HOW TO DESIGN A HOME OFFICE TO CREATE A MORE PRODUCTIVE AREA

To design a home office that is comfortable and increases your productivity level, there are a couple of steps you need to undertake before you actualize the reality of owning a home office.

Below are the steps you need to take to design a functional home office.

1. Office Space.
2. Understand your style.
3. Storage & Lighting.
4. Plan Layout.
5. Shop for décor.
6. Desk decorating ideas.

OFFICE SPACE. 

There are two spaces you could have for office space, either a small nook you own in your humble apartment or a separate room specifically designed to cater for your work at home lifestyle.

It’s totally okay if you have a small office space when you first start out but unfortunately, the temptations never cease in that kind of set up especially if your office is right next to your bed or on a high chair on your kitchen counter.

Oh yes, I know how distractive that situation can be. It takes a whole other level of dedication and focus to get sh#% done. Mad respect if you’re at this level.

If you do have a small office space, these ideas could help you create a better space to increase the span of concentration you currently have and block out all the distractions from your housemates or your better half or your little sister.

SMALL OFFICE IDEAS. 

1. Create a small separation between you and the rest of the space in your home. It could be a simple wall that is a little bit elongated to block your view to the rest of the room.

2. Ensure you’re completely facing away from the rest of the space you are in meaning you could be facing a wall or a window. If you have to face a window, you could close your blinds to ensure you don’t have any distractions from any events occurring outside.

3. If you have a big closet, take that opportunity and set up your home office in that space. The only thing with this decision is that you need to be absolutely clean and organized so that your clothes don’t end up on top of your desk if you get what I mean.

4. If you have enough space in your living room, you could simply install sliding doors and simply set up your small office space right there. This is an amazing idea because you’re able to close out all the distractions while using minimal space.

If you live in a flat, it would be wise to let your landlord know of the modification you would like to make. But again, if you’re not looking to stay there for a long time, wait to build or buy your own house. I know you’ll get there. Keep working smart and hard.

 STYLE

This should be a crucial part of designing your office. This will definitely set the tone for what exactly you’ll be purchasing when It comes to room décor.

If you’ll be sharing the office with your better half, it would be best to simply incorporate their style as well as yours in the room to make the room comfortable for the both of you.

Actually, this office space clearly executed it perfectly.

Let’s discover your style.

CHIC.

So you like the bright pinks and golds and the marble pastels. Well, this look is certainly for you.

MINIMALIST.

Yes, you’re into the modern stuff but you don’t like a lot of things going into your spaces. Very simple and modern. Is that you? Maybe, you should be looking into more ideas like the ones below.

BOHEMIAN. 

Are you a very unconventional person? Do you love simple yet very unique pieces, well, this is it? This must be you.

Glam.
Yes. You love the whites, the glitters, roses, silver. Oh I got you. Is this you?

Now, if you’re in a situation where you know your style but you're still confused because of your better half, then these office designs for men can inspire you to create a room that is well balanced to cater for both your personalities.

STORAGE & LIGHTING

Well, obviously you have to create a storage system that works with the type of business you do. You need to be able to place different documents in different drawers and client files in other drawers.

You have to put into consideration space especially if you produce actual products and need to store them. Storage is the life of any office.

 Ensure you store items within arms reach when you’re seated at your desk. That way you reduce the amount of time it takes you to reach a certain item that is used daily like a notebook.

Two, before you get used to how you've organized your office, name the drawers in accordance with the contents it contains.


Lighting is also important. It gives a certain aesthetic and obviously has its functionality. You need to pick a lighting décor that is functional and aesthetically pleasing. Invest in good lighting.

PLAN LAYOUT.

This is where the hard stuff gets into play. So how do you do this effectively?

1. Measure your room.
2. Pick out a ratio to be able to draw it on a piece of paper.

Here’s how you do that:
Create a representation of the actual measurement. Example:
1cm = 1m.
So 1m in the actual room represents 1 cm of the representation of the room on your book.

3. Create a layout of your entire floor and height if you intend on creating shelves or buying shelves using the ratio method.

4. Now that you have the floor plan and the height of the room, put into consideration the doors.       a.) Measure the door when it’s 90 degrees open.
 b.) Jot it down in the piece of paper using the ratio method.
 c.) Measure the door when closed and jot it down on paper using the ratio method again.
 d.) Place a compass on your book, typically where the door hinges are placed and draw a semi-circle. e.) Remember all doors open in a clockwise way. So the area behind the door when it's opened shouldn't have any piece of furniture.

Now, start drawing out the length of the desk area, your rugs, your storage space, your décor pieces on the wall.

At the end of it all, you should have something that looks like this.

 It doesn't have to be perfect, but the measurements surely do.

Now, convert the measurements of the items you’ve just drawn.

Convert them from cm to meters to get the actual measurements of the items.

Remember, the small décor pieces don’t really matter. What matters at this stage is the area rug, furniture pieces, and any plants that will be placed on the floor of your office.

SHOP FOR DÉCOR.

Now, it’s time to shop for your décor pieces.

With the plan you already have, your shopping becomes way, way easier.

You’re able to shop for pieces and not worry if they’ll actually fit in your room because you already know their sizes beforehand.

Remember your style as you shop for furniture and the décor pieces all at once.

Actually, this is what’s recommended if you want to have a coherent style otherwise you’ll end up purchasing pieces that aren’t in line with what you envisioned in the first place.

If you don’t have the budget to do it all at once, you can check out thrift stores that have unique pieces. Here’s a guide to help you perfect your thrifting habits for home décor.

Then, it’s time to decorate.

DECORATE YOUR OFFICE. 

The most part of it is decorating the desk and shelves.
Here are some desk decorating ideas for your style from simple to chic to modern to minimalistic.

photos by @desklifebliss

I really hope you enjoyed this piece. Comment if this was helpful and let me know where you are in designing your home office.