Monday, May 18, 2020
Sunday, May 10, 2020
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Inside the loft new video!
A short video on my current desk set up!
We are waiting for the lockdown for the Covid-19 virus pandemic is lifted so as to allow our builders back to start again and finish the build for the loft and my new office!
We are waiting for the lockdown for the Covid-19 virus pandemic is lifted so as to allow our builders back to start again and finish the build for the loft and my new office!
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Inside the Loft #12
Todays post on Thursday 23rd of April 2020 : Lockdown haul
So as work is on hold currently, I am slowly working on ideas and plans for the layout of the new office Inside the Loft and so far the ideas are coming and the plan is slowly taking shape!
The picture above shows a similar layout for the desk that I am planning
The desk idea is to have it coming of the wall, on the side, so that the desk is not pushed up against the wall.
This will allow me to get around the back of the desk and access the back of my iMac as I often want to plug in USB cables and my SD card from my Nikon camera.
That will be a positive aspect to the desk layout which I am looking forward to once it is all finished.
The chair show in the picture above is the Ikea ALEFJÄLL and I plan to buy it and have it as my new office chair. The old chair I shall keep and use as a second chair for when someone else/visitor, is in the loft with me!
Remember you can visit the ever developing on-line Inside the Loft store and buy some really cool merchandise so please do click here to get to the store! Thanks!
Well it is getting a bit frustrating not having the work done on the loft but I will just have to be patient and wait for this Lockdown and ~Covid-19 to move on, then the work can restart!
Yes thats me on the scaffolding taking in the view
from there and the wonderful sunshine!
Back too the on-line store, I am adding new ideas and designs to watch this space as i will share with you all the new designs as they are added!
Ok stay safe out there and thank you for stopping by!
Steve :)
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Monday, April 20, 2020
Technology in the Loft
Welcome to the new blog post...
My Post today is focused on technology and the hardware I use.
Today it’s all about my mobile devices!
As I have mentioned before I use Apple products for my computing needs.
So it should be no surprise that my mobile devices are my iPad & my iPhone!
So let’s start with my iPhone....
I have an iPhone X and I have had it for 30 months. It is the 256 GB size model.
So what do I think? Well I love it and these past few months I have taken the case off and have been using it without a case. I have now got used to using the iPhone without a case and have not had any problems. In fact it feels better without the case!
Software... well as my main computer is the iMac and along with my full use of ‘Files’ and 'iCloud' for all my work etc etc, this all streams easily across all my devices and makes life very easy.
In terms of the iPhone specific software, I like but I am not a big fan of face recognition.
let me explain....
Face recognition works and it is a fantastic security element but there are times when I pick up the iPhone and go to slide open to access my home screen (see the photo above for my home screen) and nothing happens! I have wait a moment for the iPhone to 'see' me!
What has happened is that it has not recognised my face. Sometimes it works perfectly and it’s fast, but there are times when it does not and that is frustrating. It is not the end of the world I know but it is still frustrating!
As I write Apple are working on getting ready the next new update/iOS to iOS14 and I am hopeful that face recognition may get an improvement to its software, to make it better and faster at working on face recognition.
Apart from that the iPhone works perfectly and I am very happy with it. The camera is very good but I still reminisce about my iPhone 7 Plus that was simply brilliant at taking photos and the results were outstanding. The iPhone X is great but I feel that the iPhone 7 Plus had the edge.
And that brings me on to say that later this year I am looking to buy the new iPhone 12 Pro plus or whatever they will call it. By the time is is available my iPhone X will be around 3 years old. Watch this space as once I have the new iPhone I will of course be doing a review on it!
Now the iPad!
My iPad is is the Pro 11.5 inch model 2015 128 GB
So it is almost 5 years that I have had the iPad Pro but this is my second one. The first one after a year locked upon on me and crashed and after taking it to the Apple Store where they could not get it to unlock and restart, they very kindly gave me a new one identical and that has served me well for almost four years and I have not had any issues with it.
Well I say no issues, some software can crash at times and mainly that is has been when I have been working/drawing at an event using my iPad to provide digital caricatures and after a few hours, once or twice but not every-time, the software/app has frozen.
I mean its taking a real beating when I am drawing non stop for a few hours so its no surprise and a simple 'quit' of the app and a restart/reopen of the app and everything is working fine again.
I also have the first gen Apple pencil and that is almost 5 years old and still works perfectly and has not given me anything to worry about. It changes quickly when attached to the iPad and it simply works! Great!
The only modification that I have made to my iPad is the addition of a thin plastic film called 'paper like' that once attached to the screen, gives a better paper like feel to the surface of the screen and allows the pencil to feel like it is writing/drawing on traditional paper.
The screen with out the 'paper like' film, acts like a brake as the pencil runs over its surface and always caused a very uncomfortable feel to using it in that way.
