How to Style Your Home Office
Having a dedicated office space in your house not only helps you work better, but play and rest better, too. According to an article on productivity from Fast Company, “Working right before going to sleep, and looking at a bright screen, reduces the melatonin you need to fall asleep. Not only does this not sound relaxing at all, but it seems like something that affects both your work and your relaxation, a lose-lose situation.” Working from bed, as tempting as it can be with comfy blankets and pillows, is generally a bad idea. Ideally, you should have not just a separate space for work, but a separate room.
A home office provides you a place to really focus on your work—and leave it behind when you’re finished for the day. And if you’re happy in your workspace, you’ll feel more positive about work. This is where style comes in.
Make It Home
Don’t forget the “home” part of “home office.” Why recreate a colorless cubicle when you have the freedom to make your office truly your own? Choose furniture styles and decor that complement the style of the rest of your home so you feel warm and comfortable, not full of dread, when you make that commute to the next room over. Remember the following design elements:
- Furniture style: Traditional, contemporary, farmhouse, or eclectic? It’s up to you!
- Colors: Neutral, warm, or cool, depending on what colors inspire you most. Think about how you can incorporate color choices into your paint, furniture, rugs, and other accessories.
- Art and decorations: Carefully chosen pieces (beware of clutter!) that give you a pleasant place for your eyes to rest when you look up from your work.
Make It Functional
The most beautiful office in the world is pointless if you can’t get any work done. It is well worth investing a decent chunk of time in analyzing your work habits and flow. What kind of filing system should you keep, and where should you position it in relation to your computer and seat? What kinds of papers, resources, and technological tools need to literally be within arm’s reach? Most importantly, your desk and chair must be comfortable and ergonomically conducive to your health and productivity. Don’t skimp on office furniture, as your choice of pieces will make or break your work-at-home experience.
Make It Technologically Neat
It’s hard to imagine working without the latest technological tools at your disposal, but with almost every device comes the dreaded, accompanying cord. Before long, your desk and floor become a tangled mess.
The RoomSketcher blog offers the following tips for “taming your technology” so you can hum along without distractions:
- Add a wireless router – you’ll reduce your wires by half
- Invest in both a wireless printer and a wireless mouse
- Add a grommet in your desktop to lead any wires from your desk down below
- Attach any visible wires to the underside of your desk or down along a desk leg
- Gather loose wires along the floor together with a simple cord tamer
Make It Well-Lit
Lighting can be tricky, but it is also well worth investing ample time and consideration. While your view is important to your sense of well-being, shadows and glare may trump that window seat. Before committing to final furniture size or placement, test out working from different sides of the room at different times of day. Will you be burning the midnight oil? Make sure your artificial lighting choices are both inviting and easy on the eyes.
Make It Zoom-Worthy
We have fully entered the world of Zoom, Google Hangouts, FaceTime, and any other number of virtual meeting experiences. As more people work from home, more are relying on the convenience of remote, face-to-face meetings. When planning your home office design, keep your background, lighting, and placement of devices in mind. Give people a neat, simple, and non-distracting environment so they can focus on what’s important—you and your contributions to the meeting.
Home office in your future residence? The Charles at Bexley offers 2BD garden apartments for an affordable upgrade. Use one room as a bedroom and the other for a personalized home office to meet your professional needs. View a 2BD floor plan today.
