Colourful, creative, unique – A home office as a think tank for the latest trends

Trends sind Dinge, die man sich wünscht, von denen man träumt. Sie können durch technologische Innovationen entstehen oder dadurch, dass man sich von etwas inspirieren lässt, was jemand anderes tut. Im letzteren Fall sprechen wir von der Beeinflussung durch andere Menschen. Für mich sind die interessantesten Trends die, die mit Werten zu tun haben. Was halten wir für wichtig? Was ist der Status Quo und auf welche Weise hat er sich verändert?

I do my trend research from four angles: I read statistics (how do we move, how many pets do we have…), I carry out interviews with both influential people but also ordinary people to talk about where we are heading, then I look at history (have we done this before?) and finally my hands on observations, meaning fairs and design weeks. I visit about 15-20 fairs per year and around five to ten trips to influential cities like New York, London, Paris and Milan.

A lot of my trend research is about finding a hunch, a sensation. It feels like there is a change or a shift. I then look at statistics, interviews and my fairs to find examples for verification. I then need to package this so that people understand and agree.

I think it is essential to move around. I have a “working area” in the kitchen, then a spare room for creative work, and then I do lots of reading in the bedroom. I would say it is crucial to get up from your chair, make a coffee and water the plants. Do not sit still for too long.

I realised this question was important at the beginning of the pandemic. We talked a lot about having room dividers and a specific area for work so that we could basically have a start and stop button. “If I sit here, work has started”. Today I see the conversation being totally different. They are more about how the wi-fi is working. I expect that we will talk more about chairs and desks for our home office at a later date, but at the moment we are talking more about the rules themselves. The question of whether we should work from home two days a week or not at all is currently more the centre of attention.

I have three major work areas. Kitchen, standing workstation and a sofa setting. Everything is there for a specific reason. The majority of writing (emails and articles) is done in the kitchen, the standing workstation is for video conferences and the sofa is for reading. Choosing furniture is about having things you like and which match your personality. I like different kinds of back support. Sometimes I want to lean forward and sometimes I want to rest. And of course, when you have a video meeting, it looks better to have a good posture.

I definitely pick things that match my taste. I do not choose items that are trendy. I think a common thread is that I have a lot of upholstery. I like softer furniture. It is comforting. But I also want to have items with a strong personality.