Design Tips for an Elegant and Productive Home Office
These days, when most of us think of working at home, we think of working at the end of the kitchen table in our sweatpants. Being comfortable and not having a commute is nice. However, after the past year or two, we can probably agree that it isn’t quite as glamorous as we thought it would be.
Whether you’re a home business owner or remote worker, a home office may be just the cure to your working-from-home blues. These design tips for an elegant and productive home office will help you create the perfect space.
Use Space To Emphasize Tranquility
When designing a space, we often focus on what we should add to it, whether that’s furniture or wall art. But there’s already lots of “stuff” that goes into an office, such as your work equipment and paperwork. The need for all these things can lead to a cluttered space, which can leave you feeling overwhelmed rather than productive.
When designing your office space, don’t be afraid to embrace negative space (the space between objects). This may mean leaving some of the walls bare or allowing some gaps in your bookshelf space. Leaving some negative space will help your office feel more organized and tranquil.
Balance Personality and Professionalism
One of the main goals of a home office is to create an area that separates work from play. But that doesn’t mean your office space has to be completely dull. There are plenty of ways to add your personality to the room tastefully. Here are some examples of what you can do:
- Creating a gallery wall of photos or art
- Adding fun or encouraging quotes to the space
- Displaying memorabilia of your favorite hobbies, such as a fishing trophy, framed movie poster, or a guitar mounted to the wall
- Putting potted plants throughout the room
- Including one statement piece, such as an antique
The key to adding personality to your office is balance. As we said, you want to create a space that your brain will associate with work. So, when you add your “personality piece” to the office, you should make sure you keep it to a contained part of the space.
Focus on Color Scheme
Similar to adding a little personality when designing an elegant and productive home office space, playing with the room’s color scheme is an easy way to give the room character while encouraging productivity. Blue and green are especially useful for creating a calm, productive environment.
There are many ways to add color to a home office. A few ways include:
- Painting the walls or ceiling
- Creating a wallpaper accent wall
- Adding color through window trimmings
- Inserting a colorful area rug
- Hanging colorful art
- Including colorful statement furniture
If you can’t find a piece of statement furniture that goes with your room, you can always create your own. Using ECOS Paints” non-toxic* furniture paint, you can transform bookshelves or desks to create an office space you’ll love to work in.
*Non-toxic - Conforms to ASTM-D4236, specifically concerning oral toxicity, skin irritation and respiratory effects.