Don't mind me posing and wearing heels, this was a photo I submitted for an article and had to wear a presentable home outfit. I do wear cutoff shorts and tank tops on most days + use jewelry and eyewear to look a bit dressed up on video calls. My glasses are from Christian Roth, with blue light prescription lenses to protect my eyes from staring at 3 screens all day (my phone/iPad counts as the 3rd).
Chairs and table from Vito Selma, desk chair from Dimensione.
My green view! You can also see a part of my ring light which I use daily for video calls.
And this is how I look against my background on Zoom calls, on a good day when I feel like wearing makeup.
Just wanted to quickly post about the space I spend 70% of my time in during the week! It’s been more than a year since quarantine started and I do feel very blessed to have a space like this at home to work from.
The pandemic has certainly heightened my fears and anxieties, so I worked my butt off to increase productivity by 300%. It’s not something I want, but something that I felt was necessary because of the need to provide for my family, which I’m sure you all can relate to. This space looks a mess on most days, which makes me wish I had a war room, but I do love the openness of it. I also love being able to hear Carmine while working, taking breaks to hug him in between.
My current wish is to get a new office chair. I’ve had my chair since 2011 and sometimes have to use an extra cushion on it. I just need the perfect size with firm support because I don’t have much space for the desk to move around in. From the edge of the chair to the back railing I only have about 30”, which isn’t enough space at all. This part of the house is sort of like a loft, which is the way to get to the 2nd-floor bedrooms and 3rd floor, so I do need to maintain a 2.5-foot clearance in front. Should I splurge on a Herman Miller desk chair? They hike up the prices in Manila so much and I miss the convenience of shopping in America. I can’t exactly fit a desk chair in a balikbayan box when I fly back, can I?
I would’ve had more space if I chose a smaller desk, but this table was supposed to be a communal table on the floor where our guests stay, hence the presence of dining chairs. The big desk comes in handy when I have to lay out swatches, so I’m sticking to it for now.
Will I ever feel the need to go back to an office? I am currently well-settled into working from home, and I recognize my privilege in being able to do so. This year still feels very weird, but I’m glad parts of the world are slowly getting some semblance of normal.