Tag: remote working

10 key design features to consider when revamping your home office

10 key design features to consider when revamping your home officecredit

Does your home office feel outdated? Or maybe you’ve decided to convert the guest room now that you work from home. Either way, you need to know that your interior design choices will deliver a result that you’ll love for many years to come.

For the very best results, you must ensure that a comprehensive design strategy is in place. If you make use of the following ten tips as guidance on revamping your home office, you won’t go far wrong.

1. Comfort for long stints of work

When designing your home office space, your main focus should be on the intended function. You may use your office for several hours at a time, only leaving it to use the bathroom or grab a snack. So, you’ll need to make choices that promote long-term comfort.

First and foremost, you should find an ergonomic chair that’s suited to a person of your height and body shape. Meanwhile, having a luxury rug underfoot can work wonders too. Visit www.cowhiderugslondon.co.uk to find a solution that also matches the aesthetics of the room. This will make long shifts far more enjoyable.

If your home office doesn’t encourage you to stay productive, it simply isn’t the right environment to work from.

Person working on multiple monitor screens

2. Suitable workspace surfaces

Whether you’re working from a desktop, laptop or tablet, it doesn’t matter. You need to know that the room is practically designed to encourage productivity. Selecting the right office desk will be one of the most important purchases you ever make. If working in a compact area, having retractable keyboard draws, for example, can work well.

There’s nothing worse than feeling unable to work properly because your workspace feels too cramped. So, you may wish to consider L-shaped desks too. Desk tidies and other organisational accessories will help. However, the impacts will be limited if the choice of table or desk isn’t right.

One option to consider for maximising productivity and minimising limitations is investing in a versatile folding training table that can easily adapt to different work setups.

If your type of work requires multiple screens and monitors, there must be enough depth to satisfy this need.

3. The mental divide

When using your home as a workspace, finding the right balance between work and leisure can be tough. Having a dedicated space instantly gives you an advantage over working from the bedroom or sofa. However, you can introduce several additional features to further support this aim.

You may find that adding a coffee machine works wonders. Check out www.tassimo.com/ to find cheap, compact solutions. Reducing the frequency of leaving the room can keep you engaged with your work. Another popular choice is to add a lock on the door. Locking the office at night helps you switch off mentally.

On a side note, it prevents the threat of family members entering the office and misplacing items or causing damage to equipment.

Dark office shelving and desk

4. Storage facilities

Whether you are an employee or entrepreneur, you’ll need to store equipment, documents and other work items in your home office space. Adopting paperless technology and data storage can make your life a lot easier. Nonetheless, you’ll still need to invest in some storage facilities for your home office space.

A slimline filing cabinet can work wonders, especially if you have an alcove or another difficult space. If you’ve transformed a guest room that features built-in wardrobes, you could alter the internal configuration. Aside from creating valuable storage space, it’ll preserve the look of the room. Getting the storage right will allow you to manage your personal paperwork, such as home-related financial documents too.

5. Lighting

While most of the above steps have been focused on creating a practical space, you also want to enjoy the room. The control you have is one of the main advantages held over the alternative of working from a commercial space. Utilising the power of light to its full potential is essential.

Electrical lighting can be used to create a range of atmospheres or illuminate a reading space. However, introducing more natural lighting is the key to making the space look and feel bigger than ever. Crucially, this single step can increase your energy levels and make you feel more ready to work.

If you’re concerned about privacy, window films can be used; this stops passers-by from peering in.

Home office with houseplants and shelf with a collection of vintage cameras

6. Personality

For the space to truly feel like a winning environment, interior design choices should leave you smiling. This guide to adding personality and character to the home offers great tips for improving an office space. Photos, plants and wall art are just some of the examples that will bring the charm you crave.

One of the most important issues to consider is the overall style. The choice of traditional or contemporary, for example, can impact colour schemes and material choices. Whichever route you take, establishing a sense of consistency in design will be necessary. Without it, the appearance will annoy you.

When the home office is designed with your personal tastes in mind, it’ll be far longer before you need to make changes again.

7. Utilise the walls

Hanging wall art to add a little personality has already been discussed. However, the walls can be used to add new functions while retaining valuable floor space. For starters, geometric shelving can be used to display key items or store items that are often needed. Showing off awards, for example, can make you far more confident.

