This is the main room of my old loft in NYC, which had 18 windows and got fantastic light. Too fantastic, at least when it was time to work, as bouncing light provided screen glare no matter where the monitor was.

To compensate, I hung some aluminum tubing from the ceiling and ordered these lightweight blackout curtains off of Amazon. When I need to work, I drew the curtains closed all around the desk. This solved the problem and I used this system for years, until I left the city.

My solution was admittedly extreme, and I didn't care what it looked like. But New-Zealand-based industrial design consultancy Formworks mocked up a more elegant solution designed to appeal to normal people. During the lockdown, as working from home became a thing, they identified the key pain point: "People need separation (both physically and mentally); an area where they can escape distractions (both visible and audible), and feel like they are sitting in their office rather than their lounge."

Here's the mechanism in action:

I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.

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