:52
  The reason we called it I don't know, you probably know this the
• 31:55
  Goffice was because it's like a guest room slash office.
• 31:58
  So it's a multi functional room. Yeah, I.
• 32:02
  Love that. Yeah, multifunctional rooms also
• 32:04
  are really important to consider.
• 32:07
  Because it doesn't, you're utilizing the space so much
• 32:11
  better and you're enjoying the space so much more if it's not
• 32:15
  just for one thing. So sometimes I think if people
• 32:17
  just have like this is my Home Office, it's like, oh, I don't
• 32:20
  want to go there. That's where the work.
• 32:21
  'S done. You don't have that much space,
• 32:23
  they may not have that extra room to dedicated to just an
• 32:26
  office, right? So this is a great solution,
• 32:28
  right? To be able to do both.
• 32:30
  Just bringing in things from life like blankets and pillows
• 32:33
  are so nice because because it doesn't just say, oh, this room
• 32:37
  is for work and you because they.
• 32:39
  I think that does make people avoid that space then and.
• 32:43
  Because every think about this, if you're working, I don't know,
• 32:47
  you tell me, but every morning is Monday morning when you work
• 32:52
  from home, right? Yeah.
• 32:53
  Because it's like every day, it's you're, it's the same day.
• 32:58
  Yeah, I can't handle that. It's very stressful for me.
• 33:01
  I need to change things up. So this allows you to do that,
• 33:04
  but you've also made it very functional so you don't just
• 33:07
  necessarily fall asleep. You have storage space under
• 33:11
  those ottomans so you can put the blankets away if you want.
• 33:15
  And you also have like a little basket so you can have your pens
• 33:20
  and pencils and things that you need with an arm's reach, your
• 33:22
  phone, whatever it may be. I.
• 33:24
  Love Trays? Trays are so great.
• 33:27
  Especially projects and especially for creative people
• 33:30
  that do work with so many different things, is to organize
• 33:34
  your projects in a tray so you have a spot to put them.
• 33:38
  So like, you know, if you've got catalogs and things that you're
• 33:41
  constantly happening to refer to, you could put those easily
• 33:44
  in a tray or, you know, in those little holders.
• 33:47
  But I like a tray. I think it looks tidy.
• 33:49
  Well, and it looks great there too.
• 33:51
  It's a great solution on a sofa. But then, yeah, going back you
• 33:56
  had a really great open space example from his.
• 34:01
  Love this. This is Frank Lloyd Wright.
• 34:03
  This was an office space that he did in Wisconsin.
• 34:08
  I think it was the Johnson Wax Company or something back in the
• 34:14
  late 30s. Wait in the 30s?
• 34:17
  I think it was like 1939. We'll have to fact.
• 34:20
  Check Haley Fact Check us on that, but that is revolutionary
• 34:24
  because essentially if you're not watching, it's this open
• 34:29
  sunny ceiling, but it has these discs kind of it's very there's
• 34:34
  nothing that you could liken it to.
• 34:37
  It's very unique. It has these discs that are, you
• 34:42
  know, designed along the ceiling.
• 34:46
  So let me tell you, so there's I think sixty of those and it's
• 34:50
  supposed to look like trees, but a lot of us and it's been kind
• 34:54
  of known as like Lily pads. But I think the intent was to
• 34:58
  look like trees. And so it's kind of like that
• 35:03
  biophilia that is so popular now.
• 35:06
  He, he, I would say he started that.
• 35:11
  And then bringing the, you know, nature to the indoors.
• 35:14
  So in an office space like this, I might actually be able to
• 35:19
  change my mind on working in an open format because it feels
• 35:23
  like you're. Yeah.
• 35:24
  And the ceiling's high, and there's all this natural light.
• 35:28
  And the desks are spread out. They're spread, so they're not
• 35:31
  like, right, You're not working at the same table as somebody,
• 35:34
  so you don't feel the pressure to like make conversation with
• 35:38
  them because they're at a different desk still, but you're
• 35:40
  still in the same room. Yeah, as long as I wouldn't get
• 35:42
  distracted, maybe I'd sit up there in that little picture in
• 35:46
  that little round seating area. Maybe that turned that into my
• 35:50
  office. But yeah, it was a really neat
• 35:52
  design that he came up. I think Kaylee found more info
• 35:55
  construction took place from. 1936 to 1939, and then the
• 36:01
  adjacent research tire was added in 19. 50 OH, so construction,
• 36:06
  the main construction, 1936 to 1939, and then he expanded.
