Month: June 2020

What You Might Love About Working From Home and the Benefits

Interior Design Trends

As we begin to return to a sense of normalcy within the work world, as well as within our daily routines, many of us are beginning to question the need to return to the standard “office”. After jumping through the initial hoops of quarantine, and relearning how to craft our own daily schedules, many of us still holding jobs came to find that working from home wasn’t so bad after all. This self-isolation bred many unexpected benefits, such as increased time with friends and family, the ability to choose our working hours, and the chance to fit in more physical exercise and outdoor time. These silver linings of the once dreaded WFH mandate not only granted us access to a more well-rounded day, but it also forced us to look at our relative environmental impact, and how our work week contributed heavily to our annual carbon footprint.

Now that our economy is beginning to reopen, and our options are broadening, we begin to question if returning to the way things were is a good idea. If undertaking the daily commute and eight-hour office day was working for us, or if it’s actually stunting our potential to grow as individuals, taxing the natural environment, and straining our personal relationships. Making the move to work from home as a more permanent, or part-time solution is inherently a much greener, sustainable option as compared with working “in house”. If unsure how working from home could lead to a greener lifestyle, we’re about to unpack the truth of existing in the 9-5 work world.

Commute Guilt

Have you ever experienced commute guilt? That is, the sinking feeling whilst sitting in stop and go traffic, with the overwhelming feeling that you might be contributing to the problem. Not just the problem of peak commute traffic, but the overarching environmental problem. Well, you’re not alone. Most commuters share similar distress, and for good reason. Traffic, idling vehicles and too many single-passenger cars on the road contribute heavily to harmful CO2 emissions each and every day. Vehicle exhaust not only pollutes our atmosphere and decreases air quality, but it also slowly depletes the ozone layer which keeps our planet cool and our atmospheric temperature stable. By making the conscious decision to either take available public transportation, ride a bike to work, carpool or to scrap the commute altogether, you’ll significantly slash your annual carbon footprint. Working from home is the best way to become a low-impact human.

Will That Be For Here or To Go?

Ever noticed how much excess packaging goes into take-out food? An enormous amount of single-use plastic packaging is used each and every day from the working class who eat out on their lunchtime break. Ordering food to go is understandably a necessity during a thirty-minute lunch break to afford you the time, convenience, and taste you desire during a grueling workweek. And while this solution is practical, it is the least environmentally friendly option for consumption. When you choose to work from home, chances are you’ll be more inclined to make your own lunch, cook home meals, and use a coffee mug rather and washable utensils. Compare this with styrofoam containers, plastic utensils and straws, throw away plastic or paper coffee cups (which almost always have a plastic lid), and the effects of that waste are obvious. Of course, you could always pack your own lunch, bring a reusable coffee cup, and do your best to only buy from restaurants who use paper packaging and have an eco-conscious business model, but chances are, those options are few and far between.

Commercial Resources

Something we don’t often consider regarding our places of work is the number of resources large commercial buildings suck up in order to maintain a healthy and comfortable working environment for its inhabitants. Take air conditioning and heating, for example. The amount of electricity and chemicals product needed to power a large-scale HVAC system have a profound effect on our natural environment. These units are often energy guzzlers, left running all the time, and are not using alternative energy sources to power them. When you work from home, you can better control your A/C and heat usage, the amount of lighting (typically offices need more intense lighting due to a limited supply of natural light), and other high-impact resources.

So What Can I Do?

If you feel called to work freelance or split your week between in-office and at-home days, there are some helpful spatial solutions you can integrate into your home to craft an ideal home office that will afford you space, concentration, and the separation you need for a successful workday. First, consider integrating glass room dividers into a corner of your home that happens to have extra unused space. These handy and easy-to-construct glass wall partitions and sliding room dividers are breezy to install and help to retain a stylish aesthetic to compliment your thoughtful interiors. Sliding glass barn doors are another fantastic spatial solution, and a simple way to create separation between two distinct spaces. Glass barn doors have that beautiful modern-contemporary look while still paying homage to a rustic classic. These no-construction-needed glass walls integrate flawlessly into any home and provide real walls for your desired home office!

