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Is Your Home Office Still Working For You?

April 18, 2013 By 2 Comments

home office workingSome days you may look forward to working in your home office, while other days you may go straight to a nearby coffee shop to work. If you’re spending more time working away from your home office, than in it, it may be time to make a few home office changes.

Consider whether your home office still inspires you to work.

Whether you’ve had a home office for many years or you’re ready to set up a home office for the first time, start by asking yourself a few questions: Is there enough light? Is your home office in a high-traffic area?  Is the space too isolated to let you accomplish anything? It’s important to find the right place for your home office so you actually enjoy working there. If you’re tired of your current office and want to try to work in another part of your home, do a 30-day trial. If after that time you still like the new space, move everything from your old home office into your new office.

Move your furniture around.

Consider moving your desk from against the wall to floating in the room. Maybe I’ve seen too many horror movies, but I never feel comfortable having my back to the door. You’ll feel less isolated and may even enjoy a view of the outside if you look into the room instead of stare at a wall all day. Moving your furniture around can change your outlook (literally).

Add a bookcase.

Out of the last 10 home offices I’ve seen, half of them didn’t have a bookcase. What’s the problem with that? Without a bookcase or shelves, there’s no place to store books, reference materials and even knick knacks that can add a little something to any home office. Not only can a bookcase be functional, it can serve as an interesting design element within your home office, or as a divider in a large room.

Keep your family in mind.

You may want to keep your family out of your home office while you work, and if so, you’re not alone. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep your family in mind while you’re working. Hang a bulletin board near your desk and add family photos, or keep family photos on nearby shelves.

Your home office should be a place you enjoy spending time. Until you take the time to consider whether or not your current set-up is working, you may not realize what a difference a little change can make.

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How to Fine-Tune Your Home Office

March 1, 2013 By 6 Comments
home office design ideas

source: Pottery Barn

A good friend of mine spent more money than she cares to admit on furniture and accessories for her new home office. For the first few months she loved it and couldn’t wait to take the 10-second commute to her home office to get to work every day. Then everything changed. She realized she was wasting time looking for supplies, her files were out of reach, and she started to feel claustrophobic.

On the surface a home office may seem picture-perfect, but what it has in style, it may lack in function. You don’t have to spend a fortune to turn your home office into a well-designed, functional space.

Think compact, yet not too confined.

Create a work area with everything including your desk, credenza, file cabinet, and supplies within reach. This will keep you from wasting time jumping from one area to another to grab what you need. Several years ago when I worked with the winner of the “Most Disorganized Home Office” contest, we turned her enormous attic home office into a cozy, workable space. By the end of our organizing and design session, we had set up her home office near two windows, and left the rest of the space open.

Limit the number of accessories.

Think of your desk as valuable real estate that you don’t want to clutter with unnecessary items and instead want to leave open for work. Keep in mind that design magazines “stage” their photos. They add more accessories than normal, place furniture in awkward places because it photographs better, and, in some cases, create a room that no one could comfortably live or work in. The photos look amazing, but if you take the time to look at a home office photo you may see a rigid chair instead of an adjustable one, and plants and knick knacks on the desk instead of accessories.

Go for less.

Your home office should be comfortable, yet functional, stylish, yet not overstuffed with excess accessories. The rule of thumb is less is more. Buy what you need for your office, but make sure you can find what you need when you need it.

Whether you redesign your home office or start from scratch, buy what works and buy what fits the way you work. At the same time, remember that you don’t have to sacrifice style and design to achieve function. The two can work hand in hand.

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All Dressed Up: Boardroom and Bedroom

February 21, 2013 By 10 Comments

inspirational quotes

For years I’ve said that the worst place for a home office is in a bedroom. The main reason is that it’s too hard to get away from work when your desk is only a few feet away from your bed. Ally Loprete’s home office changed my mind.

Her 10’ x 20’ office, in the back part of her bedroom, is separated from her bed by a large headboard/shelving unit. Not having a clear view of a home office can make it easier to keep business and personal life separate.

