THE HOME OFFICE IS HERE TO STAY...

...but not always in the home. Some liberated workers have taken their workspace to the backyard, the garage, and other creative choices.

BY SALLY SCHULTHEISS

You need only look at your own workspace to know that home offices have experienced a whole lot of love over the past few years. Whether you upgraded your desk, decorated your Zoom background, or renovated your guest room, chances are you took a new approach to your office away from the office. According to a survey performed by CraftJack, the largest online service connecting professional contractors to clients, 91 percent of respondents “did something to improve their workspace” in 2021.

With a rocket launch of an assist by the pandemic (and, often, dollars provided by employers for remote work), home offices have hit the mainstream. They’ve also experienced quite the glow-up. Today a home office not only provides a space to block out family chaos while you work; it also represents your professional work ethic, your personal aesthetic, your aura. Using a little wallpaper, intentional organizing (need a built-in for your paperclips? You got it!), and well-chosen artwork, your office can be you in four walls. A room of one’s own that would make Virginia Woolf fall off her desk chair. These four professionals each created a space that embodies all sectors of their identity, where all parts of themselves belong. They are “offices” where you can mix and match personal with professional, home and office, family and clients—where utility and frivolity live in harmony along with productivity and relaxation. The result is that, whenever you’re at work, you always feel at home.

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