Home Office: Styling to boost creativity!

With lots of us working from home, creating a functional and aesthetically pleasing home office space is more important than ever. Having a dedicated functional space for your work isn’t always that easy, especially If you have limited space to work with.

For the purpose of this blog post, I will use myself for the example. I work from my home office a couple of days a week, the rest of the time I’m with clients or on the road for work. Currently I use one of our spare bedrooms for my office space. I wanted to create a space that could be separate to my home life, I need it to be a place I can focus and get my work done but somewhere I could shut the door when I’m not working.

Working in a fast-paced creative field I am inspired by my surroundings. I need my office to be extremely functional and also a place that inspires me to create for my clients.

So here are my tips for creating your own functional and beautiful home office.

1. Write yourself a list. How do you want the space to feel and what are your non negotiables for your space?

I wanted my space to feel un cluttered, inspiring, calming, organised, functional, motivational and aesthetically cohesive with the rest of my home. My non-negotiable items:

·    Enough desk space to spread out floor plans

·    A place to lay samples and other paperwork related to a job I’m working on

·    A space to set up my flat lays for client projects

·    A deep desk for my big computer monitor which I use to create my 2D & 3D drawings

·    Storage for all my material samples

·    Room for my printer, stationery and design books

·    Mood board on the wall for client samples to be placed when I’m working on a project, along with my own inspirational images

2. Create a mood board of how you want your space to look and feel. From this you will determine your colour palette.

3. Have a dedicated work area. Figure out where you are going to set up your office. Even if you don’t have a room, create a space somewhere in your home to become your workspace.

4. Clear any clutter from the area and make sure you only have things that relate to your work. This means no kids craft bits and pieces no house hold bills etc. Keep this area for work things only.

5. Create a space plan. Have a place for everything - refer back to your non negotiables list to make sure you tick everything off. Tip: Utilise wall space for extra storage.

6. Make your work area comfortable. Place your desk near to natural light, either facing a window or with a window on the side of your desk. Make sure to invest in a comfortable chair, especially if you are sitting for long periods of time. Ensure your computer is at the right height so you are not straining your neck and can keep good posture.

7. Once your office is set up it's time for the fun part! Styling :) This will personalise your space and will be what keeps you motivated in your business. Add in some greenery real or artificial. Add in a beautiful art piece or some colourful pieces associated with your business branding colours (if you own your own business). Set up a memo board, whiteboard and put up some inspiring images or goals you want to achieve on it. Add in some layered lights like a desk lamp or pendant light.

There you have it! Your beautiful space has come together and you can enjoy working in your new home office.