Whether you work from home or have carved out a space for something you love like crafting, reading, or writing, your home office is a place that should inspire the flow of creativity and allow you to get down to business. But often, that's not the case. In fact, home offices can be the most neglected spaces in our homes. Now is the time to change that! With many of us working or even schooling children from home, you owe it to yourself to set up a proper office(or school) space. It's vital you have somewhere to concentrate that's separate from your home life — and is hopefully a nice space to spend time in.
To help you out on this rather specific front, we have pulled together some useful tips from experienced home-workers. Also keep in mind that having a home office can entitle you to certain tax breaks, so your investment can end up right back in your pocket.
1. Choose the Right Space
Decide if your home office would be better off in another room. When you first started working from home, may have set up your home office in an obvious place: a spare bedroom, guest room or basement.
But there could be a better place. If you rarely use your dining room or formal living room, consider setting up shop in one of those rooms.
If you work from home full-time, you're going to be spending as much time in your office as you do in the rest of the house. Don't treat your working space as a second-class accommodation -- give it the importance it deserves.
One important consideration is ensuring you can switch off when you're not working. For this reason, it's advisable you can shut the door on your office and "leave" work.
Watch out for a home office space that initially seems ideal but turns out to be too hot or too cold, too noisy or too quiet. Avoid moving your equipment, furniture and supplies several times by trying out your new home office space for one month.
That should give you enough time to decide if you’ve picked the right place to set up shop.
2. How About a Stand-Up Desk?
With the news in that sitting down all day will kill you, if you're creating your home office from scratch, why not consider a stand-up desk?
A new office and working setup is the perfect time to make a dramatic change to how your work, and it might just save your life.
3. Consider Your Corners
If you're sticking with a traditional desk set-up, then think right angles; consider using an L-shaped arrangement because of the two work surfaces.
Hide things you don't want to look at.
Modern offices have lots of cords. Run a power strip behind your desk and plug everything into that. As for office equipment? “I hate how printers look,” says my friend Charlie. “It depresses me when I see a printer.”
So that can go in the closet. Just don’t try to skip owning a printer with copying and scanning capability. Having to run to a Office Max for basic functions can take a big chunk out of your day.
4. You Deserve a Throne
Avoid using a backbreaking, pain-inducing, kitchen chair and replace it with an ergonomically correct office chair in a patterned or colored fabric.
We concur. Pain from bad working posture, and in worst case scenarios, repetitive strain injuries, are no joke.
Save money where you can, but spend as much as you can afford on a decent chair -- your back will thank you for it.
5. You Can't Have Too Much Storage Space
A cluttered workplace is depressing. Your best bet for having a clear desk and tidy working environment is to have a place for everything.
Add shelves above or next to your desk to gain more storage space and to reduce desktop clutter. You can use open shelves or a hutch that sits on your desk to increase your storage space.
A tall, four-shelf bookcase -- ideally with adjustable shelves -- can hold dozens of books and reference materials.
In addition to open shelving, consider solutions like attractive storage boxes for bits and bobs that would look messy out in the open.
Get creative with storage
Filing cabinets aren’t the most attractive pieces of furniture, but you do need a place to put papers you use frequently. The biggest issue with home offices is that you wind up having paper everywhere. If you’re the sort of person who needs to see something to remember it exists, try wall storage: magazine type racks, or children’s library-style display shelves.
If you need book cases, get nice ones–big enough that you don’t need to overstuff, and artful enough that they’ll look great as the backdrop in your video conferences. And if you’re using the guest bedroom? It probably has a closet. Trick out that closet with a shelving system, so you minimize the need for storage in the main office area.
6. Good Lighting Is Crucial
In addition to your space's existing lighting, do invest in additional sources of light to make your workspace brighter and more inviting.
Task lighting for your desk area is essential, and even a couple of smaller lamps for mood lighting will make a difference.
In addition to helping you avoid eye strain, light can improve your mood --- just think what a difference some cheerful lamps will make when the winter nights draw in.
Embrace Natural Light
When putting a new desk into a home office, a lot of people kind of reflexively put it right up against the wall in the darkest corner of the room. What they’ve inadvertently done is recreated the corporate cubicle. And who wants that? Move your desk close to the windows, but place it parallel to the panes. This ideal set-up gives you the happiness benefits of natural light, and a good reason to turn away from your computer every few minutes to take in the scene.
But don't forget the lamps
Even with great natural light, you’ll still need additional lighting for darker hours of the day. Most overhead house lighting is inadequate for work. It creates space with all the warmth of a hotel lobby. Try a few table lamps, which offer a nice soft glow and interesting design possibilities.
7. Think Tech
When you're setting up your space, don't underestimate how many sockets you'll need for your various tech items.
Just a PC, monitor, printer, phone and camera can soon see you juggling power spots. Invest in some decent, surge-protected extension leads that you can run around the room to where you need power most. Consider good-looking charging stations for smaller gadgetry that will still look attractive away from your main desk area.
Also think about investing in a Wi-Fi printer, which can be kept further away from your computer.
Finally, don't let cable clutter ruin the aesthetic of your office. There are some really attractive solutions available that will keep your wires neat and tidy.
8. Don't Neglect Your Walls
Go for function, but don’t forget about style! It doesn't have to cost the earth to decorate your office. Visit thrift shops and flea markets for quirky, vintage pieces or indulge in some DIY creatvity. Etsy is a great source of fun and affordable art for your walls. If art isn't your thing, stick up a few light-hearted geeky posters or consider a series of text-based screenprints. A cheap pinboard can be made fun as well as functional.
Personalize thoughtfully
Putting photos of family on your desk or nearby is great, but when things don’t get changed around they become somewhat like wall paper. They cease to make us mindful. So rotate the photos, and include mementos of success, cartoons that make you laugh, even a scent that makes you happy–something you definitely can’t get away with in a cube.
9. Get Some Greenery
It's been proven that plants in the workplace can reduce stress levels and increase productivity.
Aside from these health benefits, plants are an inexpensive way to transform the look and feel of a room.
If you're not naturally green-fingered, then consider easy-to-care-for house plants, such as cacti, succulents, palms, ivy and heck, even a few spider plants will add a touch of nature to an office space.
10. It's Never Too Late For a Makeover
If you're reading this thinking that you'd like to improve your home office space, then why not just do it? It's never too late to start again with your home office design, layout and looks.
With a bit of hard work, some reorganization, a pot of paint, a few well-chosen accessories and one weekend, you could see your working space totally transformed.
It's easy to let things get stale and boring. If a change is as good as a break, a quick office makeover could be just what you need to reinvigorate your home-working life.
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