With all of the added benefits of being your own boss, creating your own work schedule, and making your workday work for you, you can feel good about your morning commute being from your bedroom to the kitchen, and from the kitchen right into to your new home office. No waste, no guilt. Instantly increase your clean karma with a WFH solution. For more inspiration and space optimizing solutions, don’t hesitate to check out the best sliding closet doors, tri fold dividers, sliding room dividers, and spatial solutions offered at The Sliding Door Company. Visit Us Online to browse our online viewing catalog and Enjoy A Free Consultation from one of our team members to actualize your vision today!

Why Working For Yourself Has Become the New Norm

Glass Door Solutions

Bedroom closet frosted glass sliding door

Over the past few months, since the Coronavirus outbreak swept the globe, many of us have been gifted with the intangible, fleeting, priceless, gift of time. With this, we have been able to reevaluate our lives to an extent most of us didn’t think was possible. Considering our relative happiness, our careers, our relationships, and our impact on the environment were all themes that came up.

Soon after we stopped scratching our heads and were able to move past the fear and uncertainty, this time provided us with novel clarity and focus. We were able to peel back the layers that are normally tightly bound by our restrictive schedules and ask ourselves if the system in place, the standard 9-5 office workday was what we really needed. If it was what we wanted, even. For many, after the initial shock and daunting task of creating our own daily schedules passed, we came to the conclusion that crafting our individualized work/life balance actually worked in our favor.

With so many aspects of our working life laid out on the table to be rearranged and reimagined, we were able to finally envisage our new norm. To outline the clear benefits and perks of becoming our own boss. Yet, to effectively transition from a formal salary job into a more flexible freelance career or startup position is not exactly a cakewalk. It takes countless hours of hard work, overtime, and other undiscovered sacrifices along the way. However, over time we’ll come to experience how the risks are well with the rewards. Here are some of the main reasons why working for yourself has become the new norm.

Make Your Day Work For You

When you work freelance (or simply removed from the 9-5 parameters) your day suddenly opens up to potentialities, changes to your working environment, and makes room for added meetings, activities, and exercise that will keep your mind, body, and spirit in balanced harmony. Crafting your own schedule allows you to feel your way into the workday and discover how to integrate work around your natural sleep schedule, your family dynamic, children’s extracurriculars, or your physical necessities. Subscribing to a one-size-fits-all routine can detract from your happiness, health, and emotional relationships. What’s more, if you make your own working hours, you can choose to grind during odd hours of the day rather than sacrificing peak daylight hours that every human needs to thrive. Working for yourself, either from home or at a communal workspace such as a WeWork, you can still maintain solid focus and productivity. The only difference is that you stop adhering to someone else’s version of what’s right for you and your internal functions.

Frosted glass sliding door divides living room space

Open Opportunity to Develop Personal Projects

By setting your own parameters and schedule, it is much easier to reserve time for creative endeavors, personal projects, or physical goals. The nine to five schedule makes it difficult for people to delve into actualizing personal goals or careers because the day simply doesn’t afford the time needed to develop these projects. It’s easy to become discouraged from developing a startup, or crafting a home-grown business when the forty-hour workweek takes the majority of the day. Even holding a secondary job such as a yoga instructor, a tutor, or even a painter, can feel impossible when commuting to work every day of the workweek. By integrating work into your home, you can effectively work freelance, maintain the same perks of a well-paying job, but not sacrifice your life schedule.

Ditch the Commute!

The main fear most people encounter when deciding to work freelance or not is the concern of not having an available home office. While this understandably poses a problem, there are few helpful spatial solutions to integrate to give yourself that needed office environment, without compromising your interior aesthetic. Consider integrating glass room dividers into a corner of your home that happens to have extra unused space. Glass wall partitions, in particular, are a super breezy and stylish way to create separation between two distinct spaces. Without sacrificing your artistic interiors, you can install sliding glass barn doors to effectively achieve that rustic look with a modern twist, all while integrating real walls for your new home office! Making sure you have a productive working environment will make all the difference when adopting a freelance, startup lifestyle.

With all of the added benefits of being your own boss, creating your own work schedule, and making your workday work for you, hopefully, you’ll have enhanced inspiration moving forward out of the COVID 19 crisis. For more inspiration and space optimizing solutions, don’t hesitate to check out the best sliding closet doors, tri-fold dividers, sliding room dividers, and spatial solutions offered at The Sliding Door Company. Visit Us Online to browse our online viewing catalog and Enjoy A Free Consultation from one of our team members to actualize your vision today!

