If you’re new to working from home, you may find that being outside your usual office space takes a bit of getting used to. Whether you’re working from home temporarily, permanently or somewhere in between, you can make it easier by creating an environment that promotes the same level of productivity as your office. The Inside Out Living Team has put together a list of practical ideas that you can easily implement in your office space, whether you have worked at home for 5 years or 5 minutes.
If You Don’t Have A Desk, Use A Dining Table
With children home during holidays and perhaps other family members working part-time, it is important to find yourself a space that distances you far enough away from the hustle and bustle that may be going on in your house. The dining room is an excellent choice of space for working from home, as it’s one of the only places in the house that provides a table and chair of a good height. You may find working from the sofa to be a tempting prospect, but sitting at a desk will prevent you from slouching and help to keep aches and pains at bay. Not only does your dining table provide you with suitable seating, but it also lets you keep your notebook, a drink, and any other items you may normally keep on your desk in the office close by.
Better still, if you typically only use your dining room every so often on special occasions, you won’t have to move all of your belongings off every time your household sits down to eat a meal. For those of you that have worked from home for a while but are looking to expand your home office design ideas, we think that The White and Grey Extending Dining Table would really up your home office decor and create a stylish albeit practical setup.
Balance Light & Darkness With A Lamp
Sitting in a dark room with no light source other than your computer monitor can severely strain your eyes. Introducing a lamp to your office surroundings will help to not only do the obvious thing by providing you with light but also can help create a relaxing working environment in order for you to feel comfortable and work productively.
Acquire Some Office Storage Solutions
One of the more simple home office design ideas on this list, storage is a must for any efficient working space. An easy yet effective option for keeping your home office decor minimalistic and promote productivity is using baskets to store your work documents in tidily avoiding them being thrown all over your workspace and cluttering up not only your desk but also your mind. You can also get box files of varying sizes from Smiths, Staples, and other popular retailers that will help to keep your office in good order.
Look Into Standing Desk Converters
Standing desks are a great way of working and are becoming more popular due to their many benefits. From burning calories whilst working to helping with back problems, standing desk converters are perfect for home use as they are portable and can be easily set up at the start of the day and put away at the end. They are also incredibly versatile and can be used as effectively on a kitchen counter or breakfast bar as on a dining table.
As if that wasn’t enough, standing desk converters can also be incredibly stylish and come in a wide range of designs with a number of different functions.
Benefit From A Laptop Or Monitor Stand
While we like to think all of our home office design ideas look great, some focus on function first and aesthetics second. A fantastic way to improve your productivity and improve your posture while working is by using a laptop or monitor stand, depending on what device you are using. These ergonomic accessories can be used to ensure the top of your monitor is at eye level, which helps to avoid straining your neck when working on the computer.
Invest In A Virtual Assistant
Alternatively, if a written reminder is not for you, why not invest in a virtual assistant, such as an Amazon Alexa or a Google Home. These are a great way to set reminders, play music and even ask questions should you need to find something out mid-work.
These tend to be of a minimalistic style and would look very smart on a minimal style home office desk.
Install a Corkboard Or Chalkboard
Corkboards and chalkboards are a fantastic home office design idea for those people who work well with a written to-do list. They are ideal for sticking and/or writing long-term reminders on, as well as helping you keep in mind what projects you have on, which deadlines are coming up, and perhaps even any upcoming events or occasions.
Available in a variety of shapes and sizes, corkboards & chalkboards are also a great space to brainstorm additional ideas away from your day-to-day notebook. The ability to quickly add and remove notes means that corkboards & chalkboards also provide a fantastic space to expand your ideas and explore new avenues.
Ensure You Have A Comfortable Ergonomic Chair
If you already have a desk area that you are able to work from home, it is key to ensure that you have a comfortable chair that supports your back. There’s nothing worse than being uncomfortable when working and this can really affect the way that you work and the work that you get done. So by ensuring that you have the correct seating, you will more easily be able to maintain your standard of work when working in a different environment. A suitable option from Inside Out Living that provides support to not only your back but also your arms is the Stockholm chair, which will sit comfortably under any desk or dining table.
Spread Some Greenery
An item to consider adding to your home office desk is a plant, this looks stylish on a minimalistic desk and also is a brilliant way of improving the air quality within your room. There are many benefits to having plants within your office, for example, reducing stress, increasing productivity, boosting creativity and many others. This is possibly our favourite point on this list of home office design ideas, as those who work from home rarely give much thought toward aesthetics and how even a little bit of colour can drastically improve their output and their mood.
Introduce As Much Natural Light As Possible
A mirror is a fantastic way to bring more light into any room in your home, if you’re working in a small compact room this is an easy and effective way of not only bringing more light into the room when the sun reflects off it but will instantly make the room feel bigger. By adding this into a small compact office, this is likely to make you feel a lot more productive if you feel like you have space to think.
More light will be drawn into a room with a large mirror and will, therefore, have more effect in making your room look bigger, a suitable option to consider for this is the Layla Full-Length Leaner Mirror. However, it is important to bear in mind the size of your room when introducing a mirror as you also don’t want to overpower the room, perhaps try a wall mirror such as our Simple Mirror, if your room is too small to bring in a full-length mirror.
All of these home office design ideas can be implemented in any home office whether as a temporary fix if you have to work at home or added to improve permanent home offices. There are many other practical ideas that can be used to make your home office decor look great, these are just a few of our favourites, let us know if you have any additional ideas and we may retweet some of our favourites.
