Filing cabinets - the good, the bad and the ugly...

Almost everyone is familiar with the that awful, banged up metal filing cabinet that haunts the corner of most offices, or the back of your garage.  The stickers and magnets still can't disguise it's unfortunate ugly usefulness.  Is there any alternative...

This is the Innovex KG02 Filing Cabinet from Amazon.

These DIY painted and stenciled cabinet photos from Apartment Therapy.

From Home Decorators.

From Ikea.

From Sugar Plum Oak.

Grinding it out...

Sometimes getting out of the office to get some work done is a very good idea.  Whether you are a student writing a paper, a sole proprietor working on a new marketing campaign or a business executive just needing some space, your local coffee shop/cafe could be a very inspiring space to work.  

After all, J.K.Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter books at a coffee shop in Scotland and that seemed to go just fine...

Adam DiStefano has written a great post on home office vs coffee shop.  He points out the pros and cons of each setting.  Obviously, you don't have to go outside your office everyday, but when the mood strikes, why not?  

Just food for thought...

Photos from Yelp... Remedy on Telegraph, Peet's and Starbucks.

It's a man's world...

What does a man's office look like?  Dark wood, leather chairs, bigger furniture, lots of books, multiple computer screens, a TV, formal artwork - lots of bronzed horses, no flowers - maybe a plant, not much pattern - animals prints. These are the more traditional male spaces...

All photos from Elle Decor

Just too cool...

Found this on Mashable...how inspiring office environments are becoming...

This is the office of Swedish internet service provider, Bahnhof.  An old underground nuclear bomb shelter bunker.

The London based public relations company, Raw Materials, chose to park 4 old tube train carriages on top of another building.

One of the things that drove me out of corporate years ago was the damn meetings in those awful ugly meeting rooms... if only we could have met here, like the folks at Miami's brpr .

And speaking of outdoor offices...British designers Wayne and Geraldine Hemingway, really know how to work and live well...

"May I help you?"

We've all come to work feeling a bit like a dummy, but this one is for real...Junk My Car has taken this to heart and installed "Sven" as their receptionist.  

Check out the full post on Mashable, it's well done.