Table-sill and 20 more ingenious ideas for work or study at home

The remote format of work is becoming more and more popular every year, which means that more and more people prefer home to office. What should you consider when organizing your workspace? What nuances do you need to think about in advance? What will help you tune in to productive activities and be effective at home?

How to organize a workplace ?

• Set aside a separate space where you will only be working. Many make the mistake of writing reports at the dinner table and making calls from bed, but these places are for other purposes. It is very important to separate spheres of life. Otherwise, you will be distracted during important tasks and think about work during your rest. 
• Take a fresh look at your apartment and find free niches or corners. Sometimes a narrow table and chair can fit there. 
• If you have a bay window in your bedroom or living room, you can also create a comfortable and bright workplace with natural light there. It is enough to place a table, a chair and a couple of drawers in the center for storing documents or office supplies.
• If you do not want to buy a table or there is very little space, expand the windowsill. You will get a bright workplace with a view of the city.

How to make a workplace on the windowsill ?

1-Leave the old window sill 

To work in front of the window, you can do nothing with the window sill. Buy a table that is the same color and height and move it. It will look like an extension of the windowsill. You can move the table as you like, and in winter there will be no problems with fogging the windows, because there is access to the window and there is no need to make additional air slots.

2-Make a countertop 

• Put on the windowsill a tree (pleasant to the touch and environmentally friendly, but not very reliable) or MDF (more stable and durable, but it will have to be painted with waterproof paint or enamel to prevent it from getting wet). 
• When buying, take into account the height of the material, otherwise there is a risk of not opening the window.

3-We increase the working surface 

• When enlarging a window sill with a table top, make sure that the protruding part is no more than half the depth of the window sill. Otherwise, the glue and screws will not withstand strong pressure if you rest your elbows on the table. The material of the protruding part must be strong so that the tabletop can withstand heavy objects. 
• Choose a material that is strong enough to support the side or protruding part of the sill when leaning on it or placing heavy objects on the surface. 
• To make a large extension of the window sill, use consoles fixed vertically to the wall under the window, or supports on the floor. If there is no space under the window because of the radiator, the consoles can be made on the sides. 
• If the table top will be wider than the window, make hanging fasteners. The shelf can be made of any material that suits your interior: wood, MDF, plastic, artificial or ordinary stone.

To avoid fogging the windows, there should be slots or holes in the windowsill. Through them, warm air from the radiator will heat the window area.

4-Replace the window sill 

Replace the window sill. If the new surface protrudes strongly, consider additional supports or consoles. Cover the raw material with varnish, paint or enamel.

5-f there is not enough space 

To save space, take a closer look at the folding window sills. You can buy them at IKEA or other furniture stores. It is easy to install it: put hinges or a bending edge-console on the window sill. When you raise the table, the console rotates 90 degrees and holds it. Check that the structure is firmly attached to the material of the window sill.

Provide nuances

• To avoid distractions, consider separating your work area with a screen or shelving. This is what designers Alexandra Malinina and Anastasia Sheveleva did in one of their projects. 
• Make sure there are electrical outlets near your desk. If there are no sockets, then you can "beat" the visible wires - make them part of the stylistic solution and choose a similar color or, conversely, contrasting. The electric wire can be thematically painted in a print and selected in space, or you can make a whole composition out of them, complementing it with a wall pattern. 
• In order not to be distracted by communication with household members, use headphones. Listen to white noise or neutral music if it doesn't distract you.

Consider storage 

If you work from home, you probably have accumulated documents, contracts, important notes. If a child works at the table, he needs a place for notebooks, notebooks, notes. Organize space not only on the table, but also around it. Then there will always be order behind the workplace. 

Design: Maria Bezrukova

What do you need? 

• Drawers or, if the space is decorated in a Scandinavian style, wicker baskets. 
• Wall shelves. If you don't feel like drilling the walls, hang them on the side of the drawers. 
• Hanging folders and narrow metal baskets. The more compartments, the easier it is to maintain order. Sign folders with stickers or stickers so you don't get confused and quickly find the ones you need. 
• Clipboards. When decorating, use the remains of wallpaper or gift paper. 
• Envelope pocket. This pocket can be placed on the side and made themed. It is fastened with a railing. A railing is a structure in the form of a pipe with hooks and hangers on which things are stored. A great option if there is not enough space, but there are a lot of little things and they are needed constantly.

Life hacks so that little things don't piss off:

• Loose items like buttons, staples, erasers, paper clips, and USB sticks can be stored in ice cube trays, pill jars, cookie cutters, and iron tea cans. 
• Dish dividers work well for long items like pens, markers and pencils. 
• Magnetic tape will help you not to lose metal objects: compasses, scissors, hairpins. It can be placed both in a conspicuous place - above the table, or hidden from prying eyes and hung from the back of the cabinet. 
• To create a mood or store light things, you can place a metal mesh above the table and hang scissors, glasses, headphones on it. 
• It is convenient to pin lists on the metal perforated panel. Make loops between the two holes and attach things to them or put on a compact shelf on top. The panel can be painted in any color so that it looks more harmonious in the interior.
• In minimalist and Scandinavian interiors, a wooden panel with pegs looks advantageous. Objects are attached to it according to a different principle: pegs are inserted into the holes, which can serve as hooks or support for shelves. 
• Do not forget about the railing - this is a tubular or metal crossbar on which shelves or individual things are hung with hooks. The hooks on the bar move to create a functional design. 
• Light things can be fastened to a rope stretched over the table using clothespins or clips. Suitable option for creating an atmosphere in the workplace. Interesting and beautiful, but not very functional. 
• A marker or blackboard magnetic board is great for planning.
• The well-known cork board is an inexpensive, practical and environmentally friendly option.

Create an atmosphere

Make your workplace inspiring and enjoyable. Place photos of loved ones, a statuette from a trip, or a postcard on the table. Little things like that will cheer you up during work breaks. But you should not get carried away with this, because the desktop should be in order.

Design: Olesya Berezovskaya