The best part about working from home is you get to customise the space according to your specific needs and preferences. Unlike a traditional office setup, everything in your home office is designed and put together to serve your whims and wishes. This sort of setup also allows you to enhance the functionality to its full potential. However, meticulous planning beforehand following your requirements can make all the difference to getting the most out of your home office. And one of the key aspects of your planning should be the furniture, fixtures and accessories that would go into your home office. So, this blog will walk you through five must-haves to create a functional home office.
1. Comfy Office Chair
The foremost piece of furniture you should consider is the chair since you will spend upwards of 7 hours every day working from the comfort of your home. While any generic chair can get the job done well enough, it just might prove to be the cause of your back pain or worse spinal dysfunction. In an ideal world, there would be one single type of chair to meet everyone’s specific posture and body type, but that is not the case. A similar problem plagues all traditional office settings, where chairs are sourced in bulk with a singular ergonomic design.
However, in a home office, this is not the case, here you get to choose a chair with the exact features according to your specifications. Many physical therapists describe a proper office chair which has the following features: Lumbar support (both height & depth) and the backrest should be 12 to 19 inches wide.
Also Read: 5 Best Home Office Design Ideas That Will Enhance Productivity
2. Desk
There are a ton of options when it comes to desks for your Functional home office, but things aren’t as simple as they might seem. On one hand, you can opt for a sleek table with no drawers and give a chic vibe to the room, but it greatly reduces the available storage space. On the other hand, you can opt for a desk with lots of drawers, which takes up a considerable amount of space. The solution lies somewhere in the middle and if you can get your hands on some modular furniture, it would skyrocket the level of functionality of your home office while maintaining a sleek and stylish aesthetic.
Also, getting a desk isn’t enough, figuring out the right position can involve problems of its own. A great idea would be to place the desk somewhere that has enough access to light and if the desk faces the entrance door of the room that would be an added benefit.
3. Window & Natural Light
Regardless of the home office, every room in a home should have windows and as much natural light as possible. It doesn’t just promote better mental health, it has also proven to be insanely beneficial for your overall health. And this is especially vital when you spend extended hours cooped up inside a room. Now the sort of window you choose might be beyond your control and may depend upon the architecture of your home, but the way you use it depends upon you.
If possible, opt for a wide enough window not so wide, it takes up an entire wall as it might act as a distraction, but also not too small either. Moreover, take advantage of natural light wherever possible, this will also cut down on your electricity bill.
Also Read: Incorporating Artwork into Your Home Décor: The Dos and Don’ts
4. Plants
There’s a reason every design professional tries to incorporate plants in a home as much as possible; plants play a key role in reducing stress levels and purifying the air in your home. Not to mention, how plants can give your home a colourful touch, and further help elevate your mood. So, it goes without saying, having plants in your home office can help you improve productivity ten folds. While a Functional home office can help you cut down on work-related stress, nevertheless, it can still induce a certain level of stress. In such instances, plants can have a really calming effect by keeping your surroundings grounded in nature and reality.
Our design experts recommend the Sansevieria plant, Peace lily, the Swiss cheese plants and Succulent plants. It should be noted, these plants, though easier to maintain, still require some level of maintenance.
5. Colours
For quite some time now, the impact of colours on mood has been a well-known fact and they can be used and manipulated to induce different emotions in people. The effect and use of various colours are especially prevalent in the advertisement and marketing industry. Using the same principle, colours are used in offices today and this principle is comprehensively described in the research paper “Colour and psychological functioning” by Andrew J. Elliot published in the National Library of Medicine. So, make sure you choose the appropriate colours for your home office as well.
Also Read: Creating a Minimalist Home: Tips for Simplifying Your Space
To sum up – Regardless of how precisely you get things right in your Functional Home Office, it’s vital you take small breaks between long sedentary periods and walk around for a minute to maintain good health. Hopefully, these suggestions will help you design the right home office and help you make the most out of it.
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