B4 • Friday, June 25, 2021
thegardenisland.com
THE GARDEN ISLAND
THE $150 UPGRADE
Design hacks for a great outdoor workspace
Melissa Rayworth ASSOCIATED PRESS
THE GOAL: Creating an outdoor space perfect for working from home or rocking your creative side hustle. The Estimated Budget: As little as $150. Millions of people found themselves working from home during the past year. And many are likely to continue doing so this summer and beyond, even as pandemic restrictions ease. One bonus when working from home: spending some or all of your work day outside. But while curling up on an outdoor sofa with a laptop can feel like a treat during a workday, it’s not always conducive to getting things done. If work-from-home is here to stay, how do we really make our outdoor workspace as functional and professional as possible? We’ve asked three designers — California-based Nikki Klugh, New York-based Melanie Roy, and Room and Board Business Interiors expert Elise Nicpon — for some simple, inexpensive tweaks to help create a functional, attractive place to work outdoors. A truly workable space Outdoor dining tables are usually about the same height as a desk (29 to 31 inches tall). But dining chairs may be low-slung and lack the back support you need. Klugh suggests adding a lumbar pillow. And if needed, add a seat cushion so your arms are at the right height. (A good seat cushion/ lumbar cushion combo runs about $50). For additional support,
shelving units. Use one or two to create a space for work-related supplies than can double as a professional background for video calls. To further create privacy (and scent the air), Nicpon suggests adding upright planters with flowering plants inside. Especially in smaller outdoor spaces with neighbors nearby, they’re helpful to delineate your workspace and create a screen if you need one. Connectivity
ANASTASSIOS MENTIS/MELANIE ROY DESIGN VIA AP
An outdoor swing lounger. Millions of people found themselves working from home during the past year. One bonus when working from home: spending some or all of your work day outside. Nicpon recommends choosing chairs with arms. “It’s very helpful,” Nicpon says, if you can “rest your arms just like you would in an office chair, and having that structure for your back.” If you don’t have an outdoor dining table to use as a desk, you can add an adjustable-height laptop desk with locking wheels. (There are durable metal options available for under $200.) For keeping office supplies and snacks handy, Roy suggests adding a rolling bar cart made for outdoors. Ikea’s Applaro line includes an outdoor bar cart ($100) and matching closed storage bench ($70). A splurge worth considering for
work and entertaining: Add a small outdoor fridge to keep cold drinks nearby. Sunshine and rain We go outside to enjoy the weather. But the biggest challenge outside is ... the weather. A large, adjustable umbrella can help with the sun’s heat and glare if you don’t have an awning or roof overhead. Another option: a fabric “shade sail” that you can string up over your chosen workspace. (Basic rectangles are available for about $35, though sail kits with poles can cost $100 and up.) To further manage glare, Klugh recommends an anti-glare screen protector if you’ll be working outside on a laptop (about $30).
And a ceiling fan is a great addition to keep air moving, so heat and humidity won’t distract you. A tabletop fan, too, makes a valuable difference (good, small fans are available for $15).
All three designers recommend adding a Wi-Fi booster (prices vary, but available for as little as $20) if your signal is weaker outside. And while many homes have at least one outdoor electrical outlet, it can be practical to add another near the spot where you’d like to work. To stay further connected with the news or online content, Roy points out that outdoor-safe TVs have become much less expensive. Finishing touches
Want to invest a bit more? Outdoor heat lamps come in many shapes and sizes, and can make your outdoor space work-friendly through much of the year in many Privacy and professionalism parts of the country. Many remote workers spend And for a true splurge, Roy sugpart of the day on video calls. If gests creating a dedicated work you’ll be Zooming from your outarea by adding a wooden pergola or pavilion over an area of paving door workspace, make sure the stones. background feels professional. It’s a bigger investment, but it One easy and stylish option: Klugh says outdoor curtain panels can give you a true outdoor office. Whatever your budget, Nicpon can help create privacy, offer an atrecommends working outside at tractive Zoom background and least some of the time. “It’s such a also add style to your outdoor more dynamic experience for you space. as a worker,” she says. “It changes Another option: Roy notes that how you feel.” many companies make outdoor
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Surprise 5.9% drop in new home sales; prices hit record high ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — Sales of new homes fell unexpectedly in May and the 5.9% retreat was the second consecutive monthly decline even as the median price hit an alltime high. The May sales decline pushed sales to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 769,000, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. That followed a 7.8% sales decline in April, a figure that was revised lower from what was initially thought to be a drop of only 5.9%. The median price of a new home sold in May jumped to $374,400, up 18.1% from a year ago when the median price stood at $317,100. The average home price also rose in May to $420,600, compared with $368,700 a year ago. A shortage of homes on the market and rising costs for materials like lumber, and also labor, is fueling the upward momentum. The surge in lumber prices that began this year has started to unwind and that could help slow surging housing costs, but the shortage of homes to buy is still creating a very high bar for potential buyers. “What we need to take the edge off double-digit housing price gains is more houses and the builder backlog and the strong permits rate show more new homes are coming,” said Robert Frick, corporate economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. The inventory of new homes for sale increased to 330,000 in May, up 4.8% from the end of April. That would represent a 5.1 months supply of new homes at last month’s sales pace.
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