The picture-perfect home.

I wish I were an interior designer. Having said that, last week I wanted to be a neuroscientist and a chef, so let’s just say I wish I could be a bit of everything. I’ve mentioned my love for interior design before. And my love for colour.

When hubby-to-be and I first walked into our flat, we instantly knew this was to be our home. We looked at each other in sheer excitement and pretended not to be too interested to fool the real estate agent, who didn’t fall for it. Fast-forward five years and our house isn’t really a home yet. Let me explain. We have all the furniture we need, but the rooms are not 100% the way we had pictured them. They still look a bit empty, not organised, not spotless, not super tidy. And overall, out flat just doesn’t look anything like those picture-perfect homes in magazines, with frames in exactly the right places, colour-coordinated soft furnishings and not an item of clothing in sight. Where on earth do those people store their jackets? Where do they empty their pockets? Why is there not a single crease in their sheets? Seriously, do they even live there? I think I see flaws everywhere I look because this is not only where I live, it’s also where I work. I would like my office corner to look like a high-end furniture display, but unfortunately it’s more of a mix-and-match type of thing. With lots of colour of course, including my Mondrianesque painting (for more on that click here).

If there’s one thing I do like about our home, it’s probably the one thing most visitors question: colours, everywhere. Mismatched and far too bright, but it makes me happy (hubby-to-be not so much). When I was a teenager, I would wear these neon orange or yellow jackets, while everyone else in dreary Belgium was wearing black or grey. My classmates called me fluo Amy for a good six years. I didn’t really care. Then again, I now have a predisposition for plain black dresses, tops and trousers, so I think subconsciously that innocent teasing did have an effect on me. While my wardrobe has become boring, my home has become a colouring book. I add colourful accessories wherever I can. I have to stress all the colour is in the accessories, because hubby-to-be won’t give me permission to paint the walls in my favourite shades. At least not the ones visitors see. I got my way and the bedroom wall is now bright red. And our spare bedroom will have an orange wall. His reasoning: no one ever goes in there anyway...

A few colourful touches...

Colourful boxes in my office corner

My new kitchen shelf & biscuit tins

Spring is back in town!

My “non-office buddy”

I’m very lucky to have my friend M. – I like to call her my “non-office buddy” – who checks that I’m alive every few hours. After all, when you share your “office” with no one but your dog, you’re not exactly safeguarded against intruders and sudden health scares, like panic attacks resulting in hyperventilation. Thankfully, I live in an apartment block where there is always someone around, and my hubby-to-be, parents, mother-in-law and sisters-in-law give me the occasional phone call to make sure I’m ok. And then there’s M.; she’s special. She makes me feel like I do have a colleague right beside me. Not one of those annoying, nosy ones, but a true friend, who asks you how you’re feeling first thing in the morning, who wishes you bon appétit at lunchtime, and who cheerfully ends the day with a funny one-liner. And yes, we also meet for cappuccino and cake. Like real colleagues do – wait, do they? I’m not sure.

I always thought that the worst thing about working from home was the gut-wrenching loneliness. And to a certain extent I was right. You do feel cut off from the rest of the world. You don’t have staff parties. On your birthday no one surprises you with a box of chocolates on your desk. And there’s no such thing as office pranks…

But even worse – and this was something I hadn’t really considered when my stay-at-home adventure started – is that you’ve got no one to turn to in case of emergencies. I like to think of my labrador as my guard dog, but if you’ve ever had the honour of being a lab owner, you’ll agree that those wonderful furry friends are not of much help in terms of crisis management.

So if you’re working from home, or you’re considering setting up shop in your living room, find yourself a “non-office buddy” who always has your back. Someone to give you a shout to remind you it’s time to go home – correction: to LEAVE home. This true friend will become your punching bag – sorry M. – when you’ve just realised you’ve translated a text into the wrong language (yes, that has happened to me). When boiler no. 9 has decided to trip (Maltese readers need no further explanation, I suppose?), causing a 9-hour power cut as you were about to send out an urgent proofreading assignment. Or when your allergy is making you sneeze all over your keyboard. Yes, that is happening right now. M., are you online?

To desk or not to desk?

If you work from home, you’re familiar with this issue. Having a desk has its perks, first and foremost: it looks professional. People who happen to stop by – “I was at the supermarket and I thought you could use some company” – will actually realise, even if just for a minute, that you WORK. Having a desk is the perfect way to avoid infertility – to be honest I’m not sure about this one, but surely it can’t be healthy to balance your Mac on your lap all day – and that horrible stingy feeling you get in your legs when you’ve been sitting on the sofa all day. But it also has its drawbacks, especially if, like me, you have no space to set up a home office in a separate room. I mean, who wants to look at his work space ALL DAY? That pile of papers that just keeps growing and growing – yes, even when you’re in a paperless sector like mine, you end up with scraps of paper everywhere… doodles, phone numbers, business cards. Very productive.

So what’s best – a desk or some sort of laptop-supporting contraption, like the thingies IKEA sells? I like to look at it like a fashionista who loves to mix & match colours, fabrics and textures. I have a green (plastic) IKEA laptop support on my desk – yes, I do own a desk, also from IKEA… made of cheap but sturdy MDF. I also have a ridiculously ugly, but comfy laptop cushion – from, you guessed it, IKEA. I use both every day. I start my day at my desk – it makes me feel like a “real” office worker. It motivates me. For about two hours. Then I move five metres to the right and I cosy up on the sofa – on the chaise longue to be precise – with my dog beside me and a cup of espresso on my footstool turned coffee table. And sometimes I end the day in the bathroom, on the bed, in the kitchen, or even on the balcony…

Do I recommend my approach? It works for me, so why not give it a shot? They say variety is the spice of life. So by all means, do move from your desk to the sofa, from the sofa to the table, from the table to the bed, and maybe, just maybe, all the way back to the desk. It will make you feel alive. I mean, less frustrated. But no, it doesn’t count as exercise! 

Oh and, for the record, we don’t have an IKEA store in Malta. Whenever I go abroad, I actually schedule a trip to IKEA to fill my suitcase with office goodies. I’m a sucker for cheap faux-Swedish rubbish.