With the country now effectively on lockdown amidst the ongoing coronavirus crisis, companies have been putting remote working procedures in place for employees to work at home. According to data from the Office of National Statistics, over four million people in England already work in this way. For them, work can continue in a relatively normal way. For others however, it is a brand new way of working and adjustments need to be made to ensure work life can continue as seamlessly as possible.
As a team of busy design professionals, Bernard Interiors falls into the latter category. Our beautiful studio is a sanctuary for our designers, providing the perfect place for collaborative working, client meetings and supplier visits. With the added complication of schools closing, many of our team are also now faced with the tricky task of combining working from home and home schooling. Over the last week we have introduced measures to ensure we can keep creativity going at home and our team can continue to work with our professional partners, clients and suppliers to meet project deadlines. We’re having regular team check-ins and meetings and so far we can report that everything is running smoothly.
In this unprecedented time of change, we thought we would share some of our team’s new work stations and an insight into how they are adapting to their new work environments… and colleagues!
Cameron (top left) joined our team just over a week ago, making him one of our newest recruits. In the last two weeks Cameron has also relocated to Newcastle from Lincolnshire and moved into a brand new house. “I’ve chosen to create my home work station in the warmest room in the house. All of the walls are still white because I’ve just moved in, so I’ve added a reed diffuser and a painting to make it feel more homely and inviting to work in!”
Sophie (top second left) is working hard to support one of our senior designers with an important project deadline this week so a functional workspace was imperative. “As I live in a small flat, there aren’t too many options for home working. Thankfully I have a large table in the kitchen that I can work from and I’ve positioned myself next to the radiator which is keeping me nice and toasty!”
Gabby (top second right) is sharing her home workspace with her architect fiancé – “It’s close quarters in our household and with a curious cat it can be entertaining – I think we’re all getting accustomed to the quirks of home working!”
Kathryn (top right) has been slightly more inventive in her approach to home working, “I decided to keep my dining table as layout space for drawings so I’m using my dressing table instead. I’ve positioned it in the living room infront of the window so I’ve got plenty of natural light. I also have the added bonus of a lovely sea view!”.
Judith (bottom left) joined our team on the same day as Cameron. As well as juggling a new job and work environment she is now home schooling her 10 year old daughter. “I’ve chosen the kitchen table for my new home working space as it’s close to the radiator and gets lots of sun – perfect for getting some extra vitamin D! It also doubles up as a creative space for art sessions with my daughter.”
Hayley (bottom second left) has found a quiet corner in her house to help her concentrate as she leads a busy life with two children under the age of 5! “My dining table is in a cosy corner so it’s the perfect space to work. Today I have music on and a candle lit to help me relax.”
Lisa (bottom second right) has made adaptations to her existing home work space so that she can make sure her two teenage children are keeping up with their school work. “The workspace in my living room has been extended to allow for home working – I’m finding my new energetic co-workers are adding lots of variety to my day!”
Giedre (bottom right) has recently moved from a flat into a large Victorian terrace, giving her more flexibility for home working. “I’m working from my dining table positioned in a bay window as there is so much natural light. It’s been working very well so far and gets particularly interesting when Trikse (my kitten) tries to catch the cursor on my screen!”
It’s been great to see all of our team embrace working from home and we’re really pleased with how things are going so far. We’re firmly focused on maintaining our core values of personal, polished, passionate and professional throughout this challenging period and when things are back to normal, I think we will all appreciate our bright and airy studio, ‘The Church’ even more!
