Y Your Home Office Makeover Can No Longer Wait

Most home offices have seen—and hoarded—it all. Old fax machines. Abandoned kids’ projects. Photo albums. Files of old paperwork. For many, the home office isn’t used regularly and often falls into disarray. Thanks to the pandemic, however, these business-only spaces quickly became essential for a hard day’s work. 

If you haven’t already decluttered, reorganized, and reclaimed your office, today is the day to rethink how it can support your professional goals. Investing in things like wall color, furniture, lighting, décor, accessories, and plants can make an incredible difference in how you approach your work.

If you’ve read this far, then you’re probably asking yourself: “Where do I even begin?” 

Paint

It’s not just you that needs to get Zoom ready for those meetings. Think about what the space captured on camera looks like and what it exudes. If you think gray is the only color synonymous with sophistication, think again!

When you’re ready to paint your office walls, stop before reaching for one of the many shades of gray. If you Google which color increases productivity, the search results almost always state that it’s blue, but this is an oversimplification.

Different colors—and different shades within those colors—elicit different responses from people. Bright colors tend to stimulate, whereas lower color saturations are more likely to soothe and inspire relaxation. Red, for example, is a physical color. It can increase your heartbeat and pulse. But Millennial pink makes a beautiful, calming neutral that still adds a pop of color.

While gray—much like black—is always timeless, don’t feel restricted by the color choices you put on your walls. Choose whatever inspires relaxation, happiness, and productivity for those long workdays.

Furniture

Goldilocks tested each piece of furniture to see which fit her just right, and that’s the truth worth living by. When picking furniture for your home office, comfort and physical health should play just as important a role as style.

If sitting all day is the new smoking, how about quitting? Standing desks have become immensely popular, providing people with relief from being stationary for extended periods of time. Some go as far as to combine their standing desks with a treadmill to get their steps in while still working—the definition of multitasking and winning the day.

A good desk chair is just as important, ideally one that has an adjustable lumbar to support your spine, a deep seat depth to better support your knees, and armrests to position your arms properly in relation to the rest of your body.

Your dining chair can go back to being used for special occasions.

For more on office furniture inspiration, Andy Stern, owner of Andy Stern’s Office Furniture—a division of Benjamin Office Supply + Services—digs deeper into the trends he’s noticed since the start of the pandemic.

Light

Good lighting is key to staying alert, awake, and focused. Investing in the right bulbs for your office can make the difference between nodding off at your desk and firing away a few more emails before your workday ends. 

The key to finding the right light? Look at your bulbs’ wattage. Swap out the 2700K bulbs for ones that are at least 3000-4000K to ensure you’re not being drenched in dulling yellow light.

Accessories

The devil is always in the details. Artwork and décor can increase creativity and reduce stress: personal items take you back to favorite memories and can spark joy; favorite textiles and objects can exude comfort and stimulate productivity. All these elements come together to create a space that invites positive thoughts, patterns, and results—more than that, they bolster your creative identity and can provide a dose of inspiration for your busiest days.

Plants

Because people today spend roughly 90% of their time indoors, it’s no wonder that biophilic design can reduce stress, improve cognitive function, and enhance mood and creativity. So, what does that mean for your office? It means plants—and lots of them!

Creating green, natural focal points that pull your eyes away from the computer can help provide your mind with mini breaks and renew your sense of focus. Incorporating plants into your workspace is not just merely about aesthetics, but rather about the subtle ways our bodies and minds react when exposed to nature.

What now?

Your office is a personal space in ways many other rooms in your house are not. It’s dedicated to your creativity, your livelihood, your plans, and your goals. That’s a lot of pressure for one room!

Create an environment that supports your ambitions and sees them through to completion—one that inspires your best game and your strongest hustle. If you don’t know where to begin with the planning process, recruiting an interior design can help make the process streamlined and easy.

Bringing a level of strategy to your approach can help reduce impulsive decision making and deter buyer’s remorse. So, as you tackle your latest home project, start with a plan, not pillows. Your well-being is essential now more than ever.

Do you need help with designing your home office?  Connect with us at 301-718-8774 or hello@yZiGN.com.

yZiGN is the boutique Interior Design Studio specialized in creating signature interior designs. 

From the most intimate homes to the grandest residences, yZiGN takes bold design concepts, infuses them with style, warmth, sophistication, and a sense of home. Seeking out the perfect object, unique work of art, or the desired antique, the yZiGN team creates environments that reflect the lives and personalities of their clients.