Arlene McInty're of Ventura let us snoop around her home office and take some pictures. For more information on Ventura interior/contract/design consultants, visit their website. Here's what Arlene had to say about her personal workspace...
Working from home:
Pretty much my whole house is an office, though it looks like you could live there. Space was just getting too tight for me, and so we decided to use the whole house. I have my meetings there. It’s not a public showroom, but there are lots of pieces there that I would use – samples and leftovers are always to hand, as well as all of my fabrics, brochures from suppliers and wood finishes. Upstairs is mainly the office that we would use, while downstairs is for meeting with clients. In my own space I do my emails and phone calls, and pulling things together for clients.
Private showroom:
I have another room for putting boards together, and for looking at fabrics as it’s important to look at fabric in different light. I have also used my own home as a showroom, privately. There lot of pieces in there as well, everything that I have is saleable – it’s the only way of showing people what it looks like, what our upholsterers’ work is like, how sofas feel, and so in that sense it’s very useful.
Advantages of working from home:
I have been doing the home office thing for over ten years now. I have always worked out of my own house, I was a big believer in it before it was trendy. I couldn’t bear the thought of sitting in traffic for three hours a day – that’s three hours of your precious life spent sitting in traffic. There are so many advantages to working from home. You’re never late for work and you don’t have to try and find parking.
On a regular day:
I normally bring my dogs for a walk in the morning, and I start my day on my phone when I’m walking them. Then I go back to the house and get stuck in. Then that might take me to site meetings. Sometimes I can work until seven or eight in the evening. If you work for yourself you’re constantly thinking about what’s going on though. Your phone never leaves you, I’m forever checking my emails - that just happens when you work for yourself.