• 36:10
  Well, this was the administrative.
• 36:12
  In 1950, but that is way before it's time.
• 36:16
  Yeah, yeah. I mean, he was the father of
• 36:18
  design if you think about it. And the one in the 50s, I think
• 36:23
  he built like a bridge or a skywalk or something to the next
• 36:27
  building that he designed. But yeah, it's just a really
• 36:31
  cool, cool design. And he, he got a lot of Flack
• 36:36
  out of this, too. Like the Commission didn't want
• 36:38
  to let him build this. If I have this right, Haley can
• 36:42
  Fact Check us on this too. But they were afraid that those
• 36:47
  trees or Lily pads wouldn't hold up the the roof.
• 36:52
  And it was he. He did a test and within 24
• 36:57
  hours they passed and said OK, go ahead and build your
• 37:00
  building. Yeah, What it What do you got,
• 37:02
  Haley? So the Lily.
• 37:04
  Pad. Columns were considered
• 37:06
  innovative and controversial because of what Bart just said,
• 37:11
  but the design took the way for new possibilities in modern
• 37:14
  architecture. The engineering was so
• 37:17
  unconventional that local building inspectors demanded a
• 37:19
  full scale load test with strength.
• 37:22
  They call. Far more than require
• 37:24
  demonstrating their innovation and robustness.
• 37:26
  And they initially refused to prove it because of the
• 37:30
  mushroom. We've had problems.
• 37:32
  And yeah, so it was just so unconventional that they were
• 37:40
  like, this can't be structurally sound.
• 37:43
  Yeah. And I think like in an office
• 37:46
  space, we need to think. And there's already been a like
• 37:49
  a movement in corporate office spaces.
• 37:52
  But in your Home Office, you can take inspiration that you don't
• 37:55
  have to do things the way it's always been done.
• 37:58
  And offices don't have to be. Yeah.
• 38:01
  And in life in. Life.
• 38:02
  Just like in life. Philosophical.
• 38:04
  Yeah, yeah. We were talking about how just
• 38:06
  like in life, it's important to, you know, not always do what the
• 38:11
  norm is right in office spaces. They don't have to be boring and
• 38:16
  executive desk Y if you don't want them to be that way, you
• 38:21
  can create storage with so many other ways besides heavy, clunky
• 38:24
  desk drawers. You don't need to have a file
• 38:28
  cabinet per SE. You can create new.
• 38:32
  There's so many new traditions. Yeah.
• 38:34
  And I, Yeah, and I And if you need 1, so be it.
• 38:38
  But I just think that there's so many ways to be organized and in
• 38:44
  your visual space, things don't have to look so like plain
• 38:48
  office. They can be very creative.
• 38:50
  People like that. Some people do like, yeah.
• 38:53
  So we'll let them have that and we'll design for them.
• 38:55
  That's absolutely. But yeah, you don't have to
• 38:58
  follow. If that's not your productivity
• 39:00
  style, you can take inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright and
• 39:04
  break all the rules. Yeah.
• 39:06
  I mean, I think we've seen a lot of great examples of that.
• 39:08
  I know, I think. He broke all of them.
• 39:10
  Yeah, he did break all the rules and people still people got more
• 39:13
  done because of it. That's right.
• 39:15
  Yeah. So that's that's.
• 39:16
  Amazing. I definitely think productivity
• 39:18
  in this office probably went way up.
• 39:21
  Yeah, I would be super productive, especially in the
• 39:24
  30s. Yeah, you know how cool.
• 39:27
  And I just want to point out one little thing.
• 39:30
  You may or may not know this, but see that little round
• 39:33
  staircase right there that went down to the restrooms?
• 39:37
  I love that. So you have to go down.
• 39:40
  Yeah, the tube it will. It's it's round and it looks
• 39:43
  like it has a spiral staircase going down.
• 39:45
  It's like a little shell. It matches the rest of the
• 39:48
  design. It's very forward thinking.
• 39:50
  Well, and I think you know curves because of modern or
• 39:53
  organic or organic. Modern is such a thing right
• 39:56
  now, like he was before his time.
• 39:59
  Yeah, he really was. So let's talk about some of
• 40:04
  these main theories of what could.