With the addition of the 'paper like' film, drawing is smooth and gives no problems at all. It really is much much better.
If you use your iPad and an Apple pencil to create on your iPad and you find that the pencil does not glide over the surface of the iPad screen as smooth as you would like, then I can recommend 'paper like' to you.
Click HERE to go to their website!
I have no plans yet to buy a new iPad although the brand new one, just out at time of writing looks totally awesome, but I shall have to be patient and wait a while longer yet.
Stay safe and if you have any questions please do ask away in the comments and I will do my best to answer them!
Thanks for stopping by - Steve
Monday, April 13, 2020
Making it all work together
Slowly but getting there in setting up the social media sites so that they all fit together under the umbrella of 'Inside the Loft'.
This is starting to be a lot of fun and giving me a purpose to really sit down and think over ideas and brainstorm how I am going to set this all out and create posts for the blog here, Instagram, Facebook and of course YouTube.
The danger to watch out for is that I create one 'post' that is simply replicated over the social media sites and would mean the same content across different platforms.
That is not the ideal and should be avoided where possible.
So the brainstorming is very important on how to work around this and avoid repetitive posts that people will find boring. I mean, if I was new to this 'channel' I would expect to see different content over the different platforms.
That is how I believe I can keep it fresh and exciting. This is also how I can hopefully grow the number of people visiting and on a regular basis.
So can I ask you to click on the following links and stop by the other platforms and take a look (please do give me feedback, thanks)
As I mentioned, I am always open to feedback and ideas you may have, so don't be shy and please leave any comment/feedback for me! Thanks!
Computer info!
My computer is an iMac.
I have been using Apple computers for around 13 years. I used to be a Windows user but made the switch and have not regretted it at all.
As I am currently without an actual office, my computer is set up in our conservatory while the building of the loft conversion and so the new office in the loft, takes place.
Above is how my iMac looks right now as I type this blog post!
So here I am stuck in the conservatory trying to make do so to speak!
Back to the iMac and here is a screen shot of the configuration of my iMac...
As you can see the iMac is almost 5 years old and it really still works perfectly like it did the first day I bought it!
I also have a 1st gen iPad Pro and pencil that again still works perfectly and of course the picture was taken with my iPhone X.
So as you can guess, I am a full 'Mac environment' user and it works brilliantly for my needs in terms of my business and other stuff like photography and running this Inside the Loft blog and social media channels.
Once the new iPhone 12 is announced and we have a preorder date I shall be placing my order for the new iPhone. Once that comes my current iPhone will be 3 years old. Again my iPhone works perfectly well like new, so there is no real need to buy a new one but I can't resist after nearly 3 years of not buying a new iPhone.... crazy huh!
I am excited for when the office is finished and I have it all set up as then I can share with you how it looks and works!
Stay safe - Steve
Sunday, April 12, 2020
Office layout ideas
It is Easter Sunday as I write this post and let me wish you all a Happy Easter where ever you may be!
So although the new office build is currently on hold due to the Covid-19 lockdown period and building work has stopped, I am still able to brainstorm ideas on layout for the new office.
Here I am going to share with you my plan and ideas so far and I hope you will find this interesting and do please leave comments or get in touch if you have any suggestions as my plans are not yet final and I can change things up and around!
So here we go.... the new office is approx 3m x 3.5m in overall floor size (still waiting for some walls to be built so final accurate measurements to be made later).
If you remember inside the Shed, I had 3 desks all running together in a L shape.
These in size were two 1200mm wide desks and one 1500mm wide desk.
At the start of the build and ideas for Inside the Loft, I must admit that I thought that I would simply replicate how I had the desk layout inside the shed into the loft.
It seemed to make sense as the new loft office is slightly larger than the shed.
But, I started to surf Pinterest and Instagram for office setups as well as watching office set videos on YouTube, something I have always done and enjoyed.
So I said to myself, let's take some time here and rethink a design and desk layout for the new loft office.
I made a copy of the architect drawing on my iPad and have started a layout idea and here is how that drawing looks...
Now previously when I was in the box room in my house, my desk was up against the wall.
That is a very common place to put a home office desk but I found it restrictive and I wanted more 'freedom' on how my desk was positioned and to be able to sit and feel comfortable and to enjoy the experience of sitting at the desk.
And that gave me the purpose for the design and layout, I want to simply enjoy just sitting at the desk. Everything else that follows after will be a bonus and should fit perfectly.
The new loft office has two windows that let in lots of great natural light. In the picture of the layout for the desk above, you can see that I have the desk position coming off the wall so that I am not up against the wall.
This will allow me to sit and in front to the right of me is the main window looking west out over the back of our house where there is a public playing field and open space. Further behind that on the horizon is London itself and you can just make out Canary Wharf and the city of London with the Shard and Gherkin standing tall.
