By Bond Collective Staff
If working where you live has become your new norm, there are few things better for your inspiration, focus, and productivity than setting up a home office.
For those who have spent their entire working lives in a traditional office environment where someone else chooses the layout, color scheme, and decor, setting up a home office of their own may feel like an extremely daunting proposition.
In this article, we give you tips and ideas for setting up an office space in your home that is both functional and attractive.
Inspired Home Office Ideas
Invest In An Adjustable-Height Desk
Furnishing your home office with an adjustable sit/stand desk is an ideal way to ensure that you stay healthy while you work. Alternating between a sitting and standing position throughout the workday offers many benefits, including:
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Lowering your risk of heart disease
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Preventing weight gain, obesity, and type 2 diabetes
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Reducing back, shoulder, and neck pain
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Improving your mood and energy
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Increasing your productivity
For maximum benefits, try this simple routine:
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Stand for 30 minutes
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Sit for 20 minutes
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Walk, stretch, or exercise for 10 minutes
You can switch the standing and sitting in this routine, but try not to sit longer than 30 minutes at a time. At the 30-minute mark, your metabolism slows by as much as 90 percent and the muscles in your lower body turn off.
Hide The Power Cords
Most modern work that you can do from home involves an electronic device of one sort or another.
The cords that power and charge those tablets, printers, copiers, laptops, monitors, and phones can seriously clutter your workspace and even hinder productivity.
Going wireless is one excellent solution. But for those devices that haven’t cut the cord yet, find ways to keep that snarl organized, hidden, and out of the way. If at all possible, conceal the cords in the wall, in the floor, or along the backs of furniture.
Place Your Desk In The Center Of The Room
If you have enough space in your home office, try placing your desk in the center of the room rather than up against a wall.
The further you push your desk into the center of the room (called “floating”), the more prominent, important, and inspired you’ll feel while working there.
If possible, position your desk so that it faces a window or door that opens to the outside. This provides an inspiring view while still keeping you focused on your work.
In a big enough room, floating your desk also frees up wall space for more shelving and storage.
Choose Natural Light
Your body responds better to natural light than it does to fluorescent light. Natural light improves your mood and helps you stay focused and productive for longer.
If you have a window in your home office that provides enough light during the day, turn off other lights and work in the natural illumination from the sun. If that’s not possible, furnish your workspace with lights that give off softer wavelengths.
New technologies even allow for office lighting to change automatically from the cooler greens and blues that occur in the morning to the warmer yellows and reds that occur in the afternoon.
This makes it possible for you to vary the color temperature of your office lights to mimic what happens outdoors.
Consider A Mechanical Keyboard
Your computer is a crucial part of your home office. Without it, you won’t get much done. And unless you’re using speech-to-text, the best way to code, write, or generally input information is via the keyboard.
Modern laptop keyboards are designed to be lightweight and compact but are less than ideal for long bouts of typing. A better alternative is the mechanical keyboard.
Mechanical keyboards are built around small, spring-mounted switches that offer a more tactile feel than the ubiquitous membrane keyboards that come with most laptops. These switches are more heavy-duty, will last longer, and can actually improve your typing speed.
As an added benefit, mechanical keyboards are somewhat larger than laptop keyboards and, therefore, allow your hands and arms to remain in a more ergonomic position.
This is better for your posture, overall health, and work productivity.
Most mechanical keyboards will plug into any computer via a regular USB port, so you can integrate one into your system even if your laptop already has a keyboard.
Bring The Outside Into Your Home Office
Natural accents like plants, exposed concrete and wood floors, reclaimed wood desktops, and painted steel are simple ways to bring the outside into your home office.
These touches have the added benefit of making you feel more comfortable. And when you’re more comfortable, you’re more focused, more creative, and more engaged.
Inspire Yourself With Color
Drab colors do nothing to encourage creativity and hard work. Consider incorporating vivid colors into the walls, floors, ceilings, and furnishings of your home office design.
Whether you’re organizing your entire office according to a certain color scheme or simply scattering pops of color here and there, studies show that varied bright hues can boost your productivity, inspiration, and overall happiness.
Decorate With A Variety Of Materials And Textures
Material and texture have a significant influence on the quality of your work. Just think about how you’d feel staring at smooth, bland plastics all day.
That’s why we suggest using a variety of materials — from rough wood to soft fabrics to textured plaster and more — throughout your office.
These materials and textures can stimulate your sense of productivity and wellness and make your home office a place you look forward to going each day.
Stimulate Your Senses With A Favorite Smell
Want inspiration in your home office? Activate your sense of smell.
Certain scents can boost your mood, stimulate your creativity, and generally improve your workspace. A bouquet of fresh-cut flowers makes a nice olfactory addition to your workspace, as does a simple air freshener.
Whatever scent you choose, be sure it isn’t too powerful. While you may enjoy the smell of patchouli and lime at first, over time, strong smells can cause headaches and irritate your allergies.
One way to prevent being overwhelmed is to create a portable scent kit. Simply place a small amount of your favorite scented material in a sealable jar (diluted essential oils work well in this case).
When you need an energy boost or a quick bit of inspiration, remove the lid from the container, take a deep breath in through your nose, and then replace the lid.
Repeat this activity several times during the day or as needed to stay focused.
Control The Clutter
Clutter is distracting. The sense of disorganization that permeates a cluttered workspace seriously affects your happiness and productivity.
Before you attempt to improve your office by adding things, try removing things first. Here are a few suggestions for decluttering your workspace:
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Hire a commercial cleaner
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Go wireless if possible
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Invest in storage solutions
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Go paperless
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Minimize items on your desk
Give this issue some serious thought and we’re sure you’ll come up with plenty of unique ways to keep your new workspace clutter-free.
A Happy And Productive Home Office
By Bond Collective Staff
Incorporating the tips on this list into your workspace is a great way to create a home office that is both functional and attractive.
When it’s time to “get out of the house” for a while, skip the noisy and distracting corner coffee shop and opt instead for the professional work environments at Bond Collective. We’ve designed our workspaces with your happiness and productivity in mind.
Each of our shared office environments incorporates inspiring design elements like natural light, open floor plans, vivid colors, and multipurpose workspaces — plus a whole host of other design factors that will motivate you to greatness.
We also provide industry-leading amenities, such as:
Fast, reliable WiFi and Ethernet connections
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Unlimited black-and-white printing
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Mail and package handling
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Private meeting and phone booths
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Guest reception and greeting
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Custom build-outs
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Daily porter service
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Nightly office cleaning
If you’re looking for a workspace away from your home office, consider becoming a member of Bond Collective and take advantage of our coworking spaces, dedicated desks, and private offices to suit all your business needs.
Visit any one of Bond Collective’s many locations in the United States, including New York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas. Or call us today to find out more about everything we have to offer.