My Office at Home
I live together with my husband in a lovely two-room apartment in Maarssen (a village close to Utrecht). We have quite a large living room and one bedroom. In our previous apartment we had two bedrooms, and thus a separate room that I used as my office. When we moved to this apartment in November 2016, I was totally in love with the living room, which had enough space for my office.
As you see, my desk is not facing the wall, but the wall is behind me and my face is in the direction of the living room. I really like this position and gives me a feeling of 'openness', more energy and inspiration. The desk is hand-made by Allon Dery from Rotterdam. He really makes beautiful tables, you should check out his website. The painting with the African lady was bought in an art gallery in Tel Aviv. We even met the artist at her home in Jaffa, which was absolutely amazing. As you can see, I work with two monitors and I always work with nice background music (I'm in love with Spotify) and I have a coffee machine close by to make my own cappuccino's. And yes... I do spend many hours per week behind this desk.
Other Work Spaces
Apart from working from home, I regularly go to other work spaces where other people who have their own business work. One of my favorite places is Zoku in Amsterdam. In their Communal Working Areas you can work alone or together. The Wi-Fi is reliable, high-speed and the atmosphere is great. In addition, they offer a delicious lunch and they serve good coffee as well (which is as important)!
Another place I frequently work is Het Nieuwe Kantoor (HNK). They have nice workspaces for self-employed people, including nicely designed meeting-rooms. They are flexible as you can pay per hour or part of the day.
My office at the UvA
When I have longer-term contracts, I am offered a work space at the client's institution as well. This was for example the case at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), where I worked a couple of days a week at the Department International and Public Law. I shared the office with two colleagues who taught the same course at the Oudemanhuispoort in Amsterdam.
In September 2017 the Department of European and International Law unfortunately left the beautiful building in the Oudemanhuispoort and we moved to Roeterseiland Campus. Our department was located at the 10th floor, which means we have a beautiful view over the city center of Amsterdam. I share the office with my colleague dr. Hege Elisabeth Kjos with whom I gave the Master Course 'Principles and Foundations of International Law'.
My office at Defence for Children
In September 2017 I started another long-term contract with Defence for Children. I worked for almost a year three days a week in their beautiful office in Leiden. The office is located at UtopaKinderrechtenhuis, which is a former orphanage in Leiden. The location hosts several children's rights organisations including the International Child Development Initiatives (ICDI), the Kinderrechtswinkel Leiden, JES Rijnland and the International Step by Step Association (ISSA). We worked with almost all colleagues in a big office garden.Work Garden in EdeSince the beginning of July 2018 I work once a week at Work Garden in Ede. It is a very nice place where other very creative entrepreneurs work. The office is beautifully decorated, they have good coffee and is located in one of the most beautiful streets in the center of Ede. It's an ideal and inspiring place to work.
To conclude, I really enjoy working at different places and not having the same place to go to every day!
