Your Office Space - personal, professional, or a mix?

[chococat_79]

I'm not 100% certain which magazine I just read this article in - maybe Fitness Oct issue? - an article about office space (desk or actual office) - one part of this article mentioned NOT bringing too many personal items in to "decorate" with - the idea is the more personal clutter you have, the less organized you look, yada yada ya...

Anyway, got me thinking... in my last job, I had a ton of personal crap all over the place. It was fun but ended up being a nightmare when I gave notice in terms of carting all that stuff home. With my current job, I decided to try a different approach - right now I have a picture of my boyfriend, an Enid figure from 'Ghost World', a chococat ;) travel mug and memo set, and some Joan Crawford coasters. That's about it.

Just wondering what other people have in their office space...

[bigboom]

the only personal things that are in my work space is my ipod and keys wallet and cell phone. everything else is work related oh i forgot y bottle of aveeno daily moisturizing lotion :)

[pisces2473]

I have a poster from a national book conference sponsored by Laura Bush hanging up which was a hand-me-down when the girl next to me left. I have a Danger--Keep Out sign I found in a pile of stuff in the office for my unfinished projects--the ones I don't want the boss looking at yet. A bunch of postcards that people have sent me, my college pennant (small one), some work related papers and memos also decorate the walls of my cube. I keep my pens in this ceramic jar I painted and I have pictures of my little cousins (wallet sized school photos) on this photo tree thingy. Nothing TOO personal. I don't have a pic of Chris or my cats or anything...there isn't too much to take when I leave the job.

[kitalyn414]

i don't really have any personal stuff, i guess because i like to think that this is just a "temporary" set up... lol. i have a rolph the muppet pen cover that someone gave me and a canadian hockey player pen that my coworker brought me... but nothing i brought from home.

HOWEVER, this does not make my desk look clean or organized in any way whatsoever. ;)

[winneythepooh7]

As a Social Worker, I've learned that it is not professional around clients to have pictures of family/friends/SO's all around because a client in a miserable situation may see them and it upsets them. So I have only some pics of my doggie. I am very cheesy. I even put one of his pics onto my computer:D Also, in the past 5 years, I've dated 3 different guys and at one time or another over the past 5 years in different programs there was a pic with me and my boyfriend at the time. Now I feel that unless I am engaged/married, I am not gonna put up a pic of the person I am with. I just think it looks unprofessional and creates unneccessary office gossip.

[wordsmith]

I don't have an office, or a cube...it's an open work space. I can do with it whatever I want, and nobody's back in the newsroom but people who work here, so I could have it as personal as I wanted, and it wouldn't look unprofessional.

I have a lot of my own CDs that are in the base of my computer stand. Other than that, the only real personal effects I have are a bottle of hand lotion, my headphones (can't write under deadline unless I can muffle the noise around me with music), a bottle of hand sanitizer, and a framed copy of that poem by Emerson about what it is to succeed..."To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children..." etc. I also have my own mouse pad and wrist rest that I brought in, they have Monet's waterlillies on them. But they're work-related. I also draped my ugly banged up file cabinet with a batik sarong, because I needed to hide its hideousness.

So my desk is not cluttered with personal effects. It IS, however cluttered with notes, notebooks, pens, scribbled cryptic messages and digital camera file serial numbers, drafts, proofs of pictures, etc.

[MOS9904]

Picture of my family
Card with huge eyed cats that makes me crack up
List of office numbers for the ones in my region
"20 ways to maintain a healthy level of insanity"
Wall calandar
Change container
hand lotion
my purse
world wildlife federation calandar



sooo personal. My office is to gray and white...bleh.

[pisces2473]

Ahh yes, the universal hand sanitizer and lotion bottles on everyone's desks! I have those too. And a small vase and a box of tissues.

[shimmer728]

My office couldn't be more personal.........it's in my home. The whole place is filled with photos, posters, Hello Kitty knickknacks, my girly pink dollhouse, butterfly effects, and on and on and on.......

Oh, and my personal fave? The orange construction cone I stole one night when I was drunk. Couldn't have that in a real office.

[pisces2473]

Dollhouse?

