Catching up on work from the living room sofa always seemed like a pleasure—up until it became a full-time affair. When the coronavirus pandemic struck earlier this year and sent office workers home, many of us discovered that such improvised setups can also become wormholes of household clutter, nagging family members, and ergonomic strife. CovetED is here to help you get inspired and let’s never forget: Your Home Office Should Be a Reflection of Who You Are.

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LASDUN DESK
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With companies like Facebook and Twitter leading the charge to make working from home the new normal, the home office is finally top of mind once again. Whether used every day of the week or for an occasional evening brainstorm, a well-designed space can help shut out distractions, centre the mind, and inspire creativity.

“It’s never been clearer how much our home environment impacts how we feel and how productive we are,” says Jessica Geller of the New Jersey design firm Toledo Geller. “Normally, being in an office keeps us focused. But at home, you have to do it alone, which can be difficult.”

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To help, your home office should be a direct reflection of your personal style, passions, and aspirations. One of its biggest advantages compared to a corporate office—where workers are often limited to customizing a cubicle with quirky calendars and potted plants—is that you can do anything you want.

Ernest de la Torre has designed everything from a red leather–panelled retreat anchored by a weighty, universe-mastering chrome desk in Manhattan to a sunny outpost in Malibu bathed in mint green. “That’s the owner’s favourite colour,” de la Torre says of the latter. “She should get to live in her favourite colour every day.”

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Compared to the upper-crust home workspaces of the 18th and 19th centuries, much has changed. Technology has largely done away with the need for floor-to-ceiling stacks of books, but it has also introduced an armada of plas­ticky components like monitors, printers, and scanners bursting with messy cables—none of which are as appealing to look at as antique globes, sextants, or Roman statuary.

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