According to the 2011 National Household Survey, roughly 1.1 million Canadians work at home most of the time. That makes home office space a valuable resource, and an essential focus for interior design.
If you work from home, it’s important to shift your mindset from the typical utilitarian uses of your office and consider comfort and style as well. With many workers spending 7-10 hours a day in the office, it’s important to make it an environment that’s energizing and keeps your creativity flowing all week long.
Here are a few tips to make sure your home office is not only productive, but inspiring as well.
Bring your style into the room
Whether you love mid-century modern, country chic or a little bit of glam, you can pull your favorite design trends into your office life. Home office furniture and accessories now come in a variety of styles, so there’s no limit to what you can create.
Start with a design board to plan out the look you want to see and make sure all of the pieces have a great flow and consistency. A decorator can help you create a plan and choose the right pieces for your style and comfort.
Be sure to consider things like wall colours, materials, textures and finishes.
Skip the bland office furniture.
We all know the standard 4-wheeled chair found at office supply stores around the world, but there’s so many comfortable and stylish options that can make your office a place you love to be.
Search for something novel, and stylish that also feels great.
To maximize comfort, look for a chair with a sinuous steel spring clipped into the frame for strength and resilience or an eight-way hand-tied steel spring construction. Comfort also depends on the density of the seat, back cushioning, and the pitch between the seat and the back of your chair.
If you really want to treat yourself, go for a custom chair, so you can pick the style, fabrics and even monograms to match your design.
Don’t make lighting an afterthought
While desks, seating and organization are often the focus of office design, it’s important to make sure you don’t forget the importance and value of quality lighting.
Lighting can impact the energy in the room as well as your ability to focus when working in various parts of the room.
Your lighting is not only impacted by the lamps and fixtures you select, but also the window treatments and how they help you manage the light positioning throughout the day.
Just like shopping for clothes, or choosing your next smartphone upgrade room design takes a bit of thought and research to find the right selection for your needs. In the next article we’ll share strategies for planning and managing your home office design to create the perfect space for your work life.
