When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in the early part of 2020, nobody could predict the impact it would have on our working lives. Nevertheless, it became clear very quickly that the traditional commute for town and city office workers would be put on hold. Thankfully, we have efficient and effective technology that permits many office-based jobs to be performed from home. Digital communication allows for teams to keep in touch in real time, even when miles apart.

Whether your home office was quickly put together thanks to the pandemic or you had such a facility already, you’ll have settled on a design that focuses on practicality. That’s great, as it’s the primary objective that an office is so equipped to get the job done efficiently. Yet there’s no need for an office to be merely practical; they can also be made to look great.

If you’re happy in your surroundings, you’ll achieve greater productivity than if working in a merely dull and miserable environment. Therefore, if you’re asking, “How can I make my home office look good?” we’ll look at steps you can take to make your work space look the part as well as remain practical and comfortable.

Practicality and comfort

The perfect home office design doesn’t exist, as that is influenced by personal taste to a large extent. You need it to be somewhere you can settle in and relax while still performing your role. Perhaps the main focus of any office design is on the desk and the chair. Click that link and you may be amazed at the variety of desk and chair designs that you can buy these days.

We like the minimalist look for a home office as it’s sleek and clean and takes up less space. Think simple yet stylish metal desks with a trendy mesh-backed chair. That sort of look is a great one for a home office, and those two items will form the central focus of your office design. Remember that we’re firmly into the digital age so think about going paperless. That way you won’t need large drawers or filing cabinets in your office, so less space will be needed.

Now that we have the desk and chair sorted – and presumably you already have your computer and telephone equipment in place – we want to look at non-essential items that brighten up the room.

Dress the walls and remove clutter

Do an internet search for office design trends and you’ll find plenty of inspiration. Think about the walls in your office. Is your office an entire room? If so, you could hang pictures that you enjoy for added decoration. Consider pictures that are your taste rather than the typical office ‘inspirational’ posters. Perhaps adorn the walls with family portraits or pictures relevant to a hobby or passion of yours.

Then there’s the matter of clutter. horizontal space attracts clutter, as an empty surface will simply encourage you to place things on it for convenience. We suggest that the only available surface is your desk and – as is the norm in many shared offices – you operate a clear desk policy whereby everything is put away at the close of play.

Think about the colour of the walls, too. You need an office to be a place of few distractions, so a bright colour is perhaps not the best choice. Think neutral colours such as cream or even matte white, and make sure also that you think about lighting. Hopefully, your office will feature a window, but if not, you’ll need to make sure you have enough light with which to work.

Keep it simple, stupid!

Keeping things simple is essential if you want a good-looking, practical and efficient office space. Make sure that everything you need – telephone, computer etc – is close to hand and that there’s nothing superfluous to requirements within your office space. We do recommend having a house plant or two in the office as greenery inspires calm and is good for us, so visit your local garden centre for an easy to maintain plant that will sit nicely in your office. You should have the idea by now – it’s all about simplicity, cleanliness and modern office design – so let’s finish with a few words about how the pandemic has had an influence on our working lives.

The lasting influence of the pandemic

When we think about what the pandemic has taught us it’s clear that for many people remote working is the future. This isn’t just great for those who dread the daily commute, but also for the environment. Fewer vehicles on the roads at the same time means less pollution, which can only be a good thing.

In the case of your home office, we’ve learnt that there’s plenty of scope for designing and equipping a beautiful, practical and stylish space that will a pleasure from which to work.

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