• 40:09
  Influence productivity in interior design specifically.
• 40:12
  Like we've talked about a lot of anecdotes and what helps people,
• 40:17
  but there's actually a lot of science behind some of these
• 40:20
  things, like color. Oh, absolutely.
• 40:23
  Color effects. Yeah.
• 40:25
  Moods and everything. Yeah.
• 40:28
  So like, for example, warmer colors like Reds and oranges,
• 40:35
  and, you know, yellows are a lot more energy stimulating and
• 40:41
  they're a lot more social colors.
• 40:43
  They're great for communication. So it's great for places like a
• 40:46
  dining room. Absolutely.
• 40:48
  Like a collaborative space, like a conference room, because it
• 40:52
  gets the people going, you know? Yeah.
• 40:55
  And you know, I think you're absolutely right about that.
• 40:58
  And my office that I had to move out of and move into my dining
• 41:01
  room, that office was red, was red.
• 41:03
  And maybe that's what was if you.
• 41:04
  Were over stimulated and you just couldn't get your thoughts
• 41:07
  straight. Maybe I don't know, but my
• 41:10
  office or my dining room at the time now my dining room is a
• 41:13
  different color now, but I don't work in there was like a creamy
• 41:17
  white color. OK, so maybe that's why.
• 41:20
  Well, they say that neutrals provides stability and balance.
• 41:24
  Yeah. So maybe that's what you needed.
• 41:26
  Maybe you needed? I needed stability.
• 41:28
  Stability and groundingness. It prevents overwhelm.
• 41:33
  What? Color Is your office at home?
• 41:35
  White. But I have a lot of art on the
• 41:37
  walls of varying colors and I think that really helps.
• 41:40
  Mainly natural colors, mainly like greens and, you know, press
• 41:47
  flowers and things like that. Blues, they say cool colors
• 41:53
  promote calm, tranquility and creativity.
• 41:56
  So like teal and blue and green. So that might be good.
• 42:02
  It's. Subtle or.
• 42:04
  Yeah. You're trying not to get wrapped
• 42:05
  up in the chaos and you're trying to just be at ease.
• 42:08
  Tranquil. Tranquil.
• 42:10
  Yeah, so I feel like a lot of my wall space is covered with
• 42:15
  tranquil colors. But but then, you know, you
• 42:18
  maybe you do need some pops of those energizing colors because
• 42:23
  especially toward the end of the day, a lot of times people get
• 42:26
  in a lull and they just need to like get re energized about what
• 42:30
  they're doing. So maybe you should go to
• 42:32
  different colored spaces. Maybe you should work throughout
• 42:36
  the day. Yeah, that's a thought.
• 42:37
  Or I, I actually do think that having different things hanging
• 42:41
  on your walls that are different colours could be a great idea.
• 42:45
  Like maybe you have some areas that are a more peaceful
• 42:49
  grounding tone and others that are like more energizing.
• 42:53
  Because maybe you just need to like look at a different piece
• 42:56
  of photography or graphic design or something for a little bit.
• 43:00
  Maybe I have. I think you just have to try
• 43:03
  what works for you. You do, but I like controlled
• 43:06
  chaos personally. And then lighting is also really
• 43:13
  important, very big. So if you're trying to like be
• 43:15
  task oriented and get things done, you want a cooler tone,
• 43:20
  brighter light. It boosts alertness and it's
• 43:23
  ideal for, you know, work areas where you're trying to get
• 43:26
  things done, whereas warmer tones are good for relaxation
• 43:32
  and and a little bit dimmer tones are good for relaxation as
• 43:37
  well. So, so if you want to have a
• 43:39
  great conversation, maybe you don't want to be under
• 43:42
  fluorescent lights. I don't like being in meetings
• 43:45
  where I'm in a fluorescent lit room, you know, like I either
• 43:47
  want something sunny or I want something dimmer and warmer,
• 43:52
  relaxed tones to be able to actually like, communicate and
• 43:57
  relax and get your thoughts out to people.
• 43:59
  Yeah, I agree. And I also like a desk lamp.
