WomenCo.

Lately I've been thinking that I should do something to my office to help me stay awake and alert. It will be difficult, so I'll give you the senario and ask for ideas. I'll probably try all of them.

My "office" is a small shared space with two other college students that are very unreliable. There are papers all over the place and not really a whole lot of flat horizontal surfaces to put things. We are blocked off in a semi-cube by bookshelves and filing cabinets. There are no windows. I could paint the walls, but I'd have to move a lot of stuff and it'd be a horribly time consuming project to clean everything up and repaint the lab.

Any suggestions on how to make the place a little less dreary? What do you do to make your office feel more comfortable?

Are you allowed to play music?  I find that the right kind of music just puts me in the best moods all the time.  Also a picture of someone or something you care about that puts a smile on your face when you look at it will help.  I always keep a picture of my puppies in my office.  I don't have a lot of flat space either but I do have metal filing cabinets so I got magnets and put the pictures on the side of the filing cabinet I look at most of the day.

This may also sound strange but I have my own special coffee cup.  It's an extra large porcelain mauve colored cup.  I have had it with me for years.  It's just nice to know it is mine and the color brightens my day too.

I saw this decorating show once not long ago, and they took an office like what you described and did a few things to make it a bit more livable.  You don't seem to describe much in the way of living space, though, so it's hard for me to picture what you actually need.  They used the space under the beds, they used cubbyholes on the walls that were bright and colourful and which then provided flat spaces, and they even dressed up the idea of filing cabinets with cubes.  Putting files in colourful plastic wallets, labelled and sorted into a colourful cubby hole is more organized and more upbeat.  On top of the cubbies will be room for some artwork that would give the room some life, like little sculptures or pictures.  Lighting is a real help, of course, and the bare bulb look is actually chic.  If you don't have alot of closet space, getting some flat boxes that you just fold up and fit under the beds would clear some space.  It is a daunting task, but it was so much easier to live with once it was done.  After you get all of that done, the idea of painting the walls can be addressed more easily.  The hard part for most people is staying organized once they've achieved this.  It takes work and practice, so your roomies have to be on board with you. 

 Seabrown and Angela -- Those are both great ideas!

I recently discovered that I could decorate my home with draping streamers all over the place. I had a bunch left over from my little sister's birthday party, so they now decorate my hall leading me from my door to the bedroom, which doubles as my relaxing/reading room. Nothing like a grand entry after a tiring day of work. =)

We just had to take down the posters we had up. Many of them we had were of communist leaders that also had a background in geology. They were the cheapest ones for a reason, I guess, but that is what my professor bought for our lab. (It is a geology lab after all.) We figured we'd just take down all the ones of people and replace them with posters of things we need for refernce. Useful, but boring.

I recently added a fruit basket near my desk. It is quite colourful, but it is really good for reminding me to eat healthy snacks. =D

SenderofCards says ...

Scenic posters can help bring life into a small space also.

Oh, I used to have those everywhere!  Some of the ones that you can buy at the department stores are fabulous, and my girls loved the dolphin ones the best!

Organisation would be a unique thing in my lab. I share the computer with three other people, so it is rarely like it is "mine".

I did decide to put pictures, oddly enough for me, of Buddhism things. They are so bright and colourful! they also remind me to be conscious of other cultures. What little I know about Buddhism is that it is a religion of peace. I could use a bit more of that in my life.