My first workspace was in an unused room in our apartment. We installed shelving, added desks and Macs (the modem came later…), I had stationery printed and a sign put up outside.
The arrival of a second child (and the need of a second bedroom) caused me to start searching for another solution. I became interested a unused studio in the cellar/garden and when the current renter left I was able to take it over. The room was a horrible mess: the wooden floors were rotted through and the walls were crumbling. My landlady agreed to give it to me at the old (unbelievably low) price if I would take responsibility for a part of the rennovation work. Deal !!!! She cleared out the space and had it repainted; I had the wiring redone, a concrete/plaster floor poured and installed a new cast-iron stove. My husband built room dividers and counters and lacquered everything beautifully.
With an inside passage to the cellar and an door to the garden I had a great solution that enabled me to be close to home as well as to have a separate entrance. Nonetheless, it was a rather dark space and I had to have the oven going most of the time. The small kitchen facilitated outdoor lunches and garden parties and the garden itself was a wonderful distraction from desk work. Bit by bit, the space became more «homey».
After many years I found myself in the situation where I did not spend as much time in the office … and at the same time my daughter was desiring more independence. So I tossed a lot of stuff, sold some furniture and moved back into the old space upstairs (and daughter had her own place). This step also involved some work – we needed to repaint and I promised myself a wallpaper feature to offset the pain of giving up my studio…
Back to the roots in the original home office.