With the increasing number of organizations allowing employees teleworking options and today’s growing gig economy, proper home office setup ideas are becoming more relevant. People love the flexibility that working from home provides, saving time spent commuting, allowing flexible arrangements, and avoiding office distractions.
That’s not to say that working from home doesn’t have its own complications. While we may not control how demanding our work situation is, we can invest in our home office for optimal productivity.
Part of optimizing productivity is designing a home office that’s completely separate from the home space to set boundaries; confusing the two can interfere with daily personal lives and challenge work commitments.
Mistakes Made in Home Office Design
A healthier work-life balance can be achieved by making a clear distinction between office and living space, keeping work equipment, files, and so on, in the office away from living spaces. For example, one work-from-home tip is to consume meals and snacks in their proper place (the kitchen or dining room), rather than eating at a desk.
Other challenges to home office setup ideas which can undermine mood and productivity include:
A cluttered, messy office space.
Bad lighting.
Out-of-date equipment.
Lack of privacy and quiet.
Office furniture that isn’t ergonomic.
Inadequate shelf and storage space for reference materials.
Poor wire management (tangled cords everywhere).
Poor layout, organization, and office decor.
At the end of the day, we want to design a home office space that, when we enter it, makes us feel comfortable yet associates it with work, so we can shift gears immediately and hit the ground running.
Using Color to Achieve Calm
When looking for de-stressing work-from-home tips, it helps to begin with colors. Some wall colors that promote a sense of calm and tranquility include blue, green, and variations of these colors.
Furthermore, clean, neutral tones — such as white — give a lot of flexibility regarding textures, patterns, and statement pieces. When choosing color accents or the right home office decor to contrast or complement the light color scheme, don’t be afraid to try bold wall hangings or a variety of bold colors for office chairs.
Different colors can evoke different moods. For example:
- Green is considered a neutral, organic color, fostering vibes of peace and relaxation, allowing us to concentrate on the task at hand.
- Yellow grabs attention and is considered optimistic, but bright yellow might be too distracting for a workspace.
- Red and purple are strong colors that raise energy levels and excite the imagination. While perhaps too powerful for a dominant home office color, they can be used as accents.
- White, ivory, grey, and tan are good neutral colors that don’t distract, provide a measure of calm, and combine well with bold accents to create a sense of vitality.
