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If you’re one of the millions of workers now working remotely from home, you might be lucky enough to have a whole room to call your office. Whether that’s because you’ve kicked the kids out of their bedroom to sleep in the shed, made some extra floor space in a corner of the dining room or because you banished those boxes in the spare room that you still haven’t unpacked even though you moved in six years ago into the attic, you now have a room to call your own.
Just because it’s your ‘office’ though, that doesn’t mean it needs to look like one, so this article’s going to look at a few ways you can still have a functional space for the working day but one that also suits your personality.
None of these tips and ideas require you to make any structural changes that will annoy your landlord if you have one, so don’t worry – whether you own your own home, are renting long-term, or you’re currently looking for ways to buy your own home, anyone can use these ideas for a stylish home office.
1. When A Desk Is Not A Desk?
When you design your home office, your first thought – after, ‘Yay, no more commuting’ – was probably, ‘I need a desk.’ And although a desk with seating is an essential piece of WFH kit, it doesn’t need to be an actual desk.
Punch in ‘desk’ into your favourite search engine or shopping site and thousands of desks will appear. What do they all have in common? Yep, they all, unsurprisingly, look like desks.
If desks are too ‘desky’ for you, use something else. Whatever you use, it needs to be the right height – you won’t be doing your back any favours if you’re hunched over something too low – but apart from that, as long as it has a flat surface and you can get your legs under it, it can be a desk.
Search for ‘table’ along with your favourite adjective, e.g. ‘pink’, ‘polka dot’, ‘goth’ and see what comes up.
If you don’t want to splash out on a brand new table or office desk with some home office gadgets, pick up a second-hand one on Facebook marketplace, eBay or your local charity shop. If it needs a bit of sprucing up, you can upcycle it to your heart’s content, safe in the knowledge that the next day it won’t be adorned with your P45 for gross misconduct.
Upcycling an old dining table and adding a desk lamp can turn even a small office into a practical space. You can add interest by using an old low level storage unit from your kitchen as a workspace that makes your stylish home office a little less like a workspace and more like a hub of creativity.
Of course, just as pitta bread needs hummus, a desk needs a chair. Unlike office desks, the function needs to come before a stylish design, as you really do need an ergonomic, adjustable sleek office chair or stool with a backrest if you’re going to be sitting at your desk all day and want to look after your posture. Luckily for us though, these days office chairs don’t all look formal and come in many different styles and colours.
2. A Chill-Out Zone
We’re not suggesting you make your office environment so comfortable you never want to leave it but, if you’ve got the space, office furniture such as sofas, a futon or a big comfy chair will a) make your home offices look less “officey;” and b) give you somewhere to sit on your break or when you need some reading or thinking time.
Covering it in bright throws and pillows will add some colour to the room. Finish off your chill-out zone with a huge floor lamp and big, leafy plants. Speaking of plants…
3. Plants
Plants are our friends. They look good, create a lovely environment, add a great effect and improve air quality and they’ve even been shown to increase productivity and concentration and have become essential in home office design in the last few years which makes them the perfect office companions (well, almost perfect – see number 5).
‘But my plants always die,’ you wail. Okay, don’t worry, fake plants can also be your friend. Very realistic fake plants exist these days and they have the added bonus of never dying just because you forgot to water them for a few weeks.
So, when you shut the door on your office for two weeks as you go on annual leave, you don’t have to worry about asking a neighbour to water those plants for you. Your fake plants will be as perky as they were when you left them (unlike the real plants you have and forgot about).
4. Artwork
When you went out to work in an office, the walls were probably bare or adorned with generic artwork that you probably can’t even remember now. The paint was usually of no interest to you and did not have that personal touch that inspires a professional attitude in you.
Why not transform the walls of your home office into a welcoming environment by decorating it with your favourite pieces of artwork. Adding lamps that will enliven the wall art or inspire you to develop a better and clearer working mindset that you can pass on to your colleagues and clients.
Now you’re in your own office space, you can have whatever style you want on the walls, whether that’s a functional whiteboard to use as a to-do list, a ‘live, laugh, love’ sign or an entire gallery of Old Master prints.
5. The Best Workmate In The World
An office isn’t an office without your workmates, right? And what better workmate than your very own office dog, cat or goldfish? Some offices allow employees to take their dogs to work but, let’s face it, most don’t.
So, let’s be glad we don’t work in those places anymore and embrace the fact we now get to hang out all day with our pets. Make your pet feel at home while they watch you work by putting a comfy bed for them by your feet (unless you have a goldfish).
In Conclusion
Whether you have a nook or an alcove or a full room with plenty of floor space you will need the basics of any home office, a desk, an ergonomics style chair, power points, computer, telephone and that all essential cupboard you fill with paperwork and the way to achieve that is through innovation and inspiration.
These are just a few ideas to make working at home a little more homely and a little less ‘officey’. Once you’ve incorporated all these important ideas into creating your bespoke home office, you’ll never want to go out to work again.