Perhaps the most valuable addition, though, is a wall-mounted screen. You can visit https://www.vogels.com/ to find solid brackets. Online tutorials will teach you how to install it. Whether you use the screen for viewing documents or conducting team meetings and making video calls is up to you. Adding those possibilities without making the office feel cramped will serve you well.

Home office with wall art

8. Electrical outlets

If you’ve transformed the room from a guest room to an office, the number of plug sockets you require will probably increase. In fact, even those that are updating an outdated home office will likely find that adding a few new sockets will be adventageous. That’s because our reliance on tech features for daily work has grown at a rapid rate.

Creating a new plug socket outlet is a job usually best left to an electrician. Check out www.ratedpeople.com/ to find one in your area. As well as having ample plug sockets available throughout the home office, you must consider your broadband speeds. Moving the position of your router may be necessary. If this isn’t possible, signal boosters or range extenders can be added to your existing network.

9. Insulation for the winter

Going green at home and at work should be a priority for all. As such, the home office stands out as one of the best places in which to make an improvement. Air conditioning and insulation should be the top items on your agenda. Otherwise, your increased energy consumption will result in bigger bills and a greater carbon footprint.

Draught excluders, an efficient air conditioning unit, rugs or carpets and unobstructed radiators are all ideal. Of course, this is an opportunity to think about greener updates throughout the home, including a new boiler. Boosting the water pressure, adding roof insulation and thicker glazed windows help too.

Additionally, steps like LED lighting can be used to aid the situation further.

Home office with desk and work bar

10. Make it easy to clean

Finally, you must remember that creating a better home office environment is only worthwhile if it can be maintained. Therefore, always try to invest in a layout that’s easy to clean and organise. Otherwise, you will soon find that your work flow is harmed as the clutter will cause distractions.

Keep this in mind when making your design choices while revamping your home office and you’ll be destined for greatness.

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How to make your home office more energy efficient

How to make your home office more energy efficient

There are lots of benefits to working from home. During the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of people found themselves creating makeshift home offices. Now, many companies are making remote and hybrid working the norm for their employees. If you’re one of these people, then it’s time to level up your home office.

There’s no shortage of information on how to design and decorate your home office; however, you should also think about making it as energy efficient as possible. After all, you’ll be spending a lot of time in it and an inefficient space is bad for the environment and your utility bills. You don’t want to be wasting all of that money you’re saving on not commuting.

illustration of a home office with sofa, shelves and picture

Insulation

If your home office isn’t well insulated, then you’re just going to be spending money trying to heat it up or cool it down. So start with a solid foundation and ensure that your windows are draft-free and have no gaps.

Have your walls and ceiling lined with Celotex insulation board to keep precious heat from escaping your home.

illustration of a warm home office

Watch the thermostat

In general, a temperature of between 18-21ºC is optimum for adults. If you have any medical conditions or are one of those people who’s always cold, then it could be tempting to turn up the heating.

While every once and a while won’t make much difference; if you’re working from home every day, the heating costs are soon going to add up.

Rather than immediately reaching for the heating controls, try putting on an extra layer of clothing or something warm on your feet.

illustration of working on a computer at night

Use energy-efficient lighting

If you work late, or throughout the winter months, you’ll have lights on for long periods. Replace your bulbs with more energy-efficient ones to reduce the amount of electricity you’re using – and your bills. Energy-efficient bulbs cost more to buy, but they last a lot longer and are better value for money in the longer term.

Illustration of a home office

Switch everything off

It seems that everything is designed to be left on standby these days. Some items don’t even have an off button. While standby is preferable to leaving everything switched on, it still uses a significant amount of electricity if things are switched on 24/7.

At the end of your workday, switch off all of your electronic devices. To make this easier for yourself, attach them all to smart plugs so that you can control them from your phone or smart speaker. You can even set a timer for all of the plugs to switch off at a particular time, just in case you forget.

Illustration of a home office desk with coding books

Final thoughts

Working from home can bring with it a lot of benefits in terms of the types of jobs you can apply for, work-life balance and saving money. But it does mean that you’ll be using much more energy at home, which could have a huge impact on your energy bills. So it makes sense to make your home office as energy-efficient as possible.

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How to make your home office modern and stylish

How to make your home office modern and stylish

Working from home, or hashtag ‘WFH’, is the new normal. Despite the fact that the world is opening up, more people are working from home than ever before. The novelty of working from home wears off quite quickly therefore, creating a plush, modern home office might provide you with the motivation that you need to get focused and boost your productivity.

Here are some essential tips to help you turn your home office space into a modern and stylish workspace.