As a business coach for work-at-home parents, Ally is a master at inspiring her clients to stay focused on their goals. She follows her own advice by hanging motivational quotes above her desk. Her office also includes vision boards and a bulletin board filled with family photos.

desktop

While Ally’s bedroom serves double-duty as a home office, her home office serves double-duty as an art studio for her son. Rather than plaster his masterpieces all over the wall, she uses clothespins to attach them to a long string that hangs along one side of the space.

artwork on string

Between coaching others, hosting a radio show, and being a mom, Ally juggles many roles. It’s a good thing her home office does the same.

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All Dressed Up: A Small, Yet Spacious Home Office

January 29, 2013 By 1 Comment

small home office design ideas

Do you know how some women can wear a paper bag and look gorgeous? My friend, Allen Hart, who is also an interior designer, can make any simple space look fabulous.

He recently moved and transformed a small home into a showcase. My favorite part of his home is, of course, his home office.

His design revolves around a huge, colorful, contemporary print above his desk.  He has a completely paperless home office and stores everything electronically. That means he didn’t have to find room for a file cabinet. He found a creative place to store his all-in-one machine: under a sofa table.

home office printer storage idea

The layout of Allen’s home office makes it easy to convert the space into a cozy conference room. When he has a client meeting, he pulls a table from the window to the center of the room, and then moves the chairs in front of and next to his desk to the table.

Each time Allen moves, he creates an even better, inspirational space. This one definitely is my favorite.

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10 Ways to Improve Your Home Office With Feng Shui

December 4, 2012 By 6 Comments

Guest post by Amy Wettig

source: amywettig.com

Let’s talk about what your home office is all about according to Feng Shui.

Your office represents your career goals and your potential for success. A well-organized office can lead to increased productivity, while office clutter can muddy your goals or cause obstacles that may block your success.

Office clutter represents confusion about money matters. It can also signify obstacles that may be causing difficulties with clients, coworkers, and colleagues.

Consider these Feng Shui tips for your home office:

1. Put your desk in the command position. Position your desk so that you can see the door easily when seated. You do not want your back to the door. If you cannot position your desk so that you can see the entrance to your office while seated, hang a mirror on the wall so that it reflects the doorway.

2. Clean out your file cabinets regularly. If you let old business papers fill your file cabinets, you may prevent new business from coming your way. Remove paperwork that’s no longer current. A good rule of thumb is to leave about 1/3 of your file cabinets empty to indicate that you are ready to receive new business.

3. Use wooden furniture to encourage expansion. In the Chinese elemental system, wood is linked with growth. If you use wooden furniture, your business or finances should increase.

4. Fix or replace damaged office equipment. Broken furniture symbolizes broken deals or promises, damaged relationships with customers or suppliers, and other problems. These are the exact kinds of things you do not want. Repair these things promptly to keep your business running smoothly.

5. Use a black phone to encourage prosperous communication with colleagues and customers. Black is associated with wealth in China and it is a water color which emphasizes qualities such as flexibility and cooperation. Using a black phone can help stimulate business and prosperity, especially if your work involves a lot of phone contact.

6. Use white in your decorating scheme to promote stability & structure.

7. Paint your office door red or green. Red is the Chinese color of luck. Green is the color of money and can increase prosperity. In some countries, it’s believed that you can attract money to you by painting your door green.

8. Consider options other than paint. If you can’t paint the door, tie a red ribbon around your office doorknob to help attract good luck to you and your business.

9. Rearrange your office furniture periodically. This will encourage new business and stimulate new opportunities in your work life. Once a year may be often enough unless you find yourself getting into a rut. By changing your interior, you’ll change things in the outer world too.

10. Add live plants to your home office. Plants symbolize growth and life. In some countries, their green foliage represents the color of money. Place one or more healthy plants in your office to encourage the growth and prosperity of your business.

Amy Wettig is a Feng Shui expert who likes to combine the art of Feng Shui with coaching to help her clients move forward with their lives. She helps people clear the air in their homes and in their heads so they can lead the life they were meant to lead.

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All Dressed Up: A Room With a View

October 10, 2012 By 8 Comments

source: Linda Cotter

A home office in a spare bedroom, closet or basement can help you be productive, especially if it’s organized, but it may not spark ideas or motivate you to work. A home office with a view, though, can inspire you to accomplish more than you thought you could.

