Tell us about your home!
It’s Katrina (Paul’s daughter in law).
Paul is making all the furniture for his Oxfordshire home.
The next area he will be making furniture for is not a room, but a little mezzanine on the landing in the upstairs hall. It’s not a large space but just big enough for a home office. A space for a printer, storage to file important documents and maybe to catch up on some emails.
We want to hear from you. Where do you do “home admin”? Or maybe you work from home. Where do you do this in your home? What would you need for this space? Click below to fill out our questionnaire.
If it’s big enough, I’d put a comfortable chair and a low bookcase there.
The limitation would be to leave enough space to pass with a suitcase.
That would be a great place for a kid who likes to read.
A hammock instead of a chair would be “cool” for a kid and doesn’t take place.
Paul’s home is beautiful and the fact that he has a garage attached to it is an added bonus. A home is not a home that has no garage.
Oh yeah, that’s so right Salko! I built my (wooden) garage twenty years ago having never had one before and it was the best money I ever spent. If there is one thing that saved my sanity during the lockdowns, and even more since I’ve been unwillingly retired, it’s my garage workshop.
Funny thing is that even though it’s 10 x 6 metres there’s only just enough space! The projects just seem to expand to fill the available volume.
God help whoever has to sort it out when I’m dead 😉
I am afraid this is a soon to be obsolete automobile-centric view.
As if the function of a house was not primarily to give a shelter to its inhabitants.
Historic cities have few houses with a former entrance for a horse cab (and stabbles).
narrow (emphasis on ‘narrow’) window seat
(with long cushion and pillows at either end)
parallel to window wall terminating at side walls.
sliding doors below seat for a bit of storage.
a drop down/pop up small table top attached
to front top of window seat for drink, book, et cetera.
My home office consists of a roll top desk and a chair. This only takes up a small portion of my small house. This gives me a space for my computer, printer. Files, and many small drawers for paper, pencils etc. and can be closed up when not in use.
I would love to see you make a roll top desk, I’m sure it would be amazing.
I think that a desk and reading chair box for toys when the small childern come to vist or study.
I live in One Bedroom, Kitchen, Bathroom and small “living room” on the grown floor. It has a bit of grass a deck.
Have lived here for 20 years, only thing I find company fills it up but takes only 1/2 hour to get back to normal. I drive 5 mins. to work shop that is 10 feet by 10 feet. Life is meant to be enjoyed.
Hi Katrina,
Thanks for this posting. I filled out the survey. What I also like is that Paul is moving to an area of the house that will be different that what he has done so far.
The one thing I’d really like Paul to do at some point is a proper door for the home. I understand how this could be considered transitioning away from fine furniture. However, I think a lot of us “dream” about making our own front door (and would likely start with an interior door). I don’t see a lot of woodworking content out there on making doors. I have a book that has approximate dimensions (which is what I needed help with). If Paul doesn’t want to make one, I understand his reasons. What I would greatly appreciate though would be a detailed blog someday on considerations for making a door prehaps with some approx dimensions for rail and stile thicknesses. Would you go through tenons and wedge, vs. drawboard, vs traditional M&T. Since doors have a wet side (outside) and a dry side (inside), are there other considerations for moisture? Would you use different glue types? What other considerations might I have that we don’t need to consider when making vs. a cabinet door? The more I think about it, the more I think really just a blog on this topic would be really helpful.
Honestly, I’m just happy whatever content Paul wants to put out.
Sincerely,
Joe Leonetti
I would love to see Paul make the desk from a live edge slab and incorporate a center drawer and three integral side drawers with one of them for holding vertical files folders.
I’ve been meaning to build a new desk for about three years now, but have never got round to it. Also, another for my daughter, depending on the success! What I’d really like to do is build something compact that can collapse down into a small cabinet (bedside size). Controversially, though, I’d like it to be a floor-sitting desk. If I’m working from home, I can spend 8 hours just sitting in an office chair (mine is actually a comfortable dining chair), and I feel that I don’t get the changes in position that I need to maintain healthy joints (like most office workers I expect). With floor sitting, I can squat, kneel, cross legs etc and move about a bit whilst working. I used standing desks at work before, but never really liked them much. In the end, I’ll probably just opt for something classical instead! Either way, this will be an interesting process.
That’s not a whole lot of space… One thing I am struggling with at home is the fact that my desk is shallow. Just enough space for a monitor and the keyboard in front. I pull out the drawer where I rest my hands, but it is very uncomfortable. I intend to make a new desk with ample space and better ergonomics. In the small space in the Sellers Home, I would consider a pull-out design where one could gain more depth. This would give support for the arms when writing, either on a laptop or a regular keyboard. I have an Apple Mac mini (there are really good Windows based computers that’s just as small), a 27” monitor, keyboard and mouse – and a pair of Bose computer speakers with a floor subwoofer.
Perhaps a swing- or pull-out shelf for the mouse? Keeps the desk narrow while still being ergonomic.
Shelving with storage for document binders, small boxes for misc. stuff, perhaps a cupboard for storing a pack of printer paper or other things one might not want to see all the time.
Luckily, we have ample space in our house. I would love to build a large desk. Oval office style, although perhaps not THAT big. 🙂 Mine needs to have a pull-out drawer for a stage piano, though. I do a bit of composing.
My comment is not so much what will go in there (presumably some sort of work desk or table) but where?? In my home I have my desk right in front of the window which provides me a wonderful view of the front lawn, trees, and various wildlife that wanders through. It gives wonderful momentary reprieve from the drudgery of working on a computer. So I would like to see what Paul can do with utilizing the window on the landing. That will be a tricky space to work with! Good luck, Paul! I can’t wait to see it.
As has already been noted; it’s not a lot of space. Desk or writing table would have to be small to allow for traffic to move through the area.
As for what is the absolute minimum for an office? A small-ish writing table (big enough to support a person writing in a journal or working on a tablet), a good chair, and maybe a small wall unit for storage of some items (writing stuff, postage stuff, and a charging station for electronics. A Bluetooth speaker would provide the ability to play music if one desired from said tablet or phone. Everything else is just storage.
A good ergonomic office chair needs a lot of space.
For office work, a dining chair is only good for a limited duration .
So it depends how much time one spends at paper work/computer use.
A desk would be nice but, especially in that area, the ability to be closed up to hide the papers, mail, electronics and other stuff that has invaded our life. A roll top desk or some other way to close it up would be great.
Paul,
Received my copy of “Essential Woodworking Hand Tools” and it’s everything you have said. 10 days shipping to Central Texas and heavy enough to do serious damage.
It’s absolutely beautiful. If it weren’t so useful, it would make a good coffee table book. Other than drawings, every photo is full color. The detail is simply amazing.
I have never thought about the order of presentation of information in a book, but after looking through this book, I have a slight feel for the thinking that preceded the writing.
Everyone has a chisel or two, no matter how rank an amateur they are. The first skill to learn is how to sharpen. The first time using a truly sharp tool is a true eye opener.
Thank you and Joseph for your extraordinary work of art.