Tips to Create your Home Office

Creating a small home office can be a lot of fun. If you are an entrepreneur, a home maker or anyone who seeks organisation in your home, a home office is a must. It comes in as a necessity today as more and more people work from home, choose to balance home and businesses and take up working online extensively. Here are some simple tips on how you can design your home office to make it a productive and user friendly space.

• Try to choose a room that is not too congested. It should have ample space, though not necessarily big. It should have enough natural ventilation to provide a pleasant work environment. It is ideal to have minimal external disturbance like noise of traffic, etc. It would be an added incentive if there is a tree or natural wilderness near it as it creates a tranquil setting for one to work in.

• Comfortable furniture and good artificial lighting is really important factors to consider while creating a small home office. Invest in a comfortable chair for yourself and your visitors (if you will have any). Add a simple and comfortable lounger and enough storage to manage your files and other essentials instead of stacking them everywhere. It should be easy to navigate with enough free space to make it look pleasant and not too crowded. Apart from this, make sure that there are sufficient lights in your home office. A table lamp is mandatory. Apart from this, basic CFLs or tube lights must be installed for pleasant light.

• It is suggested to avoid harsh lighting and to opt for diffused lighting as working in harsh direct light can have severe impact on one’s eyes.

• The location of your home office in your home in relation with the rest of the house is very important. Ideally it should be placed such that if you are having a visitor, they should not have to go through your home to reach it. The closer it is to the entrance, the better it is. This not only helps in easy access, but it also ensures that your visitor does not intrude into the private parts of your home. It also ensures the safety and comfort of the inhabitants.

• Organise your belongings carefully and meticulously. You may be creating a small home office, but if done right, it will be extremely useful irrespective of its size. Often, the home office is not just a place to work, but also a place to save documents pertaining to your day to day activities like bills, etc. It is always better to have separate storage units for your personal and professional paperwork to avoid any confusion. Also, one tends to pile up a lot of unnecessary items.  Avoid this habit and opt to declutter often as the space may look smaller and more congested.

• Make sure that you have ample sockets and power backup for your home office. There are a lot of machines in an office like a printer, computer, etc. and one should make sure to add enough power sockets to allow the smooth functioning of an office space. It is important to have power backup as important data might be lost due to power outage while you are working.

• You should give a lot of importance to safety when you have a home office that accommodates visitors. It is best to install a security camera to ensure the safekeeping of your belongings and to ensure that no one wanders into your private spaces in your absence. If it is possible, you should choose to add a door between your home office and the rest of the house to maintain the privacy and safety of your home.

• The decor of the room sets the tone for the functionality and productivity of the same. It is important to choose a nice and decent theme for the room. It may be a part of your home, but it is not necessary that it reflects the same design ideology followed in the rest of the house. You can choose to use the same theme as the rest of the house. However, it is also believed to increase productivity if it feels less like your home and more like a proper workspace. Hence, it is suggested to opt for simple colours, minimalistic and functional design over something frivolous and fancy. If you enjoy cozy and bohemian themed spaces, you could add an element or two, but making it too cozy might influence the functionality. Simple clean lines and simple inclusions in terms of decor elements and accessories are most ideal.

These are the most basic tips you need to keep in mind while designing your home office. Achieving a space that is peaceful and productive should be the aim of your design pursuit. Use these simple tips to get started on creating a space that is a reflection of who you are and helps you take care of your work in the best way possible.