• 44:03
  I like to turn that on as well as other, you know, another
• 44:06
  lamp. And then as you'd asked me
• 44:08
  earlier about overhead, Oh yeah. You know, if say it's at your
• 44:13
  home, like if it's a beautiful chandelier, of course I'm going
• 44:16
  to like that on. But if it's like, you know, a
• 44:20
  fluorescent light or a ceiling fan with a light in it, probably
• 44:23
  not so much. There's the concept of the big
• 44:26
  light right now. And there's a lot of people who
• 44:29
  are like, do not turn on the big light.
• 44:32
  Yeah. And I am one of those people.
• 44:34
  Like I do not like overhead lights.
• 44:36
  And there's some that are better than others.
• 44:38
  Like in my bedroom, the overhead lights are really nicely done.
• 44:43
  And it's like a balanced color, but.
• 44:46
  What if it's a chandelier? Would you like that?
• 44:47
  I would like that, yeah, because it's thoughtfully done.
• 44:50
  But just like a fluorescent or just overhead light, the big
• 44:55
  light is just so bright and layered lighting creates so much
• 44:59
  of a nice survive. And for me in my office, the
• 45:02
  bright direct light that's cooler toned as daylight for me
• 45:06
  because daylight is naturally cooler tone.
• 45:08
  So I have a window in front of my desk and I find that to be
• 45:11
  very productive. Yeah.
• 45:13
  And do you still turn on the other lights?
• 45:14
  No, during the. Oh, see, now I have to.
• 45:17
  I would always turn on my chandelier in OK in the dining
• 45:20
  room and I would open my shutters to that door.
• 45:24
  You know that goes. To my style, maybe I would have
• 45:26
  like a little lamp potentially. Like I have a lamp in my office
• 45:30
  here at the office that I'll turn on sometimes if it gets
• 45:35
  stormy. And I have like a standing lamp
• 45:38
  like that in my office because sometimes when the clouds roll
• 45:42
  and it does get really dark, so I need to turn something on.
• 45:44
  Not the big light though. Not the big light won't do it.
• 45:48
  So I have big lights in my office here and it somehow works
• 45:53
  though because my office is already pretty closed, right?
• 45:56
  So it does feel like the outside.
• 45:58
  And if it again, if it's the right big light that it can be
• 46:02
  fine. But yeah, it's, it's nice to
• 46:06
  have layered lighting though, because say you're at your desk,
• 46:08
  you can have the cooler tone focus light.
• 46:11
  Whereas if you're you have a little seating area or
• 46:13
  conference space in your office or in an area of your home that
• 46:18
  could have warmer light and form a different function for
• 46:21
  productivity. But one thing I did want to know
• 46:25
  with natural daylight and having a window in front of you is
• 46:29
  sometimes it gets so bright I'm like, am I damaging my eyes?
• 46:32
  Like do I need sunglasses? And I found that the blue light
• 46:37
  blocking lenses help me. Do you use this?
• 46:41
  Yeah, like if it's too bright, I'll put on my blue light
• 46:43
  blocking lenses that I used for, you know, the blue light for my
• 46:48
  computer. And I think it has like maybe
• 46:50
  some sort of UV protection. I don't know if it's a placebo
• 46:54
  effect or what worth looking into, but I find that it helps
• 46:59
  me. Well, if it helps you, then
• 47:01
  yeah. It makes the the morning light
• 47:04
  that's really bright and palatable.
• 47:05
  So that's just a little tip. Yeah.
• 47:07
  And it too where your house is positioned to and that room is
• 47:11
  positioned with the sun. That's so true.
• 47:13
  So, so true. So, well, and Speaking of
• 47:16
  sunlight, the other important thing to keep in mind is
• 47:21
  biophilic design. I think you even, you know,
• 47:24
  brought it up before, but maybe we should explain what it is a
• 47:29
  little bit more. Yeah, I think you have.
• 47:31
  A yeah, yeah. So it's basically, let's see, I
• 47:35
  actually found this little article that I have been using
• 47:39
  to justify all the plants that I keep buying for the office.
• 47:42
  Can you have too many plants? I don't think so.
• 47:47
  Can you have too many plans? Yeah, look.
• 47:49
  We'll ask our producer to look that up.
• 47:51
  If you can have that too many plans.
• 47:53
  But it basically biophilia is our innate need to connect with
• 47:58
  nature, and it's something we should have more of in our
• 48:01
  workspaces because articles show, or articles are reporting
• 48:08
  on studies that are showing that exposure to nature promotes a
• 48:13
  fuller psychological restoration and it allows for greater
• 48:19
  attention spans. I believe that.
