Creativity thrives in environments where we can fully control our surroundings, allowing our ideas to expand and take shape without limitations. I learned this firsthand in the 11th grade when I chose to stay home from a family vacation to finish a school project. My parents were horrified by the decision, but it was the first time I experienced the freedom to design my workspace exactly as I needed to bring my creative vision to life.

Our assignment was to create a 10-20 page visual representation of the key themes and literary motifs from a book in our English class. I started out in my bedroom, like I did most of my work. Magazines strewn all over the floor as I cluster thematic visuals into groups and prepare to arrange them onto the final pages. But soon I ran out of space. 

I expanded into the hallway, then downstairs into the living room, kitchen, and dining room. Eventually, each room became a station for different parts of the project, with one room dedicated to all of the finished pages lined up in sequence.

At some point during this creative takeover, I accidentally got a permanent marker stain on my bedroom carpet. Knowing our home was being recarpeted the next week, I didn’t worry too much. But then I wondered: Could I expand even further? So I took the floors, doodling, and drawing, and coloring on the carpet whenever I felt like it.

By the end of the week, every room in the house was covered with my project’s content, with drawings, colors, and designs in permanent marker on the floors. My parents nearly had a heart attack when they returned, and the carpet guys were confused, but within a week, everything was back to normal. And I had a great piece of work to show for it.

Remixing the Modern Workspace

Reflecting on that experience, I’ve often been disappointed by the lack of creativity in the physical spaces where I’ve been asked to work throughout my career. Most offices today are designed for collaboration and focus (with meeting rooms, conference rooms, phone booths, and open floor plans), not for fostering creativity.

How can we expect someone to think outside the box if they’re stuck in a fishbowl environment where anyone can interrupt their creative flow at any moment? How can we encourage a wandering, ruminating train of thought if we’re expected to sit at a single desk all day? Personally, I find it impossible.

Since the work-from-home movement during the pandemic, I’ve spent considerable time cultivating a home office environment optimized for my own creative output. You don’t need to look far to pick up what some of these things are. Cats. Plants. Art. Lots of color. (I’m very consistent.) This has taken me years of incremental, deliberate effort.

We can have creative spaces, like the one I created at home. Many workplaces offer collaborative spaces. But it’s rare to find a space that truly combines both—a place where creativity and collaboration can coexist and flourish.

Collaborative creative spaces are so rare that whenever I see a room in an office space that does anything like this, I cement it in my brain to permanent memory. Some examples I’ve loved over the years are:

• Soundcloud’s office in Berlin used to have a “puzzle room” with a standing table for meetings

• Etsy’s office in Brooklyn has a crafting room with bins of art supplies and tables for work spaces

• IDEO’s office New York City has working stations with whiteboard, Post-It notes, and stickers at the ready for all

An interesting thing about a creative, collaborative space is that it’s dynamic, not static. Art on walls can be inspiring, but it doesn’t invite creative collaboration because it doesn’t engage back. True creative spaces invite you to play, iterate, and tinker—whether that’s building a puzzle, making a craft, or simply picking up a Post-It note.

I believe we need these spaces now more than ever. After spending the past six months learning more about what’s possible with AI, I’m realizing that AI’s potential isn’t limited by its technological capabilities; it’s limited by the creativity we bring to it. To inspire more creative thinking, we need to rethink our workspaces.

More offices should include rooms that encourage creativity and innovation. (By the way, I bet this will also get people back into offices again, at least a few days a week.) Using physical space to prompt real-time collaboration and brainstorming energy is a pretty great reason to step away from video calls and show up in person.

My guess is that one of the reasons so many people enjoy working from home, even if they don’t articulate it this way, is because they feel more creative there. I think, by and large, this is a great thing. Hopefully, I’m not alone in feeling more connected to my work environment now that I have more creative control. What we need now is to bring that creative energy back into group settings, encouraging us all to remix the form—together.