Linda Cotter, founder of Delightful Purpose, works with clients to help them discover their purpose and passion again. Not only does she have a gorgeous view from her home office, she puts her view to work.

As she was sitting on her sofa one weekend working on her tele-course, “3 Days, 6 Ways to Get Your Spark Back,” her sliding doors inspired her. Linda looked out the doors and thought, “3 days (three doors) and 6 ways (cut them in half).” Then she grabbed window crayons and wrote an outline on the doors. If you look closely through the drapery, you can see several rows of notes.

Linda said that writing on her doors was liberating and opened up her thought process. So if you don’t have a view from your home office, consider working from another part of your home one or two days a week and don’t forget the window crayons.

 

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50 Ideas For Your Home Office on Pinterest

October 5, 2012 By 6 Comments

source: houseofturquoise.com

Whether you’re a regular Pinterest user or you don’t know much about it, it’s hard to ignore this photo-filled site’s value. Pinterest is the ideal place to find design inspiration, how-to projects and product picks. The site Online Courses has compiled a wide range of ideas for creating your dream home office. Here are a few of my favorite Pinterest links from the list.

Hallway office
I like the way they’ve made a small and usually useless space into a functional home office.

Corner wall shelves
Shelves are a good way to make use of vertical space in a home office.

Simple but chic
This home office fits in with the rest of the home and has plenty of storage space behind doors and in decorative containers.

Closet desk
This cozy space with a soothing blue floral wallpaper on the back wall, a desk painted to match the interior and a pegboard on one door takes the anti-corporate look to a new level. I love this space!

To see the rest of the 50 Pinterest home office ideas, click here.

Which one is your favorite?

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You CAN Stay Productive While Waiting for the iPhone 5

September 19, 2012 By 2 Comments

Would you wait in line for 5 days for the iPhone 5? What if instead of standing in line, you were sitting in a plush, stylish, modern home away from home surrounded by a working/dining area, sofas for lounging, and a comfy bed nearby for a quick nap?  If so, you would officially be glamping and probably not minding the 5-day wait at all.

The creative geniuses at Black Book Ink, a full-service creative and social media firm, are Apple addicts. They’ve combined their insatiable desire for the iPhone 5 with an ingenious plan…to glamp out at the Apple store in Dallas to be the first in line to get Apple’s latest offering. [Read more...]

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How to Work Inside the Box

September 18, 2012 By 12 Comments

Whether you have limited home office space or you want to make your guest room do double duty, a computer cabinet, armoire or an “office-in-a-box” — they’re all the same thing — is a good alternative to a simple desk. Between white boards, drawers and extra storage bins in the door, armoires are filled with function. As with anything, including furniture, there are always advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

•Compact and ideal when space is limited
•You can close the doors at the end of the day
•All of your home office equipment fits inside
•Some have drop-down desks and file cabinets that roll inside
•It can blend in with the rest of your home

Disadvantages:

•Not all cabinets have leg room
•There’s not always enough space to spread out papers
•There’s limited filing space so you’ll need a file cabinet nearby

Something to think about: If you decide to buy a computer cabinet or any other home office furniture, plan ahead and measure your space. One of my client’s enthusiasm for a new computer cabinet was squelched when she realized on delivery day that the cabinet she bought couldn’t fit through her home office door.

Would an office-in-a-box work for you?

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How to Find the Right Home Office Furniture and Equipment

August 15, 2012 By 1 Comment

Finding furniture and equipment for your home office doesn’t have to take much time or money. Yet the right furnishings and equipment can help you avoid a few common problems, including the ones below.

Using the wrong work surface.

A desk or workspace that’s too narrow, too deep, too tall or too short can affect your productivity. Instead of using a workspace as a place to work, you may turn it into a dumping ground for papers and supplies. Think about what you’re going to do in your home office, and then find the right desk or work surface to handle each of those tasks.

Buying cheap file cabinets.

Now is the time of year when file cabinets, office chairs and supplies go on sale. You may see a file cabinet at a deep discount, but consider how long it will last. Drawers that don’t glide open, get stuck, or don’t open completely can put a damper on filing. Instead it will be easier to stack papers on top of the cabinet until you’re ready to fight with the drawers. Keep in mind the saying, “You get what you pay for.” [Read more...]

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