Lighting my Office Space + an OttLite Giveaway

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by OttLite. All pictures and opinions are my own.

I don't talk about our home that much here on Little Hiccups, but it's something that I get asked about fairly often by those who know me. With five people living in a small-ish, two bedroom apartment I'm often asked how we make it work. Our home is definitely not a tiny home (despite Ava's wishes that it was!) and by Bay Area standards, a 900sf apartment certainly isn't considered small, but it can get a little squishy at times.

There are many challenges to living in a small space, and I hope to share some of my solutions on the blog one day (once I get around to fixing the biggest one - clutter!) but for now I wanted to share the space where I spend the majority of my waking hours - my "office". Creating an office space in which I can work comfortably has been a challenge in our apartment. I'm not a fan of working on a laptop on the couch, especially when editing photos, so a dedicated desk space with a large monitor is important. Considering that I spend many hours a day sitting at it, having my desk located somewhere comfortable was a top priority when we moved into our apartment three years ago. As luck would have it, our apartment features a long entryway, wide and long enough to fit my desk (Ikea Besta Burs), filing cabinet (CB2 tps 3 drawer) and replica Eames dining chair. As you can see, it's also where we store Mathilde's stroller! While this area fits everything I need perfectly, it is lacking in one important factor... there are no windows, and therefore no natural light.

Take Your Child to Work Day

Every now and then the kids get the opportunity to do something that seems straight out of an 80s American sitcom to me. Something I never got to experience during my own childhood in Australia but saw on countless American TV shows as I grew up. Carving pumpkins, trick or treating, handing out Valentine's to the class, long Summer vacations, cheer leading, selling homemade lemonade for a quarter... All of these things were completely foreign to me as a child but have become favorite experiences for my own kids. Recently we got to cross another American childhood institution off the list: Take Your Child to Work Day.

Two weeks back it was Take Your Child to Work Day at YouTube where Kim works. The kids were so excited about going to work with Daddy. Ok, so was I! Not only was I keen to see Kim's workplace, but I was kind of excited to be able to live vicariously through my kids and take part in something I'd seen on TV so many times as a kid. Admittedly, as a kid I did actually go to work my parents on many occasions. Our family owned a transport business and I spent many hours riding in a truck with my Dad, my little brother and my cousins. But on TV Take Your Child to Work Day almost always took place in a large city office building so to me riding in a truck just wasn't the same. It never involved a day off school either!

The other reason to be excited about Take Your Child to Work Day? We knew that there was a fun day full of exciting activities in store for us!