I am a law student, and I share a small apartment with my boyfriend (a PHD student and professor who teaches online), and three boys (ages 9, 7, and 6 months). Our living room is also a dining room and home office. There are three reasons I am able to work at home in the midst of chaos: my desk is in front of a bright sunny window, it is incredibly organized (I only buy binders/folders/etc. I like to look at), and I have a cork board I use to tack things that inspire and motivate me.

Funny, i am doing "the Cure" right now and i'm past the cleaning/decluttering process and want to start the process of creating a craft/creation/art nook for me.
I know i won't be distracted bc/ it is situated upstairs, in a small mezzanine floor, where you cannot stand up fully. All you can do is SIT down and draw, or create things, which is my purpose.
Also, i will be seated facing a beautiful (but not distracting) view of the roofs of my small city in France, as i will be facing my roof window. And i'm bringing only a few books upstairs.

Before i tackle this space, i must say it is my cat's playground right now... lots of chewn cardboard all over the place. She likes to chew on it. Go figure.

BM

Gotta-haves include a door I can close, and music.

I wish I didn't need a computer for my work; I'd have it out of here otherwise. The internet is such a temptation...

Tall ceilings are my inspiration "thing". I can't work in a boxed-in room with low ceilings.

If I can't have tall ceilings, lots of natural light.

I work at home, in the biggest room in the house. I don't detritus so keep paperwork to ONE folder and the rest is on memory sticks.

I'm one of those people that can't work until my entire apartment has been scoured, vacuumed, Windex-ed, and organized.

Just knowing there's an unwashed plate in the sink makes things impossible creatively.

THEN, I require flattering lighting and down-tempo electronica.

I'm a mess.

www.thebitterfoodie.blogspot.com

Sigh.

1) Complete elimination of internet.

2) loads of natural light. Skylights if possible, windows if not.

3) a snug, tiny space with clear, uncluttered surfaces (but bookshelves to the ceiling are a bonus).

4) no other human beings within earshot.

And even then I sit there and stare out the window half the time...

I am most productive in coffee shops. All the people make me feel like I am being watched. I feel accountable to them: if I am not working, they will all know I am slacking and will judge me. It is sort of work as public performance. Insane, I know, but it works for me.

It also helps a lot to eliminate the internet, but this is hard because I often need to be online to work. Sometimes it is good enough just turn my airport off. When I am desperate, I go to Starbucks, because they have internet but you have to pay for it---which I resent. Therefore, I will only go online if I truly need to.

I'm both a freelance art director and a novelist. For the former I have to work at home, but when I write, I've started using the reading room at the NY Public Library downtown. (The one with the lions, but I guess any one would do.) The tables are at an uncomfortable height for typing, but otherwise, I can plug in, it's super quiet and I'm surrounded by people working--lots of company, no cell phones allowed. And no internet. It's great.

I have to clean my den the night before and make sure i have my coffee and eggs...then I walk the doggies, come home and ummm turn on the tv and try to get some work done. I know, I know....i like noise.

i do what you do KY Lucie
I have a cork board I clips photos, articles and scraps of fabric to for inspiration.

Im a college student and my desk is many places, my bed, the red comfy armchair in the corner, or the coffee table with a large pillow underneath my bum.

If I feel like I'm in a rut I'll move my laptop outside.

oh and the library is a great place to go for some quite and to burn through whatever it is you need to get done... its better than starbucks where they make you PAY for internet... grrr.

Having a “creative” space does not equate being neat so my creative space would never pass AT approval.

I don't work from home, but having my own private crafting space has become important to me, in light of some personal stuff and an attempt to use art therapy. However, since I have very limited space and several types of artistic leanings, I've decided to create a "rotating" creative space in my bedroom that can be swapped out as creative cycles ebb and change.

The first things that are going to be boxed up and put aside are my sci-fi books (except art/instructional). I can use the bookcase space for paint supplies and finished art until my ravenous reading cycle comes around again. And I've decided to use a neglected armoire to house supplies not in the current cycle, like mosaic/glass works, shells and clay, and needlepoint work.

Of course, all these things overlap in some pieces... A bit of clay on canvas, attach some beads and shells, rivers of silver embroidery floss run across the whole thing. I also need to work on a place for photoframes not in use, canvases not in use, and the rotating art on my walls. But who needs a dresser when there's Goodwill to donate to and tshirts to wear!

I find my wireless laptop is great. i can move to the garden, the library with the cookbooks (I teach cooking), the basement for a little cooling in the hot summer or the kitchen table which overlooks the garden for calming, birdwatching, work. I need clutter at a minimum. My speakers attached for music, my itunes on shuffle, the phone nearby and the puppy at my feet. Really that is all. I agree though, the internet is too much temptation. I wish I could block everything but work related sites when i need to concentrate!