Working from home is considered a great perk precisely became you get to set up the office yourself. This can be challenging for some people but after you grasp the basics of home office design, you’ll create a workspace that will promote productivity.
We list the 8 best ways to add a personal touch to your office.
Comfortability goes without saying
We have no doubt that you have already bought the most comfortable office chair on the market but there are many more ways to increase the comfortability of the home office. For instance, you can custom order the desk, so it matches your height perfectly.
Furthermore, you should get a palm rest for the keyboard and consider adding a standing desk to complement the office’s design. There should a trash can near the desk, so you don’t have to get up to throw the trash away.
Tech up!
Apart from comfortable furniture, the office should contain the latest tech equipment. From the laptop to the printer, everything you buy (or receive from the company) for the office should be fully functional, so you can run your business from the home office without a hitch
Furthermore, you should encase desk cords with a cover that comes with a metal or plastic cap. This will make the office a lot less messy, as the cord “jungle” is hidden from plain sight. Another neat tactic is to connect to the Internet using a wireless router.
Finding the right location for the home office
In smaller homes, it is often hard to find the ideal location for the desk. If you cannot allocate an entire room for the office, i.e. a study, then a corner of the living room should do just fine. The area where you set up the office should have low traffic and it should be as quiet as possible.
A room with a view
Speaking of location, the worst place for the desk inside the house is up against a wall. Staring at a wall doesn’t seem very inviting, so face the desk towards a window. This is especially desirable for homes that come with a great view.
However, apartments often don’t have a great view but even, in this case, you can hang wall art or a mirror. From hanging a picture to drawing a mural, everything is better than staring at an empty wall. The alternative is to position the desk so it faces the door.
Functionality before all
When we say home office “design,” we are not referring so much to the aesthetics but the functional aspect of design. Namely, everything inside the office should have a particular purpose and not just look nice. When looking for pieces to add to the office, they should foremost be functional and then pretty.
Lighting up space
The more light gets inside your workspace, the less will your eyes be strained. This is one of the reasons why we have suggested that you place the desk near the window. Furthermore, you should hang window treatments, such as curtains and draperies, so you regulate the amount of light the office receives.
At nighttime, you require an equally potent (and natural) light source. LED lights that burn at 3000K are the best choice to avoid eyestrain and headaches. These lights emit a neutral colour that will neutralize the negative effect of the blue light coming from the computer screen.
A green corner
In terms of functionality, the home office should have plenty of fresh air inside. Since you cannot keep the window open all the time, we suggest establishing a green corner. Plantlife is proven to relieve stress and looking at the colour green actually soothes the human mind.
There are reasons enough to throw as many houseplants as possible inside the home office. Watering and nurturing them are great side activities when you need a break from work. There is a good reason why office spaces have flower pots all over the place.
Colour the walls the way you like them
When it comes to the ideal colour of the walls inside the home office, you can find all sorts of advice online. The most common suggestion is to paint the walls in a neutral colour, such a white and beige.
Although these hues make sense, the walls should be coloured the way you like them. Some people like blue walls, while others prefer wallpapers with floral motifs. Both solutions are perfectly fine if they allow you to think better and be more productive.
Adding a personal touch to a home office isn’t as easy as it sounds. From dealing with interlacing power cables to figuring out where to place the desk, there are at least 8 issues you have to solve early on. Keep in mind that productivity and functionality are the two main interior décor principles that should guide you through the process.