[chococat_79]

Your home office sounds terrific - I am redoing mine right now. Funny you have Hello Kitty knickknacks, I have a giant Badtz Maru fleece blanket hanging over the back of my home office chair. (great for wrapping up on cold days while I work at the computer)

I'm convinced the way to go in a public work office is a few personal items but not too much - I don't know, maybe it's some weird "if I bring too much of my HOME life to work, then I'll bring my WORK life to home" idea ... which I've made the mistake of doing in the past...

[wordsmith]

Ah, my HOME office is of course more personal. It' s what I use my spare bedroom for. It has a leather couch (which I was given, hah), nine million bookcases, and cheesy Menard's quality build-your-own desk that the previous tenant left behind. The last people to live in my apartment texturized the walls in that room, and I hate it, so I hung up a bunch of tapestries to cover as much as possible. I like that room, it's one of my sunniest rooms.

[dietzy]

My cubicle is all business. No pics..nothing else other than my planner and whatever book I am currently reading during "breaks" at work. I will probably bring in some motivational pictures and put up some motivating quotes here soon to keep my sanity and focus.

A few months ago we moved into a new corporate building. My coworkers came in on the weekends to "decorate" and have all sorts of stuff in their cubicles. They came over and look at mine and said something along the lines of "aren't you going to bring some stuff in for your cube?" I pointed to my whiteboard that takes up practically one whole wall of my cubicle said, "What do you think? Nice touch, huh?" HAAHHA!!

Here is my thoughts on the cube decorating....here at least. Many of the people here are sooooo loyal to this company that it is kind of funny and yet sad. Luckily it is a solid fast growing company, but you never know what might happen tomorrow. Many of the people I work directly with also put in a lot of hours...7:30-6:30 is not uncommon and then they take work home with them. So I couldn't help but think... "Well, I guess it makes sense for you to decorate your cubicle because it is such a large part of your life and so important to you so you have to make it as much like home as you possible can." My thoughts are a little different... "This is just a job...pays a few bills...come in and do what I need to do (and occassionally come on QLC) and go home. Less in my cubicle will be a constant reminder that this is a job and that it is not my future. That this is just temporary. The dull prison cell look will motivate me to get out of here as soon as possible."

Just my thoughts. :-)

[shimmer728]

Originally posted by pisces2473
Dollhouse?

Yep, I have a large pink dollhouse that my grandmother made me when I was about four. It sits in the bay window in my kitchen--very girly. ;)

[pisces2473]

Oh, I have one my dad made me when I was in junior high b/c I had always wanted one. But, that is at my parents' house until I have a little girl someday. It's wicked cute :)

[coll214]

I'm half and half in my cube:

some comics i've printed out tacked on the cube walls next to printouts i have to look at all the time...

my little garfield welcome to my corner of the institution sign (i have a corner cube and technically this is an institution).

A lot of magnets from places i visited on my cross country trip, in addition to a work one and one given to me by my boss..:D... for cat-sitting

a calendar from our printing services

my Yosemite Sam, Droopy w/ his i'm so happy sign, and mr. and mrs. potato head sit on the cube shelf

CDs and a pen holder my sister gave me at graduation that's engraved

As for my desk, it's littered w/ work paperwork, files, stampers, candy dish, water bottle, Yale directories, tissues, keys, cell phone, lotion, radio, etc.

Still all that crap would take maybe 5 mins to pack up.

[ILuvTheOnion]

I, too, have the personal thing going on - Onion desk calender :) , photos of family and friends, 2 mugs, postcards, a baseball hat, a clock..you name it.

There IS a guy who sits in a cube outside my office that is covered with pictures of himself. Like, portrait style pictures. Hmmmm.

[iwanttoscream]

I have three pictures of my little brother (he's 10), a picture of my husband and I at our rehearsal dinner, and a picture of me and all of my friends at a party (no drinks or cigarettes in our hands). I also have a calendar our office secretary gave me for Christmas and an apology letter from an agent who screamed at me while I was trying to help him. These are all tacked or taped up on the hideous beige fabric walls of my cube. I have packed them up before and it took me about 10 seconds and I expect it will take another 10 seconds to pack them up when I leave this hellhole in two and a half weeks - woohooo!!

[WinlessCouchman]

I have a medium sized, organized collage on a bulletin board that I add to with: event tickets, pictures, images from the net, artwork, and other mementos that remind me of things I like.

I'm stuck in a cubicle (jailcell?) all day in a bleak office environment. Being able to look at something interesting that sparks any kind of creative brain activity or a pleasant memory is really helpful.