3 CREATIVE WOMEN AND THEIR HOME OFFICES

Three well-planned home offices that are functional, flexible and good-looking

All about flexibility

An airy office and stacks of storage are ideal for running a home-based Auckland publishing business

Debra Millar says starting her own publishing company, Point Publishing, has freed her from a 90-minute daily commute but presented the fresh challenge of how to create a professional environment while working from home. “Having always worked in an open-plan environment, I wasn’t keen on being enclosed by four walls,” she says.

“Luckily when my architect husband Guy Tarrant and I built our Pt Chevalier home in 2015 we included a flexible space in place of a dedicated third bedroom. I had no idea I would end up using this as my office, but it has certainly proven its worth.”

In place of a fixed wall, painted two-tone bifold doors open to a glazed passage, allowing the work space to be opened up during the day and easily screened when not in use. “I feel as if the entire house is my office during the day and I also enjoy a view onto a courtyard pool area while I work.”

Q&A

What office furniture did you choose? An elegant solid oak and glass desk that feels more like a piece of furniture than a work station. Importantly, it is large enough to accommodate A3-sized printouts of books in production and the various other papers I refer to as I work. I have partnered this with a replica Eames office chair, which is streamlined and comfortable without being corporate.

How do you deal with storage? To accommodate books, files and the stacks of printouts that accumulate during the course of producing a book I chose the Kase modular shelving system, which comes in a variety of configurations. I opted for 2.1m-high bays, with adjustable matching bookends which I use to organise reference books and files by project.

Best work from home tip? Not allowing my work to creep into other parts of the house. I make a point of tidying my desk at the end of each day and closing the doors purposefully.

Debra Millar >

THIS PAGE In Debra Millar’s Auckland home office, translucent doors behind a brick screen provide a link to the street, and bifold doors open the space to the rest of the house; storage is important to minimise clutter, so as well as Kase modular shelving there’s a full-height cupboard fitted with adjustable shelving. OPPOSITE (clockwise from top) Debra chose a Covet desk by Case from Simon James; her iMac computer takes up little space because of its slim lines, but It has been more difficult to find a printer that offers the same understated look, so that is connected wirelessly and banished to the garage; a Noughts rug from Nodi adds softness to the space. Flowers from the garden, including ‘Burgundy Iceberg’ roses.. Debra Millar, founder of Point Publishing.