My husband always says I need to work outside of the house with my own studio OR I need to open a big shop. I can't say he's wrong. I have several rooms in our home where I store props, my work, have fixed spaces for workshops and of course, my office... But it's in our home and so I never feel like there is a disconnect from work, ever. I have another office that I use outside of the house where friends work, it's like a shared space where I pop in whenever I need to but only my laptop stays there... The stuff I need to do the more physical part of my job is all at home.

photo: sarah sherman samuel for light lab

Whenever I work on my books (currently, I'm planning my 5th) and shoot for clients, my husband gets stressed because part of the house has days when it turns into a photo studio. Last week, several rooms were used for video work so it was upside down again for a few days. As I'm trying to build my business in new ways, I don't see this changing anytime soon.

I know my fellow creative friends like Sarah, Victoria, Emily, Paul, Joy deal with constantly taking their neat creative studios and homes and turn them on their head for shoots and clients... I often wonder how their families deal with it and their colleagues... But more than that, I wonder how to deal with it in my own life -- how I can perhaps find some peace within all of this creative, exciting madness!? Well let me rephrase that... I have plenty of peace with it, but with a little boy and a husband, something has to change when your man isn't enjoying the chaos as much as you do. My toddler stormed into my studio yesterday with a black magic market and immediately grabbed a brand new book and colored all over the cover in mere seconds. It's impossible to work the same way with a little child around, so I have to get a system in place asap.

photo: sarah sherman samuel for light lab

I've been looking for a creative space here in Hannover, Germany for nearly 6 years, actively for 4 years. Still nothing. I see a separate work space as the only solution - so if you know of anything in Hannover, Germany that I can transform into a large studio space where I can also invite others in to share the space from the time-to-time, please let me know. Because I would love to create my own Light Lab Space and have had a business plan in my hand for this idea for years. I want it so badly and I have faith that someday I will get it but until this happens, I need to create realistic, workable ways to deal with my work at home.

photo: sarah sherman samuel for light lab

By the way, you can see more photos of the space shown in this post here.

So! Do you have tips and ideas on how to manage working from home - I could use some creative suggestions. Specifically, how do you handle prop storage, and management after you no longer need the props... And how do you handle working at home when you have photo shoots and people coming in and out of the house when you also have a husband and toddler at home? How do you manage it all?

(All photography: Sarah Sherman Samuel)