• 48:21
  And there's mounting evidence that nature inspired spaces
• 48:25
  enable employees to focus more easily, which may restore rather
• 48:29
  than deplete mental energy and enhance.
• 48:31
  Creativity. So absolutely.
• 48:34
  And you know, being in nature is also just so reviving to your
• 48:40
  mental and to your soul, so it can't be a bad thing.
• 48:44
  Absolutely. People, you know, there is that
• 48:48
  theory of forest bathing in, I can't remember which culture it
• 48:53
  is from another country, but forest bathing is when people
• 48:59
  immerse themselves in nature, whether it's a forest or just
• 49:03
  another natural place, and it calms their nervous system and
• 49:09
  allows them to connect to nature.
• 49:11
  I think, you know, kind of like making your bed maybe every day,
• 49:15
  just take a little bit of time to just be outside.
• 49:18
  Yeah, in the morning. And see how that helps.
• 49:20
  I know like when I've had a busy long day, just walking outside
• 49:26
  for a few minutes and just sitting or just, you know, being
• 49:31
  outside is such a good refresher.
• 49:33
  Sometimes when I need a break, I'll go out in the backyard and
• 49:37
  just kind of look at my garden and pull weeds.
• 49:41
  I used to be better at taking walks, but a lot of times I
• 49:45
  notice when I reach for my phone it's when I when I'm working,
• 49:50
  it's when I need a break, a mental break and I'm trying to
• 49:53
  train myself instead of picking up my phone to get up and go
• 49:57
  outside. Oh, that's a great idea.
• 49:59
  So either go outside, go on a walk, but just that time outside
• 50:03
  I think can just give you the break you actually need and make
• 50:07
  you more effective and and ready to do more work later.
• 50:11
  Absolutely. And the sun when it's shining
• 50:15
  and you're absorbing some of that sunshine.
• 50:19
  Yeah. Or even if it's a rainy day,
• 50:21
  it's still good because you're outside.
• 50:22
  Yeah, isn't. There a school or some
• 50:26
  curriculum maybe throughout the country of school age children
• 50:30
  doing school outside no matter or they go outside every day no
• 50:35
  matter what the. Actually, our copywriter here at
• 50:39
  Furniture Row has a hit. One of his daughters or both of
• 50:46
  his daughters goes to one of those schools in Boulder, and
• 50:50
  it's all outdoors. And there's like a whole list of
• 50:52
  things he needed to get for them.
• 50:56
  And it was like, you know, just everything for them to be able
• 50:59
  to engage with the elements safely.
• 51:02
  Like, you know, they had rain boots and they had rain jackets
• 51:05
  and they had a sunscreen and, oh, I don't know.
• 51:07
  But there are all sorts of things for them to be prepared
• 51:09
  to be in school outside. And it was a younger like it was
• 51:13
  like preschool, I think. But I think that's amazing for
• 51:16
  younger kids especially. Things are changing.
• 51:19
  They don't get back to nature. You can't make a four year old
• 51:22
  sit for that long. Like, that's crazy.
• 51:25
  Let's just stop fighting it. Yeah.
• 51:29
  And there's also lights that can make you feel like there's
• 51:33
  sunlight in your office if you don't have any, so that's worth
• 51:38
  looking into. Or there's those really cool
• 51:41
  trending sunset lights that are that are really out there now.
• 51:47
  Set changes to look like the different times a day.
• 51:50
  Yeah, well, it it's supposed to simulate golden hour, which is
• 51:54
  my favorite time of day. So it can just like make you
• 51:57
  happy and give you a boost of serotonin.
• 51:59
  So especially if you don't have windows in your office, that
• 52:03
  would definitely be worth looking into.
• 52:04
  And then other biophilic elements outside of just natural
• 52:09
  light are integrating materials like wood and stone and natural
• 52:13
  fibers. We touched on that in our last
• 52:16
  episode about organic modern. If everybody wants to refer to
• 52:23
  that, you can. But yeah, we got way more into
• 52:27
  organic, modern and how it affects, you know, how you feel
• 52:32
  about things. And then, you know, adding
• 52:34
  plants in is a great idea. Photos of nature.
• 52:39
  Definitely, and if you don't have, I hate to say this, but if
• 52:44
  you don't have a green thumb you could even put faux plants in if
• 52:48
  it feels you know. Well, it's in the sangria as a
• 52:52
  as a photo of a forest or something, you know, do.
