Since most of us will be working from home for the foreseeable future, now is as good a time as any to finally get that home office situated. Once you have your space picked out — 40-70 square feet is recommended for a basic home office — you’re ready to get decorating. Here are a few tips to help you decorate your new home office like a pro.
Consider Function Before Aesthetic
It’s a no-brainer to say you want your workspace to be aesthetically pleasing. Your home office should be somewhere you enjoy working, after all! But before you can consider aesthetic, it’s important to place function at the top of your priorities list when you’re shopping for furniture. Think about what your workflow looks like and which items you need within your reach. Once you understand what kind of function you’re looking for from the furniture in your workspace, you can start looking for pieces that match your aesthetic and your working needs. As we mentioned above, your home office should be a place you want to spend time in. If you have all of your functional furniture and it’s still missing that special something, consider adding a few comfortable seating options and investing in creating a space that offers a few creature comforts in addition to the tools you need for a productive workday.
Add Some Color
If you want to feel happy about the place you’re working in, it helps to have a few colors that you love in it. If you’re working with white walls, it might be time for a new coat of paint. What colors make you feel happiest or the most motivated? If you’re not sure what color to paint the walls, asking yourself that question is a great place to start. But painting the walls isn’t the only way to bring a splash of color into your home office. Flowers and other accessories are excellent ways to bring some new life into this space if you’re not allowed to paint the walls or you already like the clean look of them. Even though 37% of flowers are purchased as gifts, it makes the day a little sunnier to have a small arrangement to look at while you work. It’s also a great way to bring the outdoors in without all the mess of potted plants.
Keep Cord Clutter to a Minimum
If you’re working with a desktop computer and a bunch of cords, cutting down on the clutter is an absolute must. Nothing makes you feel disorganized quite like a pile of cables on the floor right by your workspace. Fortunately, there are a few ways you can hide cord clutter and still keep your desk exactly where you want it.
First, make sure you keep your cables well-organized. That means bundling them together with zip ties or gaff tape and coiling them neatly so you don’t end up with cable spaghetti.
Next comes camouflaging. If your desk is up against a wall, you shouldn’t have too much of a problem. It’s important to consider whether your desk can help you hide your cables now that they’re organized. If your desk has a solid back, then it should be easy to tape your cables down the back and coil them neatly. Bonus points if there’s an outlet right behind your desk. If you’re not as lucky and your desk is open and facing the middle of your room, you can still organize your cables in the same manner. You may have to tape them to the underside of your desk or down a leg, though.
Finally, you need to eliminate tripping hazards. Fortunately, a carpet can help you conceal your cables and prevent trips and falls. An area rug placed strategically by your desk combined with some taped-down cables can make it look like there aren’t even any cables there! Using this method of cable concealment can keep you safe in your home office, too.
It might be a little bit of investment to get your home office organized just the way you like it, but when you consider that total furniture spending was almost $111.4 billion in 2018, furnishing one room with functional items doesn’t seem so bad. How will you decorate your home office?
