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 A small guest bedroom is transformed into a tropical resort guest suite.
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| SECRET WEAPONS OF A SEASONED DESIGNER
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A small room can look bigger by borrowing the space you have behind your window. Extend the line of view by not blocking the window pane with window treatments. You can put potted plants in bold colors outside your room to draw the eye to the space behind the glass.
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FEATURED RESOURCE
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TOPDEQ international supplier of office furniture & accessories
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CALENDAR PAGE
May is the National Revise Your Work Schedule Month. Do you know what your energy levels are throughout the day? Schedule the most important tasks for your peak energy hours. Designate short breaks to refuel and regenerate.
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DID YOU KNOW?
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We are about 1 cm taller in the morning than in the evening. Layers of cartilage in the joints get compressed during the day.
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Greetings!
I wonder where you sit reading this. Is it an office desk or a kitchen table? A chair or a stool? Do you feel comfortable or is the only thing you can think about the strain in your neck/back/arm? Look ahead - what do you see? Gray cubicle walls, shelves full of work-yet-to-be-done, or is green leaves on the trees outside? Did you ever think about how your work performance is influenced by the look and placement of your work space? If so, you're not alone...
I have to tell you that even professional interior designers often don't realize how important their own working environment is. We are concerned about creating our clients' spaces, but forget that those ideas are conceived in our own spaces. Realizing this is the first step towards changing it. The change doesn't have to be big. You can start small, by moving your desk so you're facing the room instead of facing the wall. I bet it will make a huge difference. It did for me...
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Read on, be healthy, be happy,
Bozena Chorazewicz
Bozena Studio We design your dreams...
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LOST IN WORK
That's how we sometimes feel, but it doesn't mean that we are so engaged in our work we can't think about anything else; it means we can't distinguish ourselves from the piles of documents, bills, reports, archive boxes and files stored in our office. The headaches we get after hours of work are not only because things during our work day didn't go as expected, but also because we spent this time sitting in an uncomfortable position, staring at the computer screen, holding the phone between our ear and neck, trying to find the right document for the tenth time today...
Try the following and you'll get more things done and feel better as well:
- position your desk so you are facing the entrance
- get a desk chair that can be properly adjusted to your body (don't just buy it because you like how it looks; buy it because you like how it feels to sit in it; always try it out before buying)
- clean your desk, leaving just the most important tools, and the papers you currently working on; ideally about 75% of your desk surface should be visible (wow, now you know what color your desk is)
- position your computer monitor so it doesn't get the glare from the window (if you can't do it because of the desk placement, cover the window with an adjustable shade)
- place the desk lamp on the opposite side of your dominant hand (left for right handed, right for left handed)
- find a green-leaved, easy to care for plant and place it close to your desk (on the side table, shelf, or even on the floor if you decided to go big)
- remove all document piles from the floor/chairs/shelves, find them a temporary home in storage box(es); schedule 30 minutes daily for working on them (sorting, delegating, acting upon, filing)
- while working, take frequent breakes: look at your plant, walk up to look through the window (didn't I tell you the window shade should be adjustable?), change your focus for a few minutes to exercise your eyes and mind, or stretch...
Feeling better already! |
WIND AND WATER FOR YOUR HOME
Feng shui, which translates as "wind-water" in English, is an ancient Chinese art and science of balancing the energy to make it beneficial to the people inhabiting the space. It's basics lie in astronomy, yin-yang and the five elements theory. The tools include a feng shui compass and a ba-gua diagram. Even though you may be sceptical or consider feng shui a superstitious practice, there are numerous ideas and techniques that follow modern psychology and elementary designing guidelines. Here are some feng shui tips, which I often incorporate into my own designs:
- un-clutter and clean your space (remove unused items and excessive accessories, which only gather dust)
- place your bed in a protected position, so there is a wall behind your headboard (it protects your privacy and makes you feel safer)
- remove everything that screams WORK! from your bedroom: desk, unfinished assignments, messy bookcases (remember, it is a place to rest and relax)
- place yours or your child's desk facing the entry to the room and not the wall (again: feeling safe and protected from anyone approaching from behind)
- incorporate water and plants (the real type) in your interior (we can always use more oxygen and soothing sounds in our surroundings)
- use the right colors in the right spaces, e.g. warm, energetic yellows, oranges and reds in kitchen/dining areas; cool, soothing blues in bathrooms and bedrooms; cozy, rich greens, browns, and earth tones in family rooms.
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Copyright © 2004-2008 BOZENA STUDIO
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