Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Home office furniture for women

A very interesting article in The Enquirer by Teena Hammond Gomez looks at the work of designer Christopher Lowell for Office Depot in producing home office furniture (pictured above) specifically for women that wasn't all pink tassles and clichés. The original line - whitewashed desks, antique hutches and decorative bookcases - is now being expanded to include smaller, movable pieces that give women the options of working throughout their home or garden office, wherever they find the space e.g. furniture on wheels that converts into laptop stations, wardrobes that turn into home office stations with retractable cords. Here's what Lowell says:
"Unlike men, who need a sprawled-out space, women work well in smaller spaces. They are more compact. We found that women had been so used to working in small spaces in the home that was just theirs, that they had developed the organizational skills that men didn't have, especially in the home. We wanted it to look like a terrific piece of furniture when it wasn't in use. We looked at the end of hallways and where, we knew, if it was a great-looking piece of furniture, women would say, 'I can work here'."
I find the idea fascinating and admit that I've never considered that some home office furniture is gender related/biased. I'd be very interested in your comments.

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