• 52:54
  What you can do what you can. Maybe even a little water
• 52:58
  feature, like a little, you know, fountain that you could
• 53:02
  put on your desk or on a countertop.
• 53:04
  That's always nice you. Were talking about water
• 53:06
  features before, that would be so nice.
• 53:09
  Some people don't like the sound of that when they're trying to
• 53:11
  work. Some people, it's good for
• 53:13
  their. Mood to find the right one right
• 53:15
  I've learned time and time again we have one in the office that
• 53:19
  was like a waterfall and it sounded beautiful but it would
• 53:22
  spit that's. Like Niagara Falls out there,
• 53:25
  isn't it? Well, there was that and it
• 53:27
  would just start it. Something would get clogged and
• 53:29
  it would start spitting out. So that wasn't helpful for
• 53:32
  productivity. Talking about.
• 53:34
  Like a mold? Cute.
• 53:35
  Little tabletop one that you just put on.
• 53:37
  I mean, that would be fun, you know, next.
• 53:39
  To your little sand and rock garden with the rake.
• 53:42
  Oh yeah, I forgot about those. Where did those go?
• 53:45
  Laugh, but really it it works if it works for you.
• 53:49
  But they used to be everywhere, in office spaces, the Zen
• 53:52
  gardens. But yeah, beyond biophilic
• 53:58
  design, our last point that we just wanted to make sure we
• 54:03
  included with storage and organization because storage and
• 54:07
  organization can keep you feeling organized.
• 54:13
  Clear the clutter. Clear the clutter.
• 54:16
  Visual clutter has been shown to lead to mental overload, and so
• 54:22
  you don't need to add any more of that into.
• 54:26
  Your space. Into your space, I think mental
• 54:29
  overload will naturally come and you don't need to aid it along.
• 54:33
  So having places to put things a allows you to find what you're
• 54:39
  looking for quickly, and B allows you to feel like your
• 54:44
  space is just clean and you can focus on the task at hand.
• 54:48
  Well, and the clutter is, you know, yeah, in a box or it's put
• 54:53
  away. So you're not visually seeing
• 54:55
  that. I have a lot of clutter that is
• 54:57
  hidden in boxes, but when I walk into my office.
• 55:00
  It looks organized. It looks organized, yeah.
• 55:03
  So mentally, you're like, yes. Yeah, so my office is like a
• 55:07
  huge craft space for me also, and it's weird.
• 55:10
  Craft in there. For sure, or I at least go in
• 55:13
  there to get my craft supplies. But I have those organized in
• 55:17
  little storage cubes and I have an art cart and both of those
• 55:22
  things are really important for me to be able to like.
• 55:24
  Is the art cart like on wheels does?
• 55:26
  It OK, that's yeah. But I can have all these
• 55:28
  different little cups that I put and ones for pencils and ones
• 55:32
  for paint brushes and ones for colored pencils and that way,
• 55:36
  you know, I can find what I'm looking for when I need it.
• 55:41
  So it can just be, you know, really helpful and you can, if
• 55:45
  you have a small space, vertical storage can be good shelves.
• 55:49
  Yeah, definitely shelves that you can put your boxes on too.
• 55:53
  The lids. When I moved into my dining room
• 55:56
  when I was working at home, I had these little, they were also
• 56:01
  on wheels or casters, and they fit perfectly underneath my
• 56:05
  dining table. And that's where I kept like all
• 56:07
  of my finishes and fabrics and paints and things like that that
• 56:11
  I was referencing quite a bit. And it was all tucked away
• 56:15
  underneath the table, so it was harder to see.
• 56:18
  Yeah, like if you walked in there.
• 56:20
  But it was nice. It was a good feeling.
• 56:21
  That was all organized. Well, that's great.
• 56:25
  I feel like we need, you know, good storage solutions.
• 56:29
  And then do you ever work with pets?
• 56:33
  Yes, yes. Sorry I'm I'm being like again
• 56:38
  still. Trying to like scratching.
• 56:39
  It all to the right get settled and settled and yeah.
• 56:43
  What is your experience been with pets?
• 56:46
  In in your office. In your workspace.
