Creating the Ideal Home Office Space
Are you working from home or living at work? Here are our top tips for creating the ideal home office space!
The transition to working from home has been the biggest physical shift in work culture of the last generation. In the early days we were seeing some amazing workarounds, hilarious Zoom-bombs of pets and family, and some interesting choices of attire.
However, home-working increasingly looks like it’s here to stay. As a result, many people are taking the design and function of their home office seriously - after all, it’s where you’ll be spending a significant proportion of your week, and now you get to decide what that looks like - so you owe it to yourself to invest some time and thought into designing a work environment that suits you.
Whatever your personal style, here are our top tips for maximising your home office.
Multipurpose Office Furniture
Nothing says “office” like a plastic chair and veneered desk - but that might not be your aesthetic choice or particular vibe at home, and making space for extra furniture can be a challenge. Our tip is to choose furniture that is multipurpose - one piece that does a few different jobs is better than lots of pieces with one job each.
For example, a bench or stool can be at your desk during work hours, and at the dinner table at mealtimes. These backless seating options not only save you space, it’s good for your posture if you spend a lot of the day sitting!
Big Storage: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
If you’re an “out of sight, out of mind” kind of person with work, and like to draw really clear boundaries between your professional and personal life, you might choose to completely dismantle the office after a day at work and return your home to a purely personal space.
This is where some flexible storage can be really handy - so choosing a desk with drawers or cupboards can help you put everything away quickly and easily at the end of the working day. Or - make space in an existing storage solution, and return your desk to a clean slate ready for tomorrow! Dressers, wall units, bookcases or bureaus can all be used to house your work paraphernalia.
Tablescaping: Not just for Weddings
If you’re happy to leave your workstation out and ready rather than packing it away, making it a pleasurable and inspiring place to be is one way of generating positivity within your working day. Making your office space truly your own is one of the nicest things about working from home, so make sure yours is somewhere you want to be.
Find a corner or wall space for a featured item that you enjoy having close to hand - for example, a feature vase, artwork, plant life - can all be a welcome respite from your inbox. These reclaimed teak root vases are unique and stylish, the perfect counterweight to the daily grind.
Divide and Conquer: Compartmentalise by Dividing your Room
If you don’t have a dedicated room for your home office, and you have an underused corner or a large enough space to divide, you can use a larger piece of furniture to break the room up slightly and give yourself a dedicated location for working in.
An open bookshelf is a good way to achieve this - the open back means you can achieve a semi- screened workspace without losing light, and it’s functional from both sides. Winner!
Turn on the Bright Lights
Having a dedicated light for your workspace isn’t just good for your eyes - can give you a focus and be another way of compartmentalising your day. When it’s on, you’re at work, and when it’s off, you’re out of the office.
We love these reclaimed table lamps - we find the unique patterns in the natural forms very soothing and calming, and a pleasure to have nearby.
So - whether you’re full time WFH, or splitting time between home and your external office, it’s more important than ever to give yourself the right environment to flourish and shift from “making do” into a work environment that works best for you.
Hopefully these tips will help you develop your home office space into something inspired rather than improvised. Be sure to follow our social media pages for more ingenious ideas and home hacks!