Archive for April, 2017

I was out in my garage yesterday, using the laser cutter in the makeshift workshop I have set up, dreaming about my new home office design that we’re planning to build into a new extension. It will be a couple of years before we’re able to afford such a big renovation, but it’s never too early to gather inspiration, am I right?

Office Principles were chatting to me recently and they asked me to share my best tips on home office design with you guys, so here are the main things I’ll be considering when I finally move out of my bedroom office into a custom built space:

// Although I work alone now, I want to make sure there’s enough space for an additional person to work with me if I am able to employ an assistant or if I just fancy co-working with another self employed pal one day. I wouldn’t want the space to take up too much room so I would be looking at stackable seating and expandable desk space. I loved the workspace area from this open concept tiny house that Ana White created.

// The room I work in now is amazing as it’s so much larger than any space I’ve been able to use before. However the more you get, the more you want and I’m already frustrated by the lack of wall space in my current office. I believe a workspace should be inspiring and motivating and I’d love to have more space to hang my travel photos and fun motivational quotes to get me through the working day.

// I’m lucky to have tonnes and tonnes of natural light already in my current workspace, so this is something I definitely need to carry over into the new space. As a designer it’s so important to have natural light so you can get an accurate representation of what something actually looks like – plus being able to see nature outside your window is a huge boost for your mood.

// I really want a space that is pretty, but also practical so as well as wall space, I would be looking to have areas set aside for my workshop (dirty things!) photography area (super clean things!) and stock storage. At the moment my office is very impractical as there isn’t enough room for everything to have it’s own place. Everywhere is storage at the moment so there is very little actual workspace to utilise!

// My current space is decorated in my brand’s colours which not only makes it so much easier for me to stay on brand with my photographs and behind the scenes peeks, but also looks more professional and cohesive to any outside person coming in. It also helps that I love these fun colours and it makes me feel focussed to be surrounded by the brand I’ve worked so hard to build.

Office Principles also have some great insight on what makes a good office space and they also asked me to tell you folks that they offer an office refurbishment service so they can do all the work for you while you concentrate on business!

If you want some more ideas and inspiration for your home office, have a peek through my Pinterest board below!

Loves x xx

How many times does your favourite band announce a UK tour and you get all super excited only to find they’re only playing a date in London? We’ve been up and down to London so many times, grabbing the late night train after a gig or staying over to explore the city – I love London, but everything happens down there and I’m just a little bit bored of it.

When The Shins announced their tour I noticed they were playing the 6 Music Festival in Glasgow and a date in London, but then something caught my eye – they were hopping into Europe and playing a show at the Paradiso in Amsterdam… it can’t be that much harder to get to Amsterdam than to get to London from Yorkshire, right? I had a chat with my pals at Doncaster Sheffield Airport and they sent me out to Amsterdam as an experiment to see why Amsterdam might be better than London for your next gig.

Our flight to Amsterdam was leaving from Doncaster Sheffield airport at 3pm, so we jumped on a train to Doncaster at 12.15pm and arrived into the city half an hour later. From here we walked the three minutes from the platform to the bus station which is just through the bottom of the shopping centre to the left when you exit Doncaster train station. The X4 bus leaves from here every half an hour, it takes 22 minutes and costs £3 one way. We arrived at the airport at around 1.20pm with the perfect amount of time to check our suitcase, grab a beer and some chips and wait to board out plane.

The airport is really small, so all the facilities are within very close range. If you drive, it’s even easier to fly from here as the car park is literally outside the door of the airport, unlike similar airports where you have to park in a nearby lot and grab a shuttle bus to get your flight. Even though it’s small, DSA still has a duty free shop with a massive range of Benefit products, some fun designer sunglasses to try on while you’re killing time and a large WHSmiths to pick up a magazine if you fancy. There’s also a Subway if you’d rather another option to Wetherspoons.

The flight time to Amsterdam from Doncaster Sheffield Airport is around 45/50 minutes so there’s just enough time to enjoy a drink at your seat before the plane descends to land. Schiphol airport is the complete opposite to DSA – it’s huge!! We grabbed our bag from baggage claim and followed the signs for the train into Amsterdam.

It costs €5.50 for a single into the city and the journey was just 15/20 minutes into Amsterdam Centraal, from here we hopped on the ferry outside the exit to the station for the two minute journey to Amsterdam Noord where we had booked into ClinkNOORD, a fun hostel hotel with all the facilities you could ever need.

Amsterdam better than London for Gig

On our first night we settled into the room, looked up a tasty dinner option on Trip Advisor and headed out to explore the city. We had an accidental walk down the red light district, which is definitely interesting to see! The next morning we had breakfast at the hostel, which was just €5.90 if you book in advance, and popped next door to the A’dam Lookout for amazing 360 degree views of Amsterdam. We spent the rest of the day exploring the streets and canals and having a spot of lunch and coffee in the sunshine. We tried the popular snack Bitterballen for lunch which is really tasty. I believe it’s a fried ball of meat and roux, so not veggie friendly! I was also happy to find out that the coffee in Amsterdam is lovely and strong, unlike the excuse for coffee we get in the UK! Haha.

After lunch and a wander, we got changed and caught the tram down to near the Paradiso. Trams are a really easy and quick way to get around the city. We had dinner at Dubbel, which is two streets across from the venue and I had an amazing butternut squash and goats cheese risotto before we wandered over to see The Shins at the Paradiso. The gig was amazing and the venue is gorgeous, set in an old church building with huge intricate windows above the stage. If you’ve never seen The Shins live, I highly recommend it!

The morning after we popped into the city to get brunch at Toastable, who offer triple layered toasties with a whole bunch of tasty fillings, perfect for soaking up your hangover! From there you could either head back home or spend a couple more days exploring Amsterdam like we did – more on that super soon!

I loved every second of our trip to Amsterdam and being in a new city definitely helped ease the post-gig blues. It was at least as easy to get to Amsterdam as it is to get to and around London – next time there will be nothing stopping me from venturing a little further to see my favourite band! Thanks to Doncaster Sheffield Airport for sending me to Amsterdam!

Flights from Doncaster Sheffield Airport to Amsterdam are from £29.99
Flight time is just 50 minutes, quicker than the train to London and often cheaper too!
The airport also flies regularly to Dublin and Paris, other amazing cities to take in a gig and soak up some of the local culture as an alternative to London.

Will you try a city break for your next gig? Loves x xx