Once you decide to have a Home Office, you should start thinking about how to make it attractive and welcoming. A place where design (as much as possible) and comfort makes you want to come to your desk and work. In this blog post, I will tell you some ways in which you can decorate your home office, speaking from my very own experience on how I turned a room in my home into an office that I literally love to be and work in.

So how can you decorate your home office? The first thing to decide is which style you want for your Home Office. This is where you either already know what you like or you can go an fish for inspiration in magazines or websites. Then, there are three major elements to work on: how much space are you working with, your furniture, walls, ceiling and floors. Finally, you need to think about your budget as well even though, a lot can be done on a very small budget.

Below, I will walk you through all of the above and even beyond. Before you hit the magazines and other websites for inspiration, I want to share with you here tips from my own experience.

Space and personality

The very first thing is to think about the space that you have to work with and how to use it in a way that it reflects your personality. You still want to be professional, particularly if you do business with others in your Home Office but this is your space after all, so it should really reflect who you are and have it the way you like.

I know, this sounds like a very general concept but it actually is central to the decoration you want to bring about. First thing I would try and determine is your style: Classic? Modern? Industrial? Minimalist? Not sure…? Then go to the web for inspiration and just browse until you see something you like: that’s most probably is your style…

First impressions: When I decorate or bring a change, I always try to think of the first impressions that will result of that change. What’s the first wall or piece of furniture or even object people (or I) will see coming into the office? What can I display there to give the first impression I want? Should it be a nice painting? A shelf full of old books? Some kind of display with trophies?

Next thing is your space. Two elements to take into consideration: Space as in “size or is there a lot of room or not…” and how your Home Office is integrated / separated from the rest of your house. They both will help determine what furniture and other artifacts you can use. The more your Home Office is isolated, the more you can have a different style if you so wish.

Now that you know what style is for you and the space you have, you can start thinking about the furniture, fixtures, rug, wall colors and flooring you will want for your Home Office. Should you change everything? Probably not. You actually are probably already in the ballpark of where you want to be and only need some adjustments. I do like to start with a mental picture of what I would like my Home Office to look like and then see how and where I can bridge my vision and the reality as much as I can (afford).

Get proper lighting! The right lighting, natural or artificial, can enhance the place and make it look bigger or more intimate and set the mood as well. If you have big windows, use curtains to control the amount of light. If you have to rely on artificial lighting, set them up so you can work and also to highlight some areas and make them more of the focal point.

Last comment about space: make it such that you do not over occupy your Home Office. Obviously: no clutter but beyond that, make sure your desk is not too large (or too small) for the space you have… Make sure you don’t put in three or four enormous bookshelves leaving you no space to walk around.

Matching patterns and colors and personality.

The next thing is to make sure you use colors and patterns that fit with the rest of the Home Office. Everybody will tell you that you want furniture that match or are very close in terms of their colors and style. You can’t really go wrong with that but does that fit you really? Does that work with your personality? If yes, then all good, otherwise below, you’ll have some ideas as to how you can decorate, bring some style and personality playing with patterns and colors

Colors are the first thing you need to think for your walls. More than for any other element, walls are going to display and even showcase the colors you chose. And the colors you chose, in turn will set a mood and even speak to your personality.

So, what should you choose? Wall colors should match or paired appropriately. There is a well-known list of colors that goes together. I suggest you try those. You can always be more creative alter if that list doesn’t help you.

Some color matching guidelines:

• White: goes with everything, especially blue, red and black.
• Beige: goes with blue, brown, black, red, white.
• Gray: goes with red, violet, pink, blue.
• Pink: goes with brown, white, gray, blue.
• Red: goes with yellow, white, green, blue, black.
• Brown: goes with blue, pink, green, beige.
• Black is a universal color: combines with everything notably orange, pink, green, white, red, yellow.

If you do have a logo for your company, you may use those colors in your décor as well. If you are a doctor working from home (often psychiatrists work out of a Home Office), you’ll want white or pastel / neutral color walls in your waiting area…

Patterns are important as they cannot “contradict” each other even if you use the same colors or colors that go well together. There needs to be some harmonization in the patterns, textures, (cement and rugs? That’s a hard sell and hopefully an option you did not consider…).

