The Best Workspaces Of 2012

Get inspired by Lifehacker's list of the most curious and colorful desks, monitors arrays, spaces, and places where people get down to business.

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  The Best Workspaces Of 2012

  Image: Flickr user Thomas Høyrup Christensen

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  Shopify

  E-commerce company Shopify gussies up its office digs with cardboard cutouts, a stand-up desk station, and a robot
  But even cooler is the fact that this robot is actually used to communicate with the other Shopify offices.

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  The IKEA Hacker

  This desk, a good solution for smaller spaces, was created using two IKEA tables and a Rubbermaid shelf.

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  The Command Center

  IBM engineer Daniel Heth Moran's workspace--which includes a two-fan system to keep things from overheating--is fit even for your coworker with two screens who isn't f*cking around.

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  Windows Or Mac OS? How About Both?

  This home office fits four monitors and two keyboards into one compact space for the worker who needs both Windows and OS X.

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  The MacBook Air Desktop

  Take a MacBook Air, add some Apple accessories and a stand that looks like the base of an iMac, and you have a streamlined workstation powerful enough to take on most things a desktop can handle.

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  The DIY Standing Desk

  $15 of IKEA furniture will get you the goods to create your own portable standing desk.

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  The Retro Workspace

  All you need to complete the retro look of this IKEA-hacked workstation is a Rubik's cube and a rotary dial phone (that's actually been converted into a computer handset).

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  The Reclining Workspace

  Working doesn't mean you have to sacrifice comfort if you have the chops to affix your computer and a hand-crafted side table to your luxe leather recliner.

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  The Hideaway

  This expansive workspace is tucked away behind a movable wall.

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  The Designer's Dream

  This Parisian paradise is home to product designer Sebastien Schaeffer, who keeps a giant sketchboard and paint markers handy for when inspiration strikes.

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  The Mini Minimalist

  Sometimes all you need to do a good day's work are the basics: a small table, desktop and keyboard, and a ball you can stow under your desk when you're done.

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  The Pipe Dream

  The pipes and pipefittings that make up this DIY desk allow for panels that can swing out for when you need extra space.

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  The Tech Editor

  The Verge's editor, Joshua Topolsky, outfits his workstation with a tech journalist's staple: a vertical monitor that streams updates from TweetDeck.

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  The Tokyo Home Office

  The wood floors, accents, panels, and furniture of this airy Tokyo home office make the desktop almost unnoticeable.

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  Living On The Grid

  A graphic designer couple turned one wall of their home office into a life-size homage to the Grid System used by many designers.

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  The Unusually Well-Lit Underground Office

  The lighting in this basement workstation creates the effect of a space that's as bright as an above-ground office.

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  Bedroom Business

  This master bedroom has two double lives: one as a home office for two, and one as a space for guests.

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  The Lofted Office

  This small but cozy lofted office floats in an upper corner of this home.

Throughout the year, the folks at Lifehacker feature the coolest workspaces from all over the world, submitted by everyone from professional designers to journalists to photographers to DIY aficionados who've discovered a new, creative home-office hack. They've rounded up 20 of the year's most popular featured workspaces, including home offices hacked together with IKEA furniture, a DIY standing desk, and an office that attaches to a leather recliner. (Seriously.) Check out 18 sumptuous spaces above.

Source : fastcompany[dot]com