Happy New Year! After a much-needed vacation, we’re back at the office, reorganizing our desks to set our New Year goals in motion. Whether you run your design business from home or a studio, everyone has their routine. Have you ever thought about the things you can’t design without? Whether it’s tried and true sources of inspiration, a special playlist, or a supportive friend to collaborate with throughout the day, we feel you! We thought it would be fun to put together a list of workday essentials – five things we can’t design without at Studio88:

#1 DAY PLANNER

We’re big fans of the classic day planner. We may use an Outlook or Google calendar for meeting reminders and Zoom invitation links, but those will likely never replace our trusted day planner.

#2 PINTEREST

As designers, we’re visual people… we love strong sources of inspiration. Conceptualizing a new project with Pinterest boards can be productive and fun. Pinterest is our favorite place to share ideas and save collections to easily refer back to later.

#3 COFFEE BREAKS

We don’t know what we’d do without our morning cup of joe. Our break room is always fully stocked with coffee, snacks, and spa water to help us get through whatever kind of day we’re having!

#4 PRODUCTIVE ENVIRONMENT

After the Stay-at-Home order last March, many of us have experienced the struggles of working from home. The state of our work environment impacts productivity. Some factors for us are:

• • Good music. Spotify is our go-to for inspiring playlists. Can’t get through a workday without good tunes!
  • Creative energy. If you’ve never spent a day at a co-working space, you don’t know what you’re missing! The collective creative energy is palpable, especially at Studio88, where we all work in the interior design industry. Feeling stuck and need to bounce an idea off someone? Look no further than the workstation beside you!
  • Ergonomic office furniture. We spend so much of our day at our desks; we know the right office furniture and equipment makes a difference!
  •  S P A C E. Having enough space to spread out our interior design materials is perhaps the biggest game-changer when it comes to productivity. At Studio88, our desks and worktable surfaces are bright white to make our materials pop.

#5 PHYSICAL SAMPLES

Online catalogs are helpful, but we can all agree there’s no substitute for physical samples. Our Reference Library is the heart of our studio and is frequently updated by our vendor reps so that we always have the latest goodies on hand when we need them.

Are you looking for a supportive new work environment in 2021? Book a tour at Studio88 and put us on your list of things you can’t design without!