Patterns just like colors are also injected in your Home Office through your furniture. You need to choose that desk and that bookshelf and even that light fixture so that they all come together. There are a few guidelines if you want and again, you can feel brave and break those guidelines too: you decide, that becomes “artful decoration”.

Some pattern use principles:

• Use the same shape(s) or (combination of) colors all around the Home Office. A bit like a logo that appears everywhere.
• Use two different patterns but with the same color (or close shades). Blue horizontal lines and blue vertical lines for example. Or wall papers of different patterns but very close colors.
• A bit like above, combine different lines: straight, curved, angular but same color (black is best but that’s just me)
• Some more “advanced” ideas:
• Different patterns but keep it to only two colors and layer them: blue rectangles, then pink curves, then blue lines…
• Patterns (any kind) but mixed with block colors. Could be a wall with patterns and a bookshelf with block color.
• Have a mix of patterns but only in one contained section of your Home Office – Choose a wall and make it the wall with the mix of patterns for example.
• Have once section (a wall maybe or a piece of furniture) that purposefully clashes in terms or color or brightness or patterns with the rest. A bit like an accent wall.

Incorporate art into it.

Art is such a powerful motivating force for any kind of mood or space. Again, it also highlights your personality. I have never met anyone who was not inspired by art. Now, I do not mean that you go in search of Picassos and The Mona Lisa. Art could be that painting your kid did at school too.

You could also print out images you find online that you like and frame them too. If you are an artist, you could frame your own work, which makes for wonderful design ideas and inspiration. I personally do like inspirational quotes in frames.

Art will be part of the style you want to bring in. A small object can be your touch of art in the Home Office. It’s not necessary but it does make things different in the room. The two best options I found are paintings as already mentioned and useful objects that are also pieces of art.

If you have a manual work, that can be somewhat easier to find such an object that bridges the world of utility and art. A tailor for example could get a fancy, artful mannequin. If you are like me, more of the office worker but in your Home Office, then I would suggest a nice globe. They can be quite artsy and still be useful and always have a place in an office.

If you do like to have several pieces of artwork around (and have space and can afford it), you can mix various types of objects as well: portraits, chunky vases, ceramics, felt pieces and sculptures, nicely framed inspirational quotes…

Create a picture wall. Now here is something I absolutely love. Could be the liveliest part of your Home Office. Select one wall, or two, and put up pictures of your loved ones, whether family or friends. You can also put up pictures of our achievements, maybe the day you received an award, or met someone important. Pictures will make you more comfortable and at ease to work. I also like to put pictures (or paintings) of my goals… Beautiful painting of a castle of the Loire valley (France) anyone?

Mirrors are wonderful additions. If you have a large working space and have no idea how to fill it, then mirrors are your Home Office design friend. Since they reflect light, they can make the office appear like it is larger and contain more things, kind of like a duplicate effect. Also, you could get a cool frame for your mirror to style things up properly.

Finally, add some plants. Can be considered as the nature’s work of art after all. So, Go green! Get some potted plants for your office space. You could get small ones to put up on your desk or on your bookshelf for example or get big and leafy ones and place them near your door or window…

Budget

I know, after all those dreaming and planning, the hard reality comes knocking in the form of cash limitation. If you don’t have that limitation, then great. If you do, we have to find ways to get to the decoration we want, maybe adjust a little bit the original vision of grand décor so we don’t exceed the budget we have to work with.  Luckily, there are a few ways to do so:

Avoid big department stores. You can also visit your local or antique stores, thrift stores and flea markets too. Not only are they cheaper, but you get really unique things. It’s as if people are always getting rid of their bookshelves and desks… Some are in a very good shape: just clean them up, maybe a coat of paint and you are good to go.

Also, when is the last time you went through the stuff in your attic or basement? It is very possible that you find many hidden gems there… Items from your earlier years could serve as really cool Home Office décor ideas, plus it is a great way to mix up the old and new.

If you can’t or don’t want to go with the above, shop around for bargains, go for furniture sales and check what the prices are online. You can try Craigslist or eBay for old or new stuff. Generally, you’ll find deals even though it’s always good to check before you buy (due diligence of sorts).

