Home office design

All Dressed Up: A Picture Perfect Home Office

May 4, 2011 By Lisa 4 Comments

What do you do when you have an upstairs lounge that you rarely use and you need to reclaim your guest room for its original purpose…for guests?

You can do what Paul Bamford did and create a gorgeous home office with plenty of space to work and relax. The best part of this Photoshop retoucher and photographer’s home office is that it didn’t cost a fortune to put together.

Paul created his desk from a door he painted white and $5 table legs he bought from Ikea. He attached a metal U channel to the back of his desk so the wires along the channel wouldn’t hang too low. The open cabinet to the left of his desk holds supplies, files and photography equipment for his freelance photography and graphic design work.

This spacious, streamlined home office does the perfect job of combining a hardworking home office with a place to unwind at the end of the day. And the beautiful Australian view from his home office is an added bonus.

(Photo by Paul Bamford)

Filed Under: Home office design, Home office setup Tagged With: Home office design, Paul Bamford

All Dressed Up: New Year, New Home Office

January 14, 2011 By Lisa Leave a Comment

Some people spend New Year’s weekend relaxing, thinking about what’s ahead and maybe even nursing a hangover from the best New Year’s party ever. Not business and marketing coach, Debbie LaChusa.

Over the New Year’s weekend, she “seriously decluttered, repainted and redecorated” her home office.

The medals she earned from two marathons, the Minnie Mouse drawing by her daughter and the SUCCESS magazine [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home office design, Home office organizing Tagged With: Debbie LaChusa, Home office design, Home office furniture, home office set up

What Does Your Desk Say About You?

August 12, 2010 By Lisa

Is your desk sloppy or streamlined? Messy or immaculate? Consider whether one of these three desk descriptions fits you.

Desk #1
Topsy-turvy and turbulent
The top of your desk is piled high with magazines, unopened mail and bills. If someone wants you to see something, they leave it on your chair. Eventually you’ll feel it when you sit down.
Your desk screams: You’re a creative person but you seem a bit scattered, unreliable and easily distracted.
Desk makeover: The goal isn’t to be a perfectionist or a neat freak. Instead, create some order. Use desktop file holders for the files you’re working on now, put stacking bins on the floor to hold [Read more...]

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Home office design, Home office organizing, Home office products, Home office setup, Making money from home, Time mgmt./Productivity, Working at home Tagged With: Home office design, home office set up, organizing your home office, Working styles

What to Watch Out for When Setting up a Home Office

June 10, 2010 By Lisa Leave a Comment

When you’re setting up your home office, choosing the right furnishings and equipment can help you avoid a few common problems including:

Work surfaces that are the wrong size. A desk or workspace that’s too narrow, too deep, too tall or too short can affect your productivity. Instead of using that space as a place to work, you may turn it into a dumping ground for papers and supplies.

Cheap filing cabinets. 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.

Furniture that doesn’t fit through the door, up the stairs or within your home office. Know ahead of time how large your home office furniture can be. Otherwise you’ll waste time shopping for the wrong furniture and you’ll waste money on delivery fees.

A home office space that initially seems ideal but turns out to be too hot or too cold, too noisy or too quiet. Avoid moving your equipment, furniture and supplies several times by trying out your new home office space for one month. That should give you enough time to decide if you’ve picked the right place to set up shop.

Is there anything you would do differently if you could start over and set up your home office today?

Filed Under: Home office setup Tagged With: Home office design, Home office expert, Home Office Tips, setting up a home office

Working Naked Pays Off: Contest Winner Announced

April 30, 2010 By Lisa

Working naked pays off in so many ways: freedom from cubicle hell, flexible hours and the ability to enter home office contests. The winner of our “Where Do You Work Naked?” contest, Laura Wilson, is a graphic designer who runs her business, Fit to Print, from where else but her home office. (A note to the first five folks who entered: watch your mail for an official “I’m working naked…are you?” t-shirt.) [Read more...]

Filed Under: Working at home Tagged With: home office contest, Home office design, working from home

How to Find the Right Place For Your Home Office

April 12, 2010 By Lisa

In the almost twenty years I’ve been working from home, I’ve had nine home offices. Moving my home office so many times gave me insight into the benefits and disadvantages of using certain rooms to work. The one room I’ve never used – and won’t use – as a home office is a bedroom because I’d spend more time working and less time sleeping.

Before you set up a home office, it’s important to consider every room in your home. Even if you already have a home office, there may be a better place for it. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home office design, Home office organizing, Home office setup, Working at home Tagged With: Home office design, home office set up

4 Cheap Ways to Update Your Home Office

March 4, 2010 By Lisa 4 Comments

Paint is one of the easiest ways to update your home office.

How would you describe your home office? Does it look a bit rough around the edges? Clients may not see your home office but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a nice, comfortable and even stylish place to work. There are a few cheap ways to give your home office a facelift.

Paint your walls and don’t be afraid of color. Start with your rug, a piece of art or any furniture that’s in your home office and then match it. It doesn’t have to be a perfect match (that’s boring). If you can’t find a color you like, make up your own color. I created “Working Naked Gold” for my home office. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home office design, Home office setup, Working at home Tagged With: Crate & Barrel, Home office design, Home Office Tips, Lowe's, Pottery Barn, The Great Indoors, Tuesday Morning

From Uptight to Zen-Like

October 1, 2009 By Lisa

Is your home office zen-like?

My home office is comfortable, relaxing and set up so I can find what I need when I need it, but it’s not zen-like. I didn’t think about it (or even care about it) until I read the article, “18 Ways to Create a Relaxing Home Office Experience.”

Of the 19 tips—someone messed up on the numbers but I’ll take an extra tip any day—I already follow four of them.

#2. Find a room with a view, #10. Meditation breaks (I call them bathroom breaks), #12. Organize your belongings, and #13. Get an ergonomic office chair. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home office design, Working at home Tagged With: Ergonomics, Home office design, stress management, Zen-like

Size Does Matter

September 17, 2009 By Lisa

This past week, furniture buyers flocked to the Las Vegas Market, a biannual furniture trade show. Furniture Today noted a few interesting trends from the show.

Executive desk groups (major office hogs) are being replaced by smaller groupings at lower price points. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home office setup Tagged With: Home office design, Home office furniture, Home office products

Cheap Isn’t Chic

September 11, 2009 By Lisa

The Z Gallerie Stefan desk.

Years ago when working naked was something you kept private, there weren’t many home office desks available. The only options were cheap, badly designed computer workstations and desks that fell apart after one or two moves. Now that working naked is more celebrated than shunned, furniture manufacturers—even from the commercial side—have created functional, stylish and even affordable home office furniture.

Some of my favorite places to shop for reasonably-priced home office furniture are Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, West Elm, Z Gallerie and commercial furniture dealers—they sell to individuals too. Sometimes you can find home office furniture by well known and respected manufacturers at Costco and Sam’s Club. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home office design Tagged With: Desk, Home office, Home office advice, Home office decor, Home office design, Home office furniture