So far this feels like the best solution fo Amy theme of wanting to just sit at my desk. Behind the desk is the velux roof window so if I turn and look over the back of my right shoulder I will be able to see the sky. Again that is a really nice aspect to the office!
OK so looking at the web for ideas I have decided that I want to go minimal as much as possible and you can see from the picture above on the layout design, there is only one desk, not the three I had inside the shed.
When I am thinking of the physical layout I am also considering the colour scheme.
To be honest for ease and speed, to start with, the office in the loft will be painted with white emulsion.
But the carpet will be a light grey colour as that is the colour we going with for the rest of the rooms in the development of our loft conversion.
I also have to keep in mind that the office will at some time on the future, possibly revert back to a bedroom. So I need to keep that in mind as I design the loft office.
Now with all that has been said, there are many other details, like managing storing paperwork and files for my business, pens paper and other peripherals that I have collected over the years and other technology hardwire.
I also have my photography equipment that I want to place into my new loft office so that will be planned in at a later stage.
Another aspect to the new Inside the Loft office is make it so that I can record YouTube videos in the office. That requires so much from lighting and to how the camera position will be located when filming.
So there is a lot to consider in terms of including another function to the office other than just a desk usage office requirement.
While I talk about the use of the office, there is also a need to use the office as a painting studio because I want to start painting again, watercolours and acrylics.
So in recap the use of the office is for:
1. Desk - running the business - admin and paperwork
2. Photography - storage of equipment
3. Filming - YouTube videos created inside the loft
4. Painting - watercolours/acrylics - easel setup
There is so much to think about and I have not even started to talk about cable management and position of power sockets!
But for now I hope this has given yo an idea on how I am approaching the new office and trying to plan out the right solution that I can create once the office has been finished.
Thank you for your time and as I mentioned, do please leave a comment and any ideas or advice for the office design that you would like to make!
See you soon! Stay safe! - Steve
So although the new office build is currently on hold due to the Covid-19 lockdown period and building work has stopped, I am still able to brainstorm ideas on layout for the new office.
Here I am going to share with you my plan and ideas so far and I hope you will find this interesting and do please leave comments or get in touch if you have any suggestions as my plans are not yet final and I can change things up and around!
So here we go.... the new office is approx 3m x 3.5m in overall floor size (still waiting for some walls to be built so final accurate measurements to be made later).
If you remember inside the Shed, I had 3 desks all running together in a L shape.
These in size were two 1200mm wide desks and one 1500mm wide desk.
At the start of the build and ideas for Inside the Loft, I must admit that I thought that I would simply replicate how I had the desk layout inside the shed into the loft.
It seemed to make sense as the new loft office is slightly larger than the shed.
But, I started to surf Pinterest and Instagram for office setups as well as watching office set videos on YouTube, something I have always done and enjoyed.
So I said to myself, let's take some time here and rethink a design and desk layout for the new loft office.
I made a copy of the architect drawing on my iPad and have started a layout idea and here is how that drawing looks...
That is a very common place to put a home office desk but I found it restrictive and I wanted more 'freedom' on how my desk was positioned and to be able to sit and feel comfortable and to enjoy the experience of sitting at the desk.
And that gave me the purpose for the design and layout, I want to simply enjoy just sitting at the desk. Everything else that follows after will be a bonus and should fit perfectly.
The new loft office has two windows that let in lots of great natural light. In the picture of the layout for the desk above, you can see that I have the desk position coming off the wall so that I am not up against the wall.
This will allow me to sit and in front to the right of me is the main window looking west out over the back of our house where there is a public playing field and open space. Further behind that on the horizon is London itself and you can just make out Canary Wharf and the city of London with the Shard and Gherkin standing tall.
So far this feels like the best solution fo Amy theme of wanting to just sit at my desk. Behind the desk is the velux roof window so if I turn and look over the back of my right shoulder I will be able to see the sky. Again that is a really nice aspect to the office!
OK so looking at the web for ideas I have decided that I want to go minimal as much as possible and you can see from the picture above on the layout design, there is only one desk, not the three I had inside the shed.
When I am thinking of the physical layout I am also considering the colour scheme.
To be honest for ease and speed, to start with, the office in the loft will be painted with white emulsion.
But the carpet will be a light grey colour as that is the colour we going with for the rest of the rooms in the development of our loft conversion.
I also have to keep in mind that the office will at some time on the future, possibly revert back to a bedroom. So I need to keep that in mind as I design the loft office.
This is the velux window I mentioned that shall be
ehind me when I am sitting at the desk
Now with all that has been said, there are many other details, like managing storing paperwork and files for my business, pens paper and other peripherals that I have collected over the years and other technology hardwire.
I also have my photography equipment that I want to place into my new loft office so that will be planned in at a later stage.
Another aspect to the new Inside the Loft office is make it so that I can record YouTube videos in the office. That requires so much from lighting and to how the camera position will be located when filming.