If you can, try to make stuff on your own. Try and repurpose something from around the house. I saw a door repainted and repurposed to make a very beautiful desk. That does require some creativity and being able (and willing) t work with your hands…

Depending on what you want to achieve, a budget to help with the decoration could be as low as $ 100. That will allow you to buy a few items maybe or some paint. For more comprehensive work though, you may need a budget in the $ 1,000s but the tips above will allow you to keep that amount under control.

Related questions

How to set up a productive Home Office? There are three areas to examine when you want to set up a productive Home Office. 1) Home Office itself: location (needs to be in a quiet place, away from traffic), should have proper lighting and be comfortable. 2) Equipment and furniture, particularly power outlets, IT equipment (tech updated and reliable with backups) and comfortable chair (at the very least). 3) Processes: declutter your Home Office, desk and even house ruthlessly and often and simplify, organize your desk and simplify your processes.

How can I make my home office look professional? Four areas to focus on: first, de-clutter and set up a system to regularly remove clutter from your desk and the whole Home Office. Second, hide all the cables and untamed wires, organize your desk and the whole Home Office: organization equates to professionalism in people’s mind. Third, be prepared with a procedure to welcome guests / customer who come to your office. Have drinks or snacks ready to offer. Have extra pens, notebooks. Create an inviting reception or waiting Area (if you can). Finally, invest in a “Statement desk” or at the very least coordinated furniture: this will help give people who visit a perception of heightened professionalism.

Like many of you, I need an office at home, and it needs to be on a budget. My current employer simply expects that I do some of the work from home and, at the same time, I’m starting a business (and I’m bootstrapping of course…). So, I did some online research for the optimal setup within a budget. Below are some of the lessons I learned from that experience.

So, how to set up a home office on a budget? It really comes down to going for a minimalist setup:

• Office space and furniture: use what you already have where possible. A spare bedroom is the best or at least a quiet space
• Furniture: again, use what’s available. Kitchen table, desk, chair, bookshelf… You’ll most probably will need to buy a filing cabinet and a desk organizer.
• Office supplies: the regular list of office supplies (see list below). Very useful: shredder
• Quality IT but still, at the lowest price possible: laptop and multi-purpose printer. Important: separate business line and Internet access. Ideally Google drive for backups…

With that, you have a bootstrap, home office setup on a budget. Obviously, your exact list will depend on your work or type of business but you should have the core setup that most will need in almost any case. I get more into the details and expected costs I paid in the paragraphs below.

Finding space for your Home Office

The first thing we want to look at is the space you want to use as your office. Working on a budget, the best option is using a quite(r) space at home, isolated and away from distractions if possible. For some, the choice is simple: you need to use your kitchen table because it’s all you have. For others though, you can use a spare room, garage space or a quitter corner in the living room.

The preference should go for a space that’s comfortable ad that allows you to control the distractions from the outside world. Spare room is obviously the best. Garage is another option if you can organize it and make it “habitable” (think about the temperature in the winter for ex.).

Budget: Free

Organize your workspace

You’ll need your basic furniture as listed in the checklist is below. More may be needed depending on what you are doing (type of business or work) but the below list contains the minimum required in terms of furniture for your home office.

One item that is easily overlooked is a desktop organizer. Very helpful, especially if your office is the corner of your kitchen table. It will help keep everything you need handy and make it easier to store away / setup your workspace if it does double up as a kitchen table!

Home Office must have furniture

• Dedicated space (if possible) where to work
• Kitchen table or Desk
• Chair (or office chair)
• Lighting or Desk Lamp
• Filing Cabinet
• Bookshelf or other shelving
• Desktop organizer

Budget: varies depending on what you can re-use. Assuming you re-use most of the elements in the list and the only items you need to buy ae the filing cabinet and a desktop organizer, the budget for that would be $ 20 for the filing cabinet and $ 15 for the desktop organizer, so a total of $ 35.

Office supplies

Office supplies: depends on your exact type of activity however, you will need pens, probably of different colors too, pencils, notebooks, blank sheets of paper, a stapler… Below is a checklist I wish I had when I started my own home office. A few items need to be highlighted:

One very important item in the list is a shredder. How many times do you get a document with somewhat sensitive info (or even just your name and address) that you want to safely dispose of and don’t have a shredder on hand? The shredder is that item that people do not think about at the onset but always need at some point later.

