Love where you live. Sign up for our newsletter

Behind the Scenes of Curbly.com: Bruno’s Home Office

by on Jan 26, 2011

In the final days of our “Work_____” series, we thought it was only fair to give you a tour of the offices, studios, and desks of the folks that make Curbly happen. So, have a peek at the spaces where our articles are researched and written, photos shot and edited, mistakes made, things learned, and the DIY community built.

My desk, where not very much of my work gets done.

Name: Bruno Bornsztein

Location: St. Paul, Minnesota

What sort of activities or projects do you work on in this space? 
Almost everything I do involves a computer. I do a lot of programming (building and maintaining the Curbly.com Web site and its siblings, WeeBabyStuff, ManMadeDIY, and Uncooped), and a little bit of designing (Photoshop and Illustrator), usually using my Bamboo drawing tablet.
My drawing tablet. That's me and Alicia in the painting, staring at you.

What’s your key to staying organized and productive?
I try to work on whatever feels right at the moment. If I’m feeling like I’m in a groove with programming, then I’ll just stick with that for while. I also try to take frequent breaks (every 30 minutes or so), and stay active physically, going for walks, playing tennis, or even just doing jumping jacks.
I also like having my office setup comfortably; for me that means music (from my awesome Tivoli Model One radio or from my guitar) and pleasant/inspiring artwork. Some of the stuff on my walls is from Etsy, the little clay sculptures are courtesy of my brother, and the drawings on my whiteboard are original Aylas.
Art is inspiration
My whiteboard
Just in case you can't remember how a bike works.

What’s a feature of your workspace you couldn’t live without? 
Wireless internet.

If you had one wish to grant your office, what would it be? 
Having a home office has lots of trade-offs; you miss being around people all the time, but you also enjoy the freedom and lack of distractions. Right now, my wish would be that it would get warm enough to let me open the windows.

Do you work in other spaces than this?
Truthfully? Yes. Almost all the time. In fact, I think I spend more time working on my couch, standing at the kitchen counter, or at the dining room table. I also occassionally leave the house to work at a coffee shop.
My real work space.

How do you balance workspace vs. home life?
I don’t? Actually, I just feel like the balance is natural; I take Fridays off to hang out with my daughter, Ayla, and our family always eats dinner together. It’s a little different in the summer when my wife is home (on summer break; she’s a teacher). During those months I sometimes make a little stronger effort to get out of the house.
Do others use this space? Often? For what activities? 
Ayla loves spinning around in my office chair, and taking out every single last piece of paper from my recycling bin.


Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *