For most, working from home is a blessing. A blessing that frees up hours of time that might otherwise be spent in the nose to tail traffic on the motorway or packed like a sardine into a busy train or bus.
It’s a blessing that allows them to sip a leisurely coffee on a rainy Monday morning while their office-based counterparts scramble on the sodden pavement.
But, without the right safeguards in place, it’s a blessing that can also be a curse. When you work from home, you are entirely accountable for your own productivity. And after a few weeks, you might just find that you miss your boss at your shoulder keeping you motivated and on-task.
When working from home, it’s essential to have a space that’s just for work and absolutely nothing else. This will enable you to better compartmentalise your life and prevent yourself from feeling as though you’re always at work.
The great thing about having a home office is that it not only gives you a place where you can shut out the distractions of the home and focus on the task at hand but an opportunity to let your creative side off the leash when it comes to home office decorations.
Still, even the most creative of us needs a stimulus. With that in mind, here are from tips for creatively decorating your home office. Let’s make your home office as conducive to productivity as it is beautiful and stylish…
A room with a view
We all know that access to the natural world (i.e. trees, grass, bushes, and plants) is conducive to helping us achieve a happy and rested state of mind, as well as aiding concentration and productivity.
As such, you should try and ensure that your office space has a window with a view of your garden or other outdoor space. Using natural light for as many daylight hours as possible can also help you stay productive and on-task.
If, however, this isn’t possible, make sure that your home office decor uses lots of indoor plants. Don’t worry, there are plenty that can live a long and happy life without access to any sunlight.
Good examples include peace lilies, philodendrons, and pothos/letterbox plants. These will help to purify the air in your room and keep you happy and calm while you work. They’ll also fit perfectly with any kind of home office decorations.
Use natural materials wherever possible
While we appreciate that your budget may be limited, we recommend using natural materials like wood, stone and natural fibres like cotton and wool wherever possible.
These help us to stay calm and peaceful while we work, whereas synthetic fibres look and feel “wrong” in ways that we might not notice consciously but nonetheless have a subtle effect on our health and wellbeing.
Ideally, your home office furniture should use natural wood and fabrics wherever possible, and you should be able to see something naturally derived wherever you look, even if it’s just an indoor plant.
If your budget is limited, don’t forget we have a wide selection of clearance and ex-showroom prices to keep your home office decoration conducive to happiness and productivity, whatever your budget.
Invest in smart storage solutions
Clutter is the enemy of productivity. It is very visually distracting and can prove the enemy of a restful mindset and cognitive prowess. However, clutter isn’t always easy to keep under control, especially if it’s composed of items and documents that you need throughout your daily duties.
Thus, your home office decoration should include some smart (and aesthetically pleasing) storage solutions like desk tidies, storage boxes and document folders to allow you easy access to the space you need without making your office space an eyesore.
What’s more, if you’re the kind of person who usually litters their office with post-it notes, consider using a digital alternative like Evernotes as well as setting reminders on a digital calendar.
Not only can this help alleviate clutter in your home office decor, you help to keep it green when you keep it on the screen.
Decorate your way to inspiration
If you work in a creative industry such as copywriting, illustration or graphic design, your home office decoration not only needs to be conducive to staying productive, it also needs to provide inspiration when the creative well runs dry.
Here are some easy and exciting ways to add a dash of inspiration to your home office design;
- Hang inspiring artwork. Look at it whenever your eyes need a break from the screen.
- Use bold splashes of colour in your furniture, walls or accessories. Reds, oranges,. greens and yellows are all bold colours that are known to spark creativity.
- Decorate an accent wall with a bold coat of paint or a striking geometric wallpaper design
- Decorate your desk with a sculpture or pictures of something (or someone) that inspires you.
- Incorporate patterns into elements of your home office decoration wherever possible. These can have a stimulating effect on the mind.
Set aside some ‘quiet space’
There’s nothing more frustrating than that feeling of frustration when your motivation or creativity abandons you and you’re stuck staring into a mocking blank screen.
If this happens to you often, you should decorate your home office with a quiet space where you can sit, relax and either listen to some music or the humble music of the wind blowing and the birds singing outside.
Find a comfy niche where you can sit and relax and give your eyes a reprieve from the screen for a few minutes. Take a meaningful break and you’ll come back to your computer much more energised.
The sweet smell of productivity
Finally, when decorating your home office, don’t neglect the non-visual elements of decor. Scent can be a really important factor in keeping you happy, calm and productive. We recommend using aromatherapy oils that use citrus or mint scents to keep you motivated and productive.
Decorating your home office can be creatively rewarding and open up a whole new avenue of productivity that unlocks the next step in your career.