Budget: less than $ 50

Office supplies checklist

• Pens (different colors pack)
• Highlighters
• Pencils
• Eraser
• Pencil sharpener
• Ruler
• Post-it
• Scissor
• Stapler and staples
• Tape
• Notebooks
• Multipurpose Paper
• File Folders
• Binders
• Calculator Shredder

Filing cabinet

A filing system is very important trickier than it looks to get right. You may want to try a few things until you are comfortable with it. Also, depending on your business or activity, you may have a need for a specific type of filling system.

To start with, I would just take the regular boxes. Cheap and functional. In addition, you’ll need to have a safe way of filing some important documents: banking statements, official documents, insurance papers… A secure file cabinet, or even just a safe box, will be one of the necessary spending. At the very minimum, you need is something that closes with a key.

Home Office must have IT

• Business telephone line
• Laptop (or PC if you already have one)
• Multi-purpose printer
• Internet access
• Wireless router
• Dual screen (optional but very useful) Google drive

Telephone – Business line

Telephone is the first item in this list. You need two lines (or two telephones). The “Business” one and your private one. It can sound like an unnecessary expense but, right from the start, you need clear separation between the personal and professional communications. Especially if you intend on providing “support”, either for a product or a service. When that “business” phone ring, you know you must be in “business mode”. Also, making the switch later is so much more difficult…

Laptop

Obvious items and necessary one too. Almost all “work from home” scenario or home based business need one. If only for administrative tasks.

Best is to take a laptop that is a “Chrome book”.  With a “chrome book”, you get a browser (Chrome), you use your own Google account (or create one) and use the equivalent of the office suite of software for free. Not to mention the free online storage space.

Apple or Windows work as well but you will need Office for Windows. And for Apple, keep in mind that the files are sometimes more difficult to share.

Budget: Chrome book: $ 200 – Laptops: starting at around $ 400. You can get a very acceptable windows based laptop for about $ 800 including Office 360.

Multi-purpose Printer

The printer should be an all in one (printer / copier at least). Inkjet to start is very much acceptable. Laser is best however for long term use and cost of operation, not to mention the quality of the printing.

You can start with an inkjet and then upgrade later on. Best printer I got was on sales during Black Friday… It was an inkjet, multi-purpose, copier / scanner and printer. Was it really the best from a tech standpoint? Not sure but definitely from a purchase price perspective!

Budget: $50 – $80 for a starter multi-purpose printer.

Wireless router

When you get internet access, your service provider will setup a router in your home. Your point of entry to Internet. That router is almost always a . I don’t have to tell you how much easier and more comfortable it is to have wireless access to internet.

For that, you need to hook a wireless router to the router that your Internet Service Provider has setup. There are a few very sturdy (you don’t want to spend time maintaining them) wireless routers and the capacity (how many devices they can handle at any given time) change every year. And the price goes down every year.

Currently, you can set aside a budget of at least $120 and up to $260 for a wireless router.

Internet access

The single most important element… Secure your network and have your own dedicated Internet access. Unless your business or line of work (if you are working from home) is such that you absolutely do not need internet access at any time, then you can skip this but it’s pretty hard to work without it otherwise. Decent speed is required: 20G min. 100G is better. That also mean a decent router. It should be a wireless also as you can use it for your telephone(s), printer and laptop. Best of all: no wires and you can work from anywhere in your house…!

Google drive

Documents on the cloud? Yes, absolutely. For two main reasons: 1) Backup. Backup your files! Backup your files! Backup your files! On a weekly basis. Every Friday (or Monday or whatever day…).

With IT equipment, you need to backup… You’ll thank yourself one day for that annoying activity that feels like is not useful at all but when stuff happens (as the usually do), you have your files backed up…

2) File sharing. You may very well need to share files. Yes you can send them by email but if the file gets big, or if you have multiple versions, then sharing on the cloud makes more sense. Easier to collaborate that way.

Budget: Free

Dual screen (optional)

Ideally, you would plug the laptop to an external dual screen: much more comfortable to work, compare docs… I know, it is a deviation from the minimalist or “budget” setup, so you can skip it but if there is one area where you could make an exception, that’s the one.

Long hours on a small screen can get very uncomfortable. The dual screen is really a game changer from that perspective. It does require a dedicated work space though.