• 56:49
  Well, most people that I work with know there's probably going
• 56:52
  to be a pet in my office at some time during, you know, the work
• 56:57
  week. Not so much every week, but
• 57:00
  occasionally. And for a while, there was a pet
• 57:03
  in my office. We've had a lot of that too.
• 57:05
  We're a dog friendly office and sometimes it can be really
• 57:09
  relaxing and other times it can be a distraction.
• 57:11
  For me it's total relaxing and I love it.
• 57:16
  I love when I bring my dog and he just lays in the little pet
• 57:20
  bed underneath my my desk. It's the best thing ever.
• 57:24
  And matter of fact, I think maybe I'll bring Windsor a
• 57:26
  little bit more to the office. He's so cute.
• 57:29
  I think it's just UPS morale and brings people together.
• 57:33
  But for. People that don't like dogs that
• 57:36
  may not be, you know, that may not work for them.
• 57:39
  So don't come into my office if you.
• 57:41
  Yeah, exactly. Well, also, I remember when I
• 57:46
  lived with roommates, one of my roommates had a cat named Hudson
• 57:50
  and he was just like a big orange tabby.
• 57:52
  And he would come and he didn't like when everybody was working
• 57:55
  cuz nobody was paying attention to him.
• 57:57
  So he'd jump up on my desk and like almost lay across my
• 58:01
  keyboard. And if I was in a Zoom meeting,
• 58:04
  he would be and I'd be taking notes.
• 58:06
  He'd be like trying to grab the end of my pen.
• 58:09
  And so that was adorable, but it was a little distracting.
• 58:13
  So there's a good balance, you know, I think of of pets in your
• 58:17
  workspace. Well, I would bring my cat into
• 58:20
  my office for a while. Little mouse.
• 58:23
  Little mouse. Little mouse and he would
• 58:26
  either, you know, curl up in my lap or he would like to lay next
• 58:29
  to me or behind me in the chair. That's adorable.
• 58:32
  I love it. I think I work better with pets.
• 58:35
  I yeah, I think a lot of people that's the case.
• 58:39
  Well, that was a very productive conversation.
• 58:44
  We, I think we covered a lot of ground there, yeah.
• 58:46
  We did well, let's end with a little game I want to touch on 2
• 58:54
  truths and a lie circle backs. I have that for you.
• 58:58
  Touch on, you know, all the corporate terms I'm throwing
• 59:01
  into this conversation, but. Circle.
• 59:04
  Back. Yeah, let's circle back to two
• 59:06
  truths and a lie. So now that you've heard my
• 59:12
  thoughts on this topic, can you guess what my lie is?
• 59:20
  So cleaning my laptop gives me a deep sense of purpose.
• 59:25
  OK. I used to have a beta beta fish
• 59:28
  named Alejandro on my desk. OK.
• 59:33
  I listen to opera when working. So I'm supposed to guess which
• 59:39
  one is is not true? Yeah, which one am I lying
• 59:43
  about? I think.
• 59:44
  The cleaning. Your desk, your computer, your
• 59:51
  laptop. Actually love cleaning my
• 59:55
  keyboard. It gives me like the most sense
• 1:00:00
  of satisfaction to get one of those little condensed.
• 1:00:04
  Air like it goes. And then like all of the gunk
• 1:00:09
  gets out of your keyboard and it's.
• 1:00:11
  Just you clean. This thing like at least once a
• 1:00:13
  week, but it's gotta be a clean keyboard.
• 1:00:16
  It's functioning at its optimal. Do you like wipe it down with
• 1:00:19
  like Clorox? Sometimes, yeah, but I just, I
• 1:00:22
  just love a clean keyboard, especially if I'm like traveling
• 1:00:26
  and working at the same time like that keyboard needs to be
• 1:00:28
  clean after I'm on the all times.
• 1:00:30
  Yeah, yeah, for sure. So.
• 1:00:32
  Which one was the lie? The I don't listen to opera when
• 1:00:37
  I work. Sometimes I listen to harp
• 1:00:39
  music, but that's different. That's my like, Oh my gosh, too
• 1:00:43
  many things are going on. I just need to be in my peaceful
• 1:00:45
  place. Let's listen to harp music and
• 1:00:48
  then Alejandro here at the office.
• 1:00:51
  I did have a beta fish and. What happened to Alejandro?
