At Home Offices: How to Make Your Living Space Your Work Space

Are you one of the 5% of Americans who works from home?

Working from home can be an absolute blessing. You don’t have to commute and you have the freedom and flexibility to wear what you want to work.

Creating home offices that work is a major challenge. You could sit in front of the TV with your laptop and try to work, but that probably won’t be too productive.

You want to be able to maximize the space in your home, whether you have a spare bedroom or you’re working from a studio apartment. You also want to maximize your productivity.

Read on to learn how you can design a home office that works for you.

1. Your Home and Working Style

What’s your working style? Do you have a lot of phone or video meetings with clients? Do you get distracted a lot? Perhaps you like to read papers and documents away from your desk.

You want to get an idea as to what your particular working style is so you can create the right atmosphere for your office.

You also want to understand what your home style is, too. Do you gravitate towards a modern look, or do you prefer shabby-chic?

These are things that need to be considered because you want your home office design that matches your working style and the rest of your home. It wouldn’t make sense to have a modern theme in your office and then a nautical theme in the rest of your home.

2. Your Home Office Needs

What are the absolute essentials you need for your home office? This is just as much about function and practicality as it is about style.

You want to make sure that your desk is at the right height or is adjustable since you’re going to sit there for hours on end. You want your chair to be as comfortable as can be.

You may need a bookshelf, standing desk, a chair for reading, several monitors, or a separate space for writing. Write down whatever you think you need from your home office space.

3. Emphasize Comfort and Space

It’s important to emphasize comfort in your home office space. It doesn’t matter if you have a studio in Marbella or a 6 room home in the U.S., you want your space to be comfortable.

If you’re fortunate enough to have a separate room in the house, you want it to be well-lit and inspiring. In a small space, you can keep it simple and productive.

4. Measure Everything

You want to make sure that your furniture and supplies fit in the space you have available. You’ll want to get out the tape measure and see how much space you actually have for a desk, chair, and everything else you need.

You may find that you have to cut down on some pieces or make them smaller to ensure that your space isn’t too cramped or busy.

5. Play with Different Layouts and Scenarios

At this point, you can play with different scenarios for your home office space. You can use 3D software or pencil and paper to map out where everything will go.

You want to make sure that you optimize the flow of the space. For example, when you walk into your office, you may have a table or chair that’s in the way.

You want the space to be simple, comfortable, and productive.

6. Start Furnishing Your Office Space

Are you ready to go shopping for furniture? If you’re not sure what you want for your home office, you can check out sites like Pinterest for inspiration or you can discover more here. Ideally, you want to see other home offices that can give you ideas for your own space.

Once you have some pieces in mind, you want to double check the dimensions to make sure they fit the space available. The worst thing that can happen is that you find the “perfect” desk, only to bring it home and discover that it’s too big for your space.

7. Add Frequent Breaks

This isn’t necessarily a home office design tip, but a tip to help you be more productive. Working from home has a lot of benefits, but it can be very isolating. Theoretically speaking, you could be at home and not leave for days at a time.

That could lead to isolation and depression for at home workers. 

You could spend your days going from your home office to your couch when your work is done. You can then go straight to bed from your couch. Depending on the work you do, you may not have much contact with the outside world.

You want to make sure that you add frequent breaks into your schedule. Take time to get outside and go for a walk during the day. In the warmer months, you could take your laptop outdoors, so you may want to set up a table outside that you can work from too.

Home Offices Can Work for You

Working from home is a true gift for many people. It’s also becoming more common as companies have found that working from home can inspire productivity.

You can have the freedom and flexibility that comes with working from home, as long as you get the job done. That means creating a space that minimizes distractions and is enjoyable to be in for 8 hours a day.

What inspiring home offices have in common are natural light and bright colors. You want to make sure that your office isn’t set up so you’re facing a wall all day and you want the space to flow.

Do you want more interior design tips? Check out these desk items that you must have for a rustic look.