Related questions

Where to put a home office?

The best place is a spare bedroom but if that’s not possible, there are other spaces that can be used.

Finished basement: alternative to the spare bedroom. Attic: if you can stand up. Garage: if can be made “habitable”. Other spots: Closet, if large enough. Under the stairs, bedside office, behind the sofa and of course, kitchen table …

What expenses can I deduct for my home business?

You can write off everything you spent for your home office and your business: office supplies, furniture, laptop, Internet access, printer… Very important: have a business reason for the expense and keep good record. Ideally, you have a separate business account and credit card: that comes very handy during tax time to show what was purchased.

My Home Office is not always greatly organized and because it’s in my home, a lot of things can contribute to the disorganization, like normal day to day life in a household. I personally find it more difficult to keep my Home Office organized than my regular office. I did come up with a system though to help myself and hopefully, it will help you too…

So how do you organize a home office? Five major things to do are: organize your files and papers, organize your digital desktop, organize your desk, organize your IT equipment and finally, organize your books and larger items in your Home Office. Equally important to maintain this organization: a routine to file, re-organize and clean up on a regular basis

I started this organization system and my friends who visited me liked it a lot. Some asked me for some tips and tricks to help them get their home office organized. Some also gave me their own tips and tricks. Below are the best ideas that worked for me…

Organize your files and papers

First thing first: clear out all the unwanted and un-needed papers (and any other item that do not belong). With less on your desk or in the Home Office, it’s easier to see what else needs to be done. So, putting stuff in the bin is the starting point.

Whatever is left goes into one of two piles: Active (need to do something with it) or Archive (need to keep for posterity… Or IRS as a proof of expense more likely or whatever other important reason to keep the doc). Active should hopefully be a small pile at that point…

Archive will need to be filed. I do use a couple of filing cabinets. One for my personal docs and one for my business. Within each cabinet, I use a color-coded system. Simple but efficient. Bank docs => Red, Insurance docs => Green, Invoices => Yellow… That’s for my business. For my personal / family papers: same system and almost same color codes: Bank => Red, Insurance => Green, Bills that I need to keep => Yellow…

Active pile are the papers that you need to do something about before either discarding them or archiving them. I do use magazine holders – Color-coded: Red => Incoming – Black => Archive – Blue => working. On a day to day basis, I don’t want to be distracted by what’s incoming: I just put it in “Incoming”. I continue to work on my “Working” docs from the blue magazine holder. Every evening (or every morning if you prefer), I take what’s in incoming and triage it: discard, archive or working.

Go paperless! Not always easy to achieve because some of us still love paper. It’s much easier for me to read something on paper and I know that it’s just me because, on a screen or a tablet, I get the same information, I can highlight, file and archive much more easily. Not only that but a digital doc come with enriched information: click here and you have a link to a map for an address, click there and you have a link to book that event… Still, I prefer paper most of the time.

That being said, best is very often to go paperless. First, because the paper physically disappears which means less clutter. Also, a digital doc is much easier to file and archive. You can keep records for years in digital format that you would not want to keep (or may lose) in physical format (we’ll talk about backing up your files in the following section).

Second, some documents can be read by an application that will recognize the information and store it in a database. Very useful for retrieval later on or for report creation. Example: scanners that read business cards and store them in a contact database. So much easier to find contact details later on (have you ever lost business cards…? And where are they when you need them…?). Another example, the scanner that reads your receipts: it can generate expense reports… So go paperless when possible.

Organize your digital desktop

Your digital desktop can be a mess and no one will know… but you. And how does that affect you? Well, try a retrieve a file and it would take much longer that it should. Or you may not find it at all and have to re-create it (if you generated it in the first place) or re-download it (if you received by email). An example? I misplaced some invoices on my laptop. I couldn’t find them so I had to go back to my email to re-download them.

What solution can we use? I did not get too creative and I basically reproduced the physical system I described above with a couple of twists. The first one is that I create “secure” folders for all the files that contain personal or sensitive information. There’s one “Personal” secure folder and another “Business” secure folder. Second twist: remember when I get a piece of physical paper and I need to sort them? I I have three magazine holders: Incoming, Archive and Working because accessing a file from wherever I archived them can be difficult, so for easy access, they stay in a “working” folder temporarily. In the digital space, files do land in an incoming folder but then, when I dispatch them, they go to their final place as they are always easily accessible. So, only one folder: “Incoming”.

