Your home office needs to be functional and comfortable for you to get work done. But even though the home office is a place where you can relax, you still need to ensure that it is presentable and doesn’t distract from your work.
The last thing that you want is a terrible design in your home office. Yet, interior designers and real estate professionals confirm that there are quite a few common mistakes that people make when decorating their offices at home.
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1. Skimping On Lighting
When it comes to home office design, most people have a pretty clear picture of what they want it to look like—but they’re not always up to speed on the practical considerations that impact your work environment. And while it’s easy to get caught up in the aesthetics, the truth is, you need your home office to be functional. After all, you spend a lot of time there!
With that in mind, we wanted to share the five biggest errors people make when designing their home offices. Avoid these mistakes and you’ll be well on your way to a space that works for you.
Not having enough light in your home office is a big mistake. Poor lighting can cause eye strain, which may lead to headaches and other physical symptoms. The harsh glare from overhead fluorescent lights or direct sunlight shining through a window can also cause eyestrain.
Fortunately, there are some simple fixes for both of these situations:
– Install a dimmer switch on your overhead lights so you can adjust the brightness as needed throughout the day.
– Purchase an anti-glare screen for your monitor and/or install sun shades on windows to reduce glare from sunlight.
2. Color-Coding Your Office
If you’ve been watching any HGTV lately (and who hasn’t?), you might think that painting everything in your office some “in” color (pink, orange, etc.) will make it a more vibrant, productive place. In fact, too much of a single color can be distracting and even make people cranky. Instead of painting every wall purple, choose a light, neutral shade for most walls — like eggshell or putty — and use accent colors sparingly.
Color-coding your office can make it easier to organize and sort your files and belongings. Learn how to color-code your home office.
Organizing a home office can be difficult and time consuming, especially if you are in the middle of a big project. Color-coding your home office files and other belongings can help you find things more quickly, reduce your stress levels, and visually define different areas of the room. Here’s how to color-code your home office:
Assign a color to each category or file type that you have. You can use a rainbow pattern, or choose colors that match other elements in the room.
Buy matching supplies for each color. This includes file folders, labels, paper clips, pens and pencils, staplers, tape dispensers, binders and notebooks.
Place like items together in different areas of the room. For example, if you’re using a rainbow scheme for color coding your belongings, red items might be placed on your desk for easy access, orange items might be placed near the fax machine or copier for easy reference when sending out invoices or other documents, yellow items might go near the window where there’s plenty of light for reading books or magazines related to your work,
3. Being Overly Matched
Your home office is an extension of your home, and it should have a similar feel — not look like you just stepped into a cubicle.
Don’t match every piece in your office to each other. There’s no need for your desk and file cabinets to be the exact same finish, or for every piece of furniture to be the same color.
Be careful not to create a space that feels too “matchy” — you want it to feel cohesive and well-designed, but not overly thought out or stiff.
Coordinating furniture sets are a staple of many homes, but they don’t work in office spaces. The goal is to create a space that’s inviting but also helps you stay focused on your tasks at hand. If you’re working with a set — especially one made for an entirely different room — chances are that it won’t look as cohesive as you’d like in your office. Instead, choose pieces that coordinate without being too matchy-matchy.
4. Not Having Enough Storage
You need storage! At least enough to hold all of your files away from the desk area. You do not want a potentially messy pile of documents within arm’s reach while you’re on the phone with a client. You also do not want extra clutter on top of your desk if possible because it can make it look unprofessional and will make it difficult for you to find things when needed.
When planning the design of your home office, you probably have some idea of what you want it to look like. Maybe you have a few ideas in mind, or maybe you have a clear vision of how you want it to turn out.
Either way, no matter how many articles you read about home office design, or how many pictures you look at for inspiration, there are bound to be some mistakes made along the way. Some of them might be minor mistakes, but some can result in major issues that might cause your home office to feel less productive and functional than it should.
The good news is that most of the problems people face when designing their home office are related to one or two major issues: not enough storage or bad lighting. And those can be easily avoided with a bit of research and planning before getting started.
5. Overlooking The Office Details
When setting up your home office, make sure you don’t overlook the details. A mouse pad that’s too big or too small can make moving around your computer frustrating. A chair that doesn’t allow you to sit up straight can make working more difficult.
Conclusion
These tips can help your home office feel less like a voluntary, isolating prison sentence and more like a place of solace. The main takeaway here is that you have to be as intentional about design as you are about everything else in your working (and personal) life. So get out there, make mistakes, learn, and refine.