Top 5 tips for creating a picture-perfect video call backdrop when working from home

If anyone had suggested this time last year that we would be navigating between a warm, stylish home where we could relax and unwind, and a functional, office space viewed by all our clients and colleagues, we would undoubtedly have dismissed the whole thing as a small problem effecting only a tiny number of self-employed freelancers.

And yet here we all are in some sort of interiors / space / living / working nightmare. Kids jumping about to Joe Wicks while you try to balance your quarterly budgets, dogs howling in the background of your big sales meeting, and more pieces of paper and spare pens than any home should ever have had to handle!

Juggling working from home is so difficult on many levels but the one we are all currently obsessing over is how to curate that Picture Perfect Zoom backdrop when you’re sharing a dining room table with two home-schooled kids, an overflowing washing basket, and this month’s paperwork mountain.

Here are our top 5 tips to help you declutter working from home, and to help you get your space Zoom ready!

1. Clever Tables: How can a table be clever? By doubling up as a drawers and storage of course! Our beautiful mango wood range offers a

A modern, contemporary coffee table vibe with chunky drawers underneath takes up no more space than a standard centrepiece but offers lots of extra ‘tidy it all away’ storage at the end of the day. Perfect for little ones school work or colouring too.
Our smart distressed-grey console table adds a touch of class to a dull hallway or slips in neatly behind a couch, and with drawers all the way along, brings that extra storage we all crave!
Lamp tables are the ideal choice for those teeny spaces that could be transformed into a quick-fix for paperwork and a surface for a cheerful bunch of flowers or photograph of nights out and holidays to keep you going.

2. Cupboards Galore: Trying to minimise the extra bits and pieces lying around is like painting the Forth Road Bridge – a never-ending task! From homework jotters to working box files, new and endless board games to the extra gin you need just to stay on an even keel, there seems to be ‘stuff’ everywhere.

Accept that you have more, and then go about finding clever ways to add more cupboards and drawers. We love these three simple designs that will add oodles more space while ensuring your beautiful home doesn’t turn into a practical office.

- A wooden sideboard will offer a cupboard for your work, one for the kids homework, and drawers to cope with all of those magazines you’ve bought promising to teach you how to breathe yourself calm!
- Treat yourself to a new TV Unit or Media Centre and choose one that can cope with the telly whilst offering extra cupboards for a few box files.
- A thing of beauty, these mango wood Cocktail Cabinets are super-chic pieces of furniture that look fantastic whilst offering storage a plenty!

3. Drawers, drawers and more drawers: Even a small set of drawers will help tidy away stray paperwork and jotters. The great news here is that once thongs are back to normal, you’ll have spare space for a better home filing system – something we’re always promising ourselves we’ll get round to.

Choose tall and slim and it will fit into the tightest of spaces as well as being an ideal perch for a houseplant or lamp.
A traditional chest of drawers is a great investment if you if you have the space. Go for sturdy wooden furntiture for a long-lasting piece that will take you out of lockdown and beyond!
A narrow console table brightens up a hall, offers a surface that doubles as a teenager’s temporary workstation, and gives you extra drawers for your papers.

4. Display Shelves and bookcases: Narrow enough to slot into most homes without too much disturbance, but versatile enough to bring lots of extra space to your new arrangement, a great looking bookshelf or display cabinet can serve as place to neatly line up box files of work and school assignments, as well as offering a chance to show off your souvenirs from that trip to Thailand!

Bookshelves with drawers double up as a space for both tidy organising and messy papers! A real win, win, choose a wooden finish for style as well as a substance.
Display cabinets in quirky designs offer a real talking point when you login to meetings, all the while keeping files neat and tidy, and papers tucked away.
TV units and entertainment cabinets tend to be shorter than bookshelves and so may suit smaller spaces – ideal for keeping things neat while offering a space for books, lamps and trinkets to dress up your background.

5. Wine Rack: What can we say? We wouldn’t be so irresponsible as to advise day drinking to get through, but when your home and office magically turns into the weekend pub you’ll want to do it with some flair and style! Fill, empty and repeat!

The counter-top Mango wood wine rack for 6 bottles sits neatly on top of your sideboard or kitchen counter and the quirky design makes for a real conversation piece on your friends quiz night!
Free standing, 12 bottle holder is a stylish addition to any corner or kitchen and is the ideal size for a mixed box from Provender Brown!

Here at Asha Living we have partnered directly with a team of craftsmen in India to create fourteen collections of stunning furniture.

Made primarily from authentic mango wood or reclaimed timber, these modern, contemporary designs not only look good, but they offer hard-wearing, durable furniture that will stand up to the most hectic of working, schooling, partying households.

ASHA LIVING

Top 5 Tips For Making Your Home Zoom Ready

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