I'm definitely something of a nerd when it comes to these things, but I really enjoy making my office space personal and I've always brought a lot of my own stuff to every workplace I've worked at, or, alternatively, I've made sure that I'd be able to order things I like. I like it when the colour scheme is pretty subdued and subsequently many of my objects are white, transparent, black or grey.

Now I've decided that it's time to put all colourful ring binders, plastic sleeves, and tape dispenser that have been left in my office back into storage and bring in some of the objects that at the moment reside on the shelves at home. The display above shows some of the things I like, or already own, and intend to bring to work.

A picture frame from IKEA, a SIGEL stapler, pale grey ring binders, my favourite black, very fine pens, a red whiteboard pen, a stack of post-it notes, a bird which functions as a holder for paper clips, and last, but definitely not least, a sixty centimetres tall wooden zebra found at eBay.

For years, I have had photos of my loved ones on my desk at work and the photos have become slightly outdated over time. As I begin my new job, I thought it might be time to update with newly taken photos in black and white. Since all frames, back as well as front, are in glass, I thought it might be fun to have quotes from various famous people at the back.

The above is a quote by Winston Churchill and in addition to this I will also quote Marcel Proust ("The voyage to discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes"), Marie Curie ("Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood"), and Galileo Galilei ("We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover it within themselves"). All of the quotations are in some way related to teaching and learning, which I found very appropriate. The colours of the backgrounds are orange (as in the example above), red, yellow, and bluish purple.

Since I've just begun a new job and won't be working from home that much anymore, I've decided to put some effort in making my office a bit more personal. Since I originally come from Dalarna, I decided to bring in something that reminds me of that: i.e. a Dala horse.

I could have chosen the "correct" one of course, the wooden one that has been handcarved and painted at Grannas or Nils Olsson in Nusnäs, but I opted for a glass one instead, thus mixing my geographical origin with the "glass kingdom" in Småland, which we visited many times when we lived in the vicinity. The Dala horse was made at Lindshammar glasbruk.

I managed to get the one in the photo above at Tradera this morning at a very reasonable price.

It's not easy to know what is right or wrong at times, but sometimes it feels as if it's better to be safe than sorry. For years there have been warnings about parabens and their possible links to cancer, but as of yet nothing has been scientifically proven. Lately there has also been warnings about aluminium salts in deodorants and in general it feels weird to use products with a lot of chemicals.

I rarely use make-up, but, when I do, I've noticed that BareMinerals seems to work well on my skin. Other skincare products I use on a daily basis and paraben-free Avène has been my favourite brand for years, both because of its usefulness for my rosacea-prone skin and because of its very few ingredients. In addition, I have swapped my old aluminium salt-filled deodorant with Biotherm's Deo Pure Natural.

I'm aware that our everyday lives are filled with chemicals and materials that are not particularly beneficial for us and it's not possible to get rid of everything, but I just feel we have to begin somewhere and I have chosen to start with the things that come in direct contact with my skin.

We made our own gooseberry jam a few days ago and it has been lovely with a slice of freshly baked bread and some cheese. I have noticed that we do need some longer spoons for jam in general, however, and I have trawled the Internet to find some suitable ones. There are possibilities on Tradera, but this also means that I will have to win the auction, so let's see.