6 Tips To Create Your Perfect Home Office

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How do you create the perfect home office that is productive, comfortable, and practical? Whether you work from home a few days a week or full-time, having an office space you enjoy working in is important.

Here are six tips to get you started:

1. Proper Lighting is Important

Natural sunlight is known to enhance cognitive function and improve overall mood. Rooms or spaces with large windows that allow plenty of light to come in are suitable for home offices.

Place your desk where you can get as much light as possible through the window. The best lighting combination for working spaces at home is ambient and direct lighting.

Consider using some floodlights, modern floor lamps, or wood floor lamps that coordinate well with the desk or other furniture. Use overhead lights to ensure you have sufficient light for your home office space. A poorly lit working are is bad for your eyes and can cause fatigue.

Make sure you have a reading lamp on your desk for those late-night working hours. Tall lamps are a good choice for your desk to give you good clearance for work purposes. Wall sconces are also great if you want to create natural-look lighting. For more ambiance, make sure you have a dimmer switch. Here are some extra tips to keep in mind:

Incorporate two sources of light – An overhead light and a task light
Express your personal style and office decor by choosing stylish lights
Set up your lighting to reduce glare – Use a lampshade or curtains to reduce glare
Avoid harsh direct lighting over your workspace
Quality lighting creates a calming environment that encourages creativity

2. Pick the Right Space

Most people new to working at home think they only need sufficient space to work. But there is more to working at home than physical comfort; your workstation should be positioned where you’re less likely to get any distractions.

For instance, placing your work desk looking out of a window can be a big distraction. Trying to work from the living room or kitchen table can be hectic, especially if you have kids running around. Even if you only have limited space, setting a desk on the opposing wall of a window can allow you to work and take breaks to relax and enjoy the view outside the window.

Some other ways to keep your brain in work mode:

Choose the room or space closest to your front door – This will keep your private life separate from your professional life. You don’t want people walking through your living room, kitchen, and down the hall to get to your home office.
Make your home office sound proof – This is ideal if you have to deal with young children, nearby construction, traffic, or noisy neighbors.
Know how much space you need – You want to be sure that everything you need, including your PC or laptop, printer, desk, coach for visitors, and other items will fit without making the place look too squeezed. If you want your computer to take up less space, you should consider switching out your bulky hard drive with a mini PC.
Make sure you have a door that locks – Enjoying that privacy you need from the rest of the house is crucial. To make your home office even more secure, get yourself a keyless entry lock to make access simpler and convenient.

Ensure you have everything you need to get working – high-speed internet access, a network router, a surge protector, a multipurpose printer, UPS, a telephone, a file cabinet, paper shredder, and some rules to ensure your working space is respected.

3. Think of Your Comfort

Working in a home office means that you’ll be spending quite a lot of time seated on a desk. Sitting for long hours can lead to back pain, weight gain, and other problems. Most office chairs are not suitable for prolonged sitting.

How do you ensure you’re working in a comfortable environment? Investing in ergonomic furniture is a must.

Start by buying an ergonomic chair that provides great back support and adjustable features for height and arms and legs. A high-backed chair is recommended as it’s great for your shoulders and neck.

Some tips on choosing ergonomic furniture:

Avoid the appealing looks and instead go for quality, reliability, and durability
Make sure you choose the right material that matches your working conditions
Decide between stationary or rolling chairs
Organize your furniture well to avoid a cluttered look

4. Inspiring Art and Color

Art inspires and creates a relaxed mood in any space. Experts have found that people who work in enriched spaces that are decorated with art or colorful walls were 17% more productive than those working in lean spaces.

Adding some office decor in the form of artwork as well as items like pen holders and document organizers, can create a more engaging environment that boosts creativity, reduces stress, and encourages productivity. If art is not your thing, the wall color can have a huge effect on your mental clarity and creativity. Choose a color that compliments your home office and decor instead of the other way round.

Here are some extra color tips:

Opt or a neutral shade like grey if you want to achieve balance
A gallery style wall of family photos or favorite prints would also be great
Blue and green hues are soothing and enhance performance – perfect for writers
Red is linked to superior performance in environments that require generating ideas
Yellow stimulates creativity and mental activity – good for home offices
Orange encourages socialization in small office spaces
Installing a wall mirror can emphasize views and colors from your walls while visually expanding your small home office

5. Go Green

Just like the rest of your home, make sure that your home office matches your true personality. If you love embracing a green lifestyle, adding some plants to your workspace can be a pleasant personal touch. Plants in office may as well be able to increase productivity by almost 15%, according to Science Daily. Plants bring about feelings of satisfaction, self-reported levels of concentration, and even better air quality in indoor spaces.

If you want to create an inviting setting for your home office, consider adding a few plants. It might be the missing link between feeling unmotivated and improving concentration.

6. Add Some Inspiration

When creating the perfect home office, you want to take a minimalist approach, but also ensure you have space for some personal items. Displaying your favorite things can be a source of happiness in your workspace.

For instance, if you travel a lot, you can keep some souvenirs you’ve collected on your desk. If you’re a lover of interior decor, get some colorful throw pillows for that coach in your working space. Install an overhead LED bulb on the wall right below the coach or colorful artwork to establish a focal point in your home office.

For something more dramatic, opt for specialized window treatments like blinds instead of curtains for your home office. Getting a small wall-mounted bookshelf or bookcase to keep your favorite books is also a great idea. Make use of the extra storage space to display other personal items like crafts, photos, and certificates.

The Bottom Line

Creating the perfect home office is not easy. Most people do it a step at a time, but taking these steps can help you enhance your home office setup. Your workspace is the perfect platform to reflect your personality, creativity, and work ethic.

As you strive to create a space or room where you can work uninterrupted in your home, make sure to keep it clutter-free so that you can think clearly and be productive.

About the Author:

Katie Tejada is a writer, editor, and former HR professional. She enjoys writing about events, travel, decorating trends, and innovations for the home, but also covers developments in HR, business communication, recruiting, and CRM solutions.