Pandemic Safety and Your Business

Interior Design Trends

After about three months of uncertainty, job loss, strain, and discomfort, we are now finally starting to see a shift in the current pandemic outcome. With a national decline in cases and deaths, there has been a large push to restimulate the economy as best we can, come out of hiding so to speak, and make attempts at putting the pieces back together, with the tools we have left. However, despite the inherent necessity for jobs and work, many remain skeptical if these advances are premature, and more importantly, if they are putting everyone at risk. Without adequate testing and controlled isolation of those carrying the virus, it is exceedingly dangerous to assume that this will simply just disappear with time. On a global scale, the way we live, interact, do business, and provide services, will never be the same. International trade will evolve and require strict standards and safety precautions, the food and beverage industry will see unprecedented requirements and regulations in order to operate, and most businesses can expect to see fewer customers, and will be asked to take enhanced measures in order to safeguard visitors.

So, as a business owner, you now become rightfully bestowed with the responsibility to protect and provide a safe environment for your customers, patrons, and clients. Now, if you’re like most Americans, you may be wondering what these accommodations look like. What the financial strain these new “conditions” may have on your business, and how to implement social distancing tactics without compromising your vision. How does one go about increasing security while creating distance in socially close spaces? How can a business work within the new normal and still stay afloat? Below we have a few recommendations on how to not only keep your business running throughout these difficult times but also how to ensure the public that your establishment is a non-threat to their health and safety.

Create Distance With Smart Spatial Solutions

We are starting to see businesses of all kinds and sizes integrate wall partitions, room dividers, and alone tri-fold dividers into their waiting areas, and throughout vast open floor plans in order to create safer environments for workers and customers alike. Not just commercial businesses, but educational institutions, libraries, and restaurants are now also starting to utilize wall partitions and room dividers. These easy-to-install glass partitions can effectively create additional spatial separation and enhanced safety within indoor environments. Being the owner of any establishment or facility, you should consider making use of the available spatial solutions, and start to integrate glass room partitions, sliding room dividers, and other easy-to-clean glass space dividers throughout your business to create enhanced separation and safety. Decreasing the amount of foot traffic and potential contact between visitors and employees is a crucial step in a safer business. One of the most noteworthy benefits of glass walls is their antimicrobial surface. Staff can easily clean and disinfect within seconds, being that glass walls are resistant to damage and water, and are not porous like acrylic surfaces. Our glass walls are conveniently offered in a wide range of glass opacities, from completely opaque, to see-through transparent. They require no construction and take less than hours to be installed by our team of professional installers, making this one solution that won’t break the bank or cost your business weeks of cumbersome construction.

Limit Capacity and Encourage Face Coverings

By limiting your business’s overall intake capacity, you can safeguard everyone involved. By choosing to half your normal capacity, you effectively create increased distance and reduce the chance of person-to-person contact. This keeps the indoor air quality much fresher and allows visitors the peace of mind they’re looking for. Additionally, by requiring face coverings within businesses that allow for it, you can create a healthier environment and protect against airborne viral spreading.

Mandate Employees and Workers to Comply With Enhanced Safety Standard

While this may take a bit of initial work to develop new standards and regulations for employees and staff to follow, the benefits are well worth the work. Stay up to date on all the latest health recommendations from the CDC to understand what the most effective methods for controlling the spread of viral disease and sickness are, as well as learn more about sanitation standards and cleaning necessities. Once you have everyone on board and in the know, it will be much easier to control and regulate these new practices moving forward. Owning a business will also require you to think of ways that can allow customers to enter and exit your establishment with the least amount of contact. Limit the need for your patrons and employees to physically touch door handles, menus, and other such communal things that could hold germs and harmful bacteria. Ask your staff to continuously sanitize, deep clean, and disinfect all surfaces and communal items to ensure the cleanest working environment possible.

Enclosed glass corner office with modern sliding doors

For more inspiration and space-optimizing solutions, don’t hesitate to check out the best glass wall partitions, sliding glass barn doors, and spatial solutions offered at The Sliding Door Company. Our in-store locations are not available during this time, so please do Visit Us Online to browse our online viewing catalog and Enjoy A Free Consultation from one of our team members to actualize your vision today!