Home Office Ideas – Spruce up Your Office Setup at Home

Working from home? During the Covid pandemic, and most likely well afterward too, work from home or WFH is going to be a reality for many people. Although WFH is hardly a new phenomenon, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it an unplanned requirement across industries. Even when the coronavirus crisis eventually recedes, many employers may have realized that they don’t need large office spaces. Similarly, a part of the working population will not feel the need to commute to the office every day.

Work from home is here to stay, so it’s advisable to make the best of it and redecorate your rooms to spawn a perfect home office environment. Staying productive in the office set-up at home is very crucial. Let us discover a few home office ideas and tips to spruce up your home for that perfect work from home experience.

Ideas and Tips for a Work from Home setup

1. Comfortable working space, Good Chair

Many people have set up makeshift home offices for the pandemic that won’t work well in the long term. So don’t wreck your body over the long term, sitting on the bed and working. It is important to have the right equipment & physical setup. Get yourself a desk and a comfortable chair to sit on.

Uncomfortable chairs can injure you over prolonged computer use. Dining chairs and deck chairs, for example, rarely are at the right height, and they don’t always encourage the needed upright posture. If you can afford it, get an adjustable professional office chair, one with adjustable height, that can roll, that provides lumbar support for the lower back, and ideally has adjustable seat pan tilt, arm height, and lateral arm position. An armrest is preferable, but only if you use it correctly

2. Interiors for perfect working environment

People generally overlook interior settings that create the perfect atmosphere for work. A workstation at home is usually a desk that is a bit cluttered with notebooks, charger wires, or papers spread around. Most of the preferred work areas at home are the sofa or bed.

Below are some room decor ideas to refurbish your home office corner.

• A simple bookshelf will add color to your workstation, or a piece of art above or behind the desk (depending on your placement) to give it some drama and make it look swanky. You can always bedeck your desk with a few knick-knacks, photo frames, etc to add a cosy feel to your room’s environment.
• Use existing furniture for dual usage: If you are concerned about the extra space that the workstation setting might occupy in the room you may use your dining table to work during the day.
• Add Greenery: A sleek flower pot on the table or on the bookshelf close to it is enough to make you energetic while you work.

3. A dedicated space

Ensure Your Home Office is a Dedicated and Private Space. Distractions from family members, pets, and televisions can hamper your productivity. Have you ever participated in a conference call from home and your dog barks at a delivery person or your children interrupt you? It’s quite embarrassing and it hinders the productivity of the entire team involved. So a dedicated space for work is essential.

Set up a dedicated home office in the quietest area of your home, which is away from the bustle of everyday life. If a private office is not possible for you, consider purchasing a room divider or shoji screen to cut out the distractions at your home. Ensure family members respect your private time by using a visual cue, such as a “Do Not Disturb” sign, especially when participating in audio and video calls.

Ideally, you should use a small room/separate space that can hold a desk and computer equipment to separate work life from home life. In case there is no separate space available, use your guest room.

4. Good lighting

Ideally, you have sufficient indirect light to illuminate your workspace, so you can easily read papers and see physical objects. Overhead lighting is usually best, such as from a ceiling lamp. Improper lighting can cause eye fatigue and drowsiness, which hinders productivity.

The hue of light is also a factor to take into consideration. Warm colour temperatures are calming, while cool colour temperatures stimulate productivity. Choosing an LED task light that allows you to change colour temperature settings gives you the flexibility to select a suitable light for the task at hand.

5. Good internet service

Work from Home is a new reality now. That makes net and connectivity of paramount importance. So a good ISP is a must. For that the bandwidth within your home matters too; with children, spouses all sucking broadband data it is a great idea to have your broadband plan reviewed (data speed and data limit). There are plenty of internet service providers to choose from.

However, not all apps consume a lot of data. Wherever calling is done on video mode, more data is consumed. You may also use a mobile hotspot on your mobile and use mobile data on other devices.

6. Head Set

And if you work in a shared space, you should invest in a headset so you can join online conference calls with less noise leaking into your home, where other people are working, sleeping, taking classes, and so on. The competing noises make it harder to work. You could use wired or wireless earbuds instead of a headset.

Conclusion

The above-said room ideas & living room decor are perfect for a WFH set-up. Productivity flourishes in environments where distractions are minimized and healthy atmospheres invigorate us. Whether you’re starting your own business, you work from home full time, or you occasionally conduct business from your home office, you can benefit from optimizing your workspace for serious productivity using these tips.  Happy working!