The most important thing with those folders: they are on the C drive and never to be put on the cloud. All other folders are on the cloud. That detail is very important because even when they, meaning Apple or Microsoft or whoever, say they have a secure cloud, you can count on some hacker, someday, getting to your files. So, those files stay on my computer locally, on the C drive. Obviously, I need to back them up. A simple memory stick is enough for that and I back them up weekly, on Fridays before I close up shop.

Just like with a physical file, any file I get downloaded (usually through email or website), first lands in an “Incoming” folder on the C drive. Why the C drive? Same security reason: at that point, I need to assess whether the file contains sensitive information, therefore, off to the “Incoming” folder on the C drive first, not the cloud.

When I get my files, they are scanned on download. If it’s an Excel spreadsheet, I usually copy the data to a file with the same name but with an additional “_SAFE” at the end of the file name. The reason is that Excel files can contain little pieces of code or Macros and I just want clean file containing just data. So “File_name.xls” becomes “file_name_SAFE.xls”.

Once I have my files in the Incoming folder and I checked them, then I re-dispatch them to where they should go. Again, I’ve arranged by folder just like in the physical world except that there are no color codes but we still have “Bank”, “Insurance”, “Bills”, “Taxes”, “House/Real Estate”, “Medical”, “Retirement/401K”, etc. Likewise, on the business side: “Bank”, “Insurance”, “Invoices”, “Taxes” and any other folder appropriate for your activity.

Note that all the folders above are on the cloud. I do have a OneDrive account with my Office360 and that helps with keeping my files backed up permanently (no need to back up those files). In addition, using the cloud allows me to access my files from another computer if needed.

For the longest time, I used to have my files on a laptop and had to do weekly backups. So, that was not necessarily efficient, not o mention that if my laptop at the time died or would not start (because I had an old one and did not replace it), I was basically cut off from my files and my business! Even today, I manage my business almost entirely from my laptop. If it breaks or if I lose it (which happened once), I can’t run my business! Again, the above does not apply to the “secure” folders: they are never on the cloud and I do back them up on a stick weekly.

Organize your desk

Just like we organized our digital desktop, we also need to organize our physical desk. At this stage, we have already cleared out all papers, so we should be left with three types of items: decorative items, functional items as in “need to be on the desk so I can do my work” or foreign item as in “does not belong on the desk”.

“Does not belong on the desk” items need to go. Where they go is up to you: bin or their proper place somewhere else in the house. “Decorative items” can (and should) stay. Just be mindful of their quantity and whether they are in the way. Very important: not too many of those decorative items – 1 or 2 maybe, more than that and your desk is overtaken.

Lastly, the “need to be on the desk so I can do my work” or functional items: these are your pens, notebook, sticky notes… The guiding principle no 1 is: everything has to have a place (and then put them back at their place). Guiding principle No 2: store based on usage frequency. How often do I need them? Daily, weekly or less than weekly? Determine a place, on your desk, for everything that you use on a daily basis. What is used only once a week could be on your desk but maybe best in close proximity on a bookshelf for example or container (depends on the size, ease of access required…).

If you have a dedicated desk to work on (not working on the kitchen table for example), you can use a desk organizer put in your pens and other accessories. You should also have a drawer organizer, so your pens and other accessories have their place. For slightly bigger items such as dictionaries, calendar, clock maybe, use a small bookshelf on your desk or even a larger one against a wall.

For larger items that I need on my desk occasionally, if they don’t fit in the bookshelf, I like to use containers and arrange the containers against a wall. Larger containers and smaller ones. I have a scale in them, some bubble wrap in another one. I also use containers for all my “over stock”: the notebooks or the sticky notes, binders, etc. that I bought in bulk.

There is no real hard and fast rule, just two principles: should they be on the desk in the first place? How often do I use them? From there, I find them a place based on their “utility”, the frequency with which I use them and their size/bulkiness. All of the above applies relatively well for the “office” type work.