So there is a lot to consider in terms of including another function to the office other than just a desk usage office requirement.
While I talk about the use of the office, there is also a need to use the office as a painting studio because I want to start painting again, watercolours and acrylics.
So in recap the use of the office is for:
1. Desk - running the business - admin and paperwork
2. Photography - storage of equipment
3. Filming - YouTube videos created inside the loft
4. Painting - watercolours/acrylics - easel setup
There is so much to think about and I have not even started to talk about cable management and position of power sockets!
But for now I hope this has given yo an idea on how I am approaching the new office and trying to plan out the right solution that I can create once the office has been finished.
Thank you for your time and as I mentioned, do please leave a comment and any ideas or advice for the office design that you would like to make!
See you soon! Stay safe! - Steve
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
The early stages...
We are using a local building company to do the work and construct our loft conversion for us.
One BIG advantage is that my brother works for the company. In fact the owner Stuart and my brother Andy, are the only two guys who work for the company!
So we know that the work being carried out is to the highest standards and we have complete trust in the work that they are doing.
The first construction work, after the scaffolding had been erected, was the 'steel beams' that had to be put in place inside the loft space.
It is the steel beams that will support the roof as the original rafters on one side, had to be cut away completely to give the room for the space to open up once the rear dorma was built.
Above pics showing my brother Andy working on the original rafters of the roof and then cutting, out so opening up the new dorma that gives the space and room required to make it a liveable space!
I find this work fascinating and very interesting to follow!
I will post more as work progresses and right now we are waiting out the lockdown for this Covid-19 pandemic but once work resumes, it will not be long before rooms that shall take shape!
Keep safe and keep smiling - Steve
One BIG advantage is that my brother works for the company. In fact the owner Stuart and my brother Andy, are the only two guys who work for the company!
So we know that the work being carried out is to the highest standards and we have complete trust in the work that they are doing.
The first construction work, after the scaffolding had been erected, was the 'steel beams' that had to be put in place inside the loft space.
It is the steel beams that will support the roof as the original rafters on one side, had to be cut away completely to give the room for the space to open up once the rear dorma was built.
Above : The steels are heavy! they were craned up into place into the roof!
Above pics showing my brother Andy working on the original rafters of the roof and then cutting, out so opening up the new dorma that gives the space and room required to make it a liveable space!
I find this work fascinating and very interesting to follow!
I will post more as work progresses and right now we are waiting out the lockdown for this Covid-19 pandemic but once work resumes, it will not be long before rooms that shall take shape!
Keep safe and keep smiling - Steve
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
Making it work!
Getting everything ready for a new idea like Inside the Loft can take some organising!
At the moment I am working on the creation of the social media and YouTube channel to ensure that I will have the 'shop window' ready for you all to look at and hopefully enjoy!
So creation of logo and other related items need to be put together and this can take so me time but at this very moment, with the Covid-19 crisis going on around the world, time is something we all actually have on our hands!
The image above is a wide version of my new Inside the Loft logo that I can use on different platforms like YouTube etc.
But more importantly than the basic getting it all set up to work, content is required and must be of interest to everyone so that people shall want to return and see what else I am posting and sharing with you all.
So at this very moment I am working on creating a list of topics that will go to make up the content for the new 'Inside the Loft'.
So far I have.....
1. The progress of the build of the loft conversion itself
2. Desk setup and tour (video created with commentary)
3. Reviews - technology - apps - travel/locations - some fun stuff
4. Weekly what's new with Steve
5. How I create videos in the office
Again the content will be very important and either make or break the new endeavour!
At the moment I am working on the creation of the social media and YouTube channel to ensure that I will have the 'shop window' ready for you all to look at and hopefully enjoy!
So creation of logo and other related items need to be put together and this can take so me time but at this very moment, with the Covid-19 crisis going on around the world, time is something we all actually have on our hands!
The image above is a wide version of my new Inside the Loft logo that I can use on different platforms like YouTube etc.
But more importantly than the basic getting it all set up to work, content is required and must be of interest to everyone so that people shall want to return and see what else I am posting and sharing with you all.
So at this very moment I am working on creating a list of topics that will go to make up the content for the new 'Inside the Loft'.
So far I have.....
1. The progress of the build of the loft conversion itself
2. Desk setup and tour (video created with commentary)
3. Reviews - technology - apps - travel/locations - some fun stuff
4. Weekly what's new with Steve
5. How I create videos in the office
Again the content will be very important and either make or break the new endeavour!
Construction of the outside dormer for the loft conversion
I do hope you will enjoy this new journey and join me as we take the first steps!
I do so appreciate your support and I very much look forward to sharing, creating and publishing all the fun and interesting items that I have planned for the coming months!
Till next time this is Steve saying be safe and keep smiling!
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