Having a home office is often an essential part of working from home, or just having a space at home where you can get extra work done. If you work from home at all it’s important to have an area where you can be productive. Home offices don’t have to be boring and uninspiring just because that’s where you’re getting work done, though.
If you’re working from home a lot it’s important to have an office area you love so you don’t start to dread getting work done. You can do a lot of things to make your home office more comfortable and inviting to be in. Anything from buying office furniture you absolutely love to using paint colors you feel inspired by are fair game.
If you need some home office design ideas to get you started that’s okay. There are a lot of ideas you can find online. If you’re someone that just needs a few little ideas to get you started you’re in the right place. Sometimes it just takes one or two tips to give you ideas that will make your whole room amazing. To get you started, here are seven home office design ideas you’ll love.
1. Incorporate Good Lighting
Your office is where you’re going to spend a lot of time so you need to make sure you aren’t going to be straining to see things clearly. You can do that by incorporating some good lighting choices into your home office area. If you have large windows in your home office make sure they’re accented with nice curtains but not blocking the light. Go for a nice framed look instead.
You can also bring in nice floor lamps that brighten up the area both literally and figuratively. A floor lamp with a unique design can make the room feel and look more inviting right away. If you want to go big you can also change up the overhead lighting in your home office to something more exciting like a small chandelier style light.
2. Minimal Can Be Maximum
If you don’t have a whole room for your home office that’s okay. You can still have a great home office area using minimalist design ideas that don’t take up a whole room. You can create a desk that folds up and can be stowed away when you’re done working, or just tucked back up into the wall when you’re done for the day too.
Clean white lines and a small amount of clutter are key things to focus on here. You can accent with colors that you love but don’t go too crazy if you want to keep it truly minimalistic in feel. Hide away cords and other things that will take away from the design with an area rug or more strategic placement of things that need to be plugged in.
3. Dark Can Be Great Too
Don’t mistake this as meaning you should skip your lighting altogether. This is more about the colors in your room than the lighting you use. Most home offices focus on light airy colors that feel calming and aren’t too distracting. That’s a great option but it’s not your only choice for your home office decor.
You can use black and dark grey colors to make your home office feel very dramatic and still enjoy working in there. If light colors just aren’t your thing, try giving deep dramatic walls a chance instead. You might find it fits you better and complements the rest of your home a little more cohesively. Don’t get stuck thinking your office has to be white. It definitely doesn’t.
4. Make It Extra Cozy
You will want to be comfortable in your home office and one way to make sure you feel as comfortable as possible is to make it extra cozy. Bring in design elements you use throughout your home to make your home office feel as cozy as possible. This could mean strategic throw blankets on a chair or two or an extra fluffy area rug.
You can make your office feel like it’s more of a place to relax into working than being forced into working by using these more cozy decorating elements. Extra plush seating is another way to make things look and feel more like a nice place to be and less like somewhere you’re forced to be for hours a day.
5. Create A Gallery Wall
Your home office should be a reflection of you. It’s an office you don’t have to worry about anyone else being upset about what you put up. Creating a gallery wall is one way to express your personal design preferences. You can hang up multiple pieces of art or personal pictures, it’s entirely up to you.
Think about creating a space that showcases whatever you hang up. Use nice frames and measure things out before you hang them up so you know what kind of shape you’re working with. A good gallery wall has focus and looks purposeful instead of just looking like several pictures hung on the wall together.
6. Create An Interesting Accent Wall
Maybe you don’t want to paint your whole office black, but you still like the idea of a dramatic look in your home office in general. A great option you can use for creating drama without committing to a whole room of dramatic paint choices is to go with an accent wall. You can choose a dark paint color or even a fun wallpaper look.
However you decide to create your accent wall, use it to tie the room together. Just like with the gallery wall it should feel cohesive instead of just a random choice for one wall. You can mimic the accent wall colors in your other design choices like the cozy elements you bring in. As long as you tie it all together an accent wall will make your office look amazing.
7. Mix In Some Natural Elements
Bringing in a few outdoor elements to your home office will make things feel more lush and luxurious. You can mix in things like wood designs with your more industrial looking office furniture to soften up a harsher look. You can also bring outdoor elements into your office with plants or flowers.
If you don’t want to deal with keeping a plant alive you’ll be able to find some great artificial plants at the stores that look almost real too. They’ll still have the same effect even if they aren’t real live plants. The idea is just to use elements you’d see in nature to soften things up and give the room a little more life.
Conclusion:
Decorating your home office should be something you enjoy. Use the tips you’ve read here to figure out what you’d love and go from there. You don’t have to use every design idea out there to decorate your home office and make it something you’ll love to use. Find what works and stick with it.
Your home office should be a place you love to work, so even if it takes a little extra effort to decorate it well it’s completely worth it. Once you’ve figured out the look and you realize how much more you enjoy your time in your office it will all be worth it. Happy decorating!