• 1:00:55
  Well, he just got old and died, but he was a very feisty red
• 1:00:58
  beta fish and every time he went up to his bowl he like come at
• 1:01:03
  you. But it was a fun little element
• 1:01:05
  of a Co. Working space 'cause it was.
• 1:01:07
  When I shared an office and so we took turns cleaning his bowl
• 1:01:12
  and. Well, they say that, you know,
• 1:01:15
  fish tanks and fish, those are also really good for relaxation.
• 1:01:18
  Biophilia. Yeah.
• 1:01:19
  You know, connection with nature.
• 1:01:21
  There you go. Yeah, what about you?
• 1:01:23
  Fish for everyone. Yeah, yeah.
• 1:01:24
  Pets in a workspace. That's a non distract, less
• 1:01:27
  distracting pet in a workspace. Yeah, yeah, I think I need an
• 1:01:32
  aquarium. Let's get one of.
• 1:01:35
  The Yeah, it is a. It is a lot of work.
• 1:01:38
  Do you, do you, Have you seen the?
• 1:01:40
  Aquariums that they like literally swim in to clean.
• 1:01:44
  That's what I'm. Really.
• 1:01:45
  Yeah, that would be, that would actually be kind of fun.
• 1:01:48
  Yeah. Connection with nature for sure.
• 1:01:51
  They have that at I think it's Shields or one of those
• 1:01:54
  superstores. Bass Pro Shops.
• 1:01:57
  Something I, I don't know, but I've seen somebody in there
• 1:02:00
  cleaning. Sushi restaurant.
• 1:02:03
  The dentist office. The dentist, Those.
• 1:02:06
  Are yeah, common offices to see ya.
• 1:02:09
  All right, so here's my questions for you, Miss Jessa.
• 1:02:15
  OK or not my questions, my tooth truths and I'll OK and.
• 1:02:20
  Then I can trace it. OK, so I had a Christmas tree in
• 1:02:25
  my Home Office up all year round.
• 1:02:29
  OK, I work best with music playing very softly in the
• 1:02:37
  background and then all of my pets would hang out.
• 1:02:42
  This is when I worked at home in my office all day.
• 1:02:48
  I think that the soft music is the lie.
• 1:02:51
  Really. Tell me why you think that.
• 1:02:54
  Because I think the other two are so true about you.
• 1:02:58
  Really. Yeah, I think you would be the
• 1:03:00
  type of person to have a Christmas tree in your office
• 1:03:03
  year round and you would just purpose it into a different
• 1:03:05
  holiday tree. Yeah.
• 1:03:08
  OK, so you are right because I here's the thing I love to
• 1:03:12
  listen to podcast or YouTube whatever on you know, during the
• 1:03:16
  day as I'm working but I cannot have music on when I'm working.
• 1:03:21
  It drives me bonkers. Especially like if it's not
• 1:03:24
  worth it. Music, it's like any music.
• 1:03:26
  I can't do it. Like, yeah, I.
• 1:03:29
  Get it? So, but my Christmas tree was
• 1:03:32
  like a little 4 1/2 foot pink Christmas tree and it was my
• 1:03:35
  daughter's. And so I just used it all year
• 1:03:38
  round and turned it on. It was like twinkly lights.
• 1:03:41
  So you. Need the twinkly lights?
• 1:03:43
  You need the jazzy fun area in your workspace.
• 1:03:48
  I loved it. That's so cool.
• 1:03:50
  You know me well. Well, I hope this conversation
• 1:03:54
  has helped everybody feel like they can be a little bit more
• 1:03:58
  productive in their space. Yeah.
• 1:04:01
  Figure out what works best for you.
• 1:04:03
  Exactly. It's all about your work style.
• 1:04:06
  And you know, make sure to subscribe to the Furniture Row
• 1:04:11
  YouTube channel or anywhere you listen to podcasts if you
• 1:04:14
  haven't already, because then you know when we drop more
• 1:04:18
  interesting little factoids like this and guides.
• 1:04:23
  And you can also find additional links and content about this
• 1:04:28
  episode on our blog, so in our socials.
• 1:04:31
  I love our blog We. Just we have a lot of
• 1:04:33
  interesting tidbits on our socials in our blog.
• 1:04:36
  Definitely. It's it's entertainment for
• 1:04:38
  sure. What's the name of our blog?
• 1:04:41
  It's the front door, the front door by front door.
• 1:04:43
  Yes, the front Door by Furniture Rd.