7 Must-Knows When Sneaking An Office Into Your Home

A work-from-home arrangement may be a dream come true for most of us; but being too casual (or too serious) about it may cost you your much needed inspiration and productivity. This happens when we give our home work spaces less attention than the more ‘livable’ parts of the house — but why, when we’d probably end up spending more time in the office than, say, our kitchen?

If you’re planning to work from home (or already do), consider these 7 elements. Home offices need to be given the importance it deserves — after all, this is where your greatest ideas will be formed and goals achieved.

1. CHOOSE THE RIGHT SPOT.

The most important step to setting up a home office depends largely on how much time you’ll be spending in it. Decide if it can snuggle into the corner of an existing room (like your living room or bedroom); or if you’re better off allocating an entirely separate room to it altogether. More importantly, decide if you are disciplined enough to switch off when you’re not working. For the self-confessed workaholics, this means a segregated space is necessary; where you can literally shut the door on your office and ‘clock out’.

If you’re a little better at managing a work-life balance, you may want to consider corners in everyday rooms. Weird angles and odd-shaped nooks are fantastic for work surfaces, shelves, and storage solutions; so don’t underestimate the power of these ‘dead spaces’. Pay heed to the issue of privacy though — you don’t want to set up camp in a room where all five members of your family are coming in and out all day as that can be serious disruption to your work life.

2. FOLLOW THE LIGHT (CORRECTLY).

For some reason, work desks almost always get placed against the wall in the darkest corner of the room — it’s almost like an instinctive reflex, and what you’re really doing is recreating a dingy office cubicle in the comfort of your own home.

That said, don’t make the mistake of putting your desk directly in front of the window either, such that you are staring straight into the light. This is painful work for your eyes especially when electronics are involved, and will almost always result in frequent headaches and eye fatigue. Instead, position your desk at a right angle to the window — this eliminates having to stare at the strong sun glare, and also allows your desktop to be illuminated with natural light from the sides.

3. EMBRACE ERGONOMIC.

‘Ergonomic’ is no longer a word that the upper class throw around just to refer to really expensive furniture. It’s actually a thing you should embrace if you’re looking for better work quality and engagement. Good ergonomic chairs may be more expensive than, say, a normal kitchen stool; but we’d pick it over bad posture and neck strains any day.

But don’t stop there. Research and follow other ergonomic rules that apply to you. You’ll be surprised that ergonomics doesn’t always have to be about furniture and heavier price tags. For instance, ensure that the top of your computer screen is at your eye level or below. Position your keyboard so your forearms are parallel to the ground. Your feet should always rest firmly on the floor when you’re seated and if it doesn’t, get a footrest. Hit up the internet to find more ways to make your workspace physiologically comfortable for you in the long run — trust us, your body will thank you for it.

4. PERSONALIZE WITH LOVE.

The only thing more unimpressive than clutter, is unpersonalized clutter. You want the function with the form, and in this case, it means adding bits and bobs to your workspace so that you’re inspired to dive right into work every day when you step in. The best part is, this doesn’t mean taking up even more desk space. Instead of tacky photo frames, consider clipping polaroids on a piece of twine and washi-taping it to the wall. Hang up a mobile from the ceiling. Letter boards, screen prints, or comic strips (or even a painted blackboard area) are also wonderful touches, but the most important thing is to find something that reflects you.

5. SUCCULENTS, SUCCULENTS, SUCCULENTS.

We can give you the full 411 about the mental and emotional benefits of having an abundance of plants in the home… but we promised ourselves not to turn this into a novel. Plants make people happier, that’s really all there is to know; so scatter some around your workspace to instantly spruce up the room.

Don’t worry if you’re not naturally green-fingered — easy-to-care-for options such as cacti, palms, ivy, and even those super aesthetic spider plants will make for durable starter babies.

6. FILTER WHAT YOU TAKE FROM SOCIAL MEDIA.

We’re all suckers for Instagram and Pinterest when it comes to seeking inspiration, but there comes a time where a line has to be drawn between gram-worthy, and the livable reality. Most of the time, magazine photoshoots are styled solely for the sake of looking pretty; and do not necessarily consider that you’d be spending up to 10 hours a day at the same spot, five days a week. That rattan swivel chair might look perfect in your coastal living home, but it will kill your back after a couple of 50-hour work weeks. Likewise, quaint little vintage desks are so very precious to look at, but they definitely won’t be able to accommodate your paper folders and in-and-out trays. Be careful with bright colour combinations too — stay away from anything that can potentially be ‘annoying’ after a while.

The trick is to prioritize how good something will be for you before how good something will look in your photos. We all want to inspire and be inspired, but before that can happen, we first need to master the art of living (and in this case, working) well.

7. DECLUTTER!

Let’s face it, cords and cables are just about the least inspiring things in the world, and we’re not so wild about that paper shredder either. The best part about having a home office is being able to wind down the depressing, so go ahead and hide all the things you don’t want to look at. Use cord concealers, cable boxes, shelving systems, hidden storage. Better yet, hit up the good ol’ Internet to find something that suits you. That said…