Minimalist home office

Eliminate clutter

There’s nothing worse than a cluttered, overcrowded workspace. Especially if your work requires razor-sharp focus and attention. Studies show that clean, clutter-free workspaces boost creativity and productivity. Get rid of clutter by using the Marie Kondo method; if it doesn’t bring you joy, get rid of it.

Give it away, swap it or sell it. Once you’ve cleared the clutter, you can start with a clean, blank canvas to create the workspace of your dreams.

Home office with teal feature wall

Colour scheme

There is no ideal colour scheme for a modern workspace, choose the colour scheme that works for you and find pieces that complement and accentuate those colours. For example, if you wanted to go down the simple, minimal route, you could opt for neutral shades like white and light grey. Add pops of colour like yellow, blush pink or bold turquoise. Create an accent wall using your colour pop shade to add some drama to the room.

Home office furniture

Furniture

Choose the right furniture to fit your taste and needs. The most important furniture in the room for a home office is the desk and chair because that is where you will be spending most of your time. You can either choose a desk and chair set or purchase them separately. You need to search for a modern chair and desk to match the contemporary theme of your workspace.

Grey decorated home office

Accessories

Accessories complement the main pieces in the room. Consider getting a desk lamp, one or two bean bags, maybe a comfortable armchair and throw cushions. Art is always a good idea, opt for contemporary picture frames and find art that complements the colour scheme and overall look and feel of the room. Add curtains or blinds to dress the windows and purchase desk accessories like a desk tidy, flowers and other items to give your desk the wow factor. If you prefer a minimal approach, just keep your desk clean and free from clutter and accessories.

Home office storage solutions

Storage

Storage is crucial, especially in an office space where things can get messy pretty quickly. Get some modern ottomans, storage boxes and maybe some drawers to complement your desk. Storage accessories will keep your workspace free from clutter, clean and minimal.

A modern, well-designed home workspace will improve your work flow and boost your motivation to complete tasks. Choose modern furniture, add pops of colour and invest in some high-quality accessories to complement your space. Storage is also vital if you want to keep your workspace clutter-free. Contemporary artwork could also provide your workspace with an extra creative element to give your home office a peaceful and inviting ambience.

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Benefits of remote access for small businesses

Benefits of remote access for small businessescredit

With a small business, it’s important to note that remote access isn’t something that will only be beneficial for larger corporations. A lot of small businesses are finding that when they can access office files and resources remotely it provides a lot of benefits for the business as well as for employees. Supporting flexible and remote working is an obvious benefit, and by using remote access it means that the business will still be able to keep up to date and catch up, in this post-pandemic era. Remote access solutions are something that can benefit your small business, and they don’t have to be things that are expensive or out of your budget.

Illustration of remote working outdoors

Flexible office solutions

One of the big costs that a business will have is the office space that they occupy. With employees who work flexibly and work remotely the majority of the time, you can reduce the office space that you use, if you need one at all. If there are fewer workers that need a desk space, the cheaper or smaller place that you could rent for an office, if at all. As the site https://physicaladdress.com shows, you don’t have to have a physical office space to be able to get business mail, neither do you need to include a personal address on a business website. If you do decide to go down the route of getting rid of the physical office, then you have real flexibility as well as more adjustable office solutions.

Interview taking place over a conference call

Talent recruitment

If you work flexibly and run this across the whole of your small business, then it improves the talent pool that you can reach when it comes to recruitment. Normally, the talent pool for a business only extends to people who live in a commutable distance from the office. However, if you work flexibly and allow employees to work remotely, then it increases the geographical location of potential candidates. You can really choose the best people that apply, rather than having to choose the people that apply only because they live in the vicinity.

In a similar vein, you can also have continued access to existing staff. If they’re moving home to a different part of the country, they don’t have to leave working for you when remote access is implemented. Another benefit for business and the business budget.

Three people working remotely and collaboratively

Collaborative working and resource sharing

When you have a remote working business, you can work with colleagues on a collaborative basis, as well as externally with clients, third parties or suppliers. When you interact remotely, it helps to save time on travel, save money and improve productivity on the part of all involved.

Using remote access and accessing something in the cloud for document sharing means that you can share work with others, wherever they are in the world. As documented here, https://workplace.com/cloud-collaboration, cloud collaboration can be something that can really benefit business and be a good thing for employees too. You just need to think outside the box and it will help to make a difference to how your business works.

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