If your business requires you to perform an activity more manual (crafting small decorative items for ex.), you’ll have to adapt the above slightly as you may have something bulky (like a sewing machine for example) that you need daily…

Now, back to office type of work and let’s imagine you are using the kitchen table as your “Home Office”, how can you organize a desk that transforms into a dinner table every night? When your desk serves multiple purpose, you need to be able to go from one configuration to the other quickly and efficiently. I used to do it, so below is what I remember.

I used to have a pouch for all those small accessories that I needed (pens, eraser…). I also had one of those zipper binders in which I would put all my documents and other small items I needed for my work. Once done, I would put everything back in the zipper binder, take my pouch and my laptop and put them away. Done. Business closed for the night.

So, desk organization is important to work more efficiently and the way I organize my desk is such that everything has a place, I put back stuff at their place and the place in question is determined by how frequently I need the item in question and it size.

Organize your IT equipment

For many of you, your Home Office has some IT equipment such as a laptop, printer, PC and monitors, tablets, chargers… The first thing I would suggest it to take a laptop if you can. They have been as powerful as PCs for quite some time, so why go for the encumbering PC if you can avoid it? Some laptops are very sleek and will make your desk look good.

Monitors: I do have a dual monitor. I know I said you should have a laptop and I do and I actually hooked up my laptop to my dual monitor. That’s so much more comfortable when you work at home but that’s beside the point: if you have a monitor (which I suggest you do and get a dual one), you should use a monitor riser / organizer. Just like a small bookshelf that goes under your monitor to raise it but it would also come handy to organize small items. The one I have (very simple box really) I use to store my laptop in it when I’m done. Other such organizers can double up as a phone charger for ex.

The printer should be an all-in-one. Many of those are now inexpensive and can do Fax, Copier and printer in one package. You should setup a spot, preferably not on your desk but not far either that would become your “printing station”. You would have your paper stocked alongside with any other supplies related to printing: ink, labels and even envelopes…

It goes without saying but your networking gear should be out of sight. That is usually not a problem in most cases as people have their router and wifi router properly hidden. If they are not, go get your internet provider to set them up somewhere well thought out so they are accessible when needed but not available for anyone to break your internet access inadvertently.

Tablets: often people have a PC or a laptop and also have a tablet that they use on the go to access email among others. If that’s you, then you know the challenge: where to put it when you are working at your desk? You need to designate a spot for your tablet(s). Ideally close to an source of electrical power so you can get a charger close by for your tablet.

Electric wires: you have a laptop or a PC or monitors or tablets, that means you have an electric wires running across your desk and probably up the side of your desk too. Best is to have the electric wires all regrouped on one side of the desk, so they are not all over the place.

I would also suggest attaching them together. Some desks will have a spot under to hide away your power surge. If you don’t have that, you can do what I did: I velcro’ed my power surge protector to the leg of my table. Now the power surge protector has its place, no longer on the floor and the wires are all regrouped together neatly.

Chargers and their cables: the most annoying of all cables because they are constantly plugged / unplugged to the phone and end up everywhere on the table, on the floor, removed and missing, anywhere and everywhere…  First thing: if you can, go for wireless charger. Not always available for everything you own, I get that.

Next: try one of those charging stations. They can charge multiple devices including smart watches. Some look a lot nicer than other and some work well, others, not that well but when you have what works and fits your needs, your charging cables are hidden and your devices are organized while they are charging.

Organize your books and larger items

First thing to check with books are: do you really need them or want them? Sometimes, we keep books just because… So, let’s make sure we are going to keep around in your Home Office only books that have some utility for your business. Other books should go somewhere else (in the living room, spare room, donated…)

Books go naturally on a bookshelf, so best is to get one or two bookshelves. The number and size depend on the space you have but I would suggest to buy more than you think you need as it is my experience that the space ends up being filled anyway. Also, now you have just created additional space for useful items that don’t really have a place on your desk.

The other thing I would suggest is to put the books you use more often at eye level. Use that one shelf at eye level to keep all the books you use on a regular basis. The other shelves would host all the other books. I would also suggest that all the other books be arranged by “genre”: all accounting books on one end of a shelf, all books about real estate on another end, etc.

Larger items that you need in your Home Office can be a bag pack you use occasionally, a hole puncher, paper cutter, extra large stapler, a globe and other large supplies such as large binders or large notebooks… Those larger items, just like with books, I like to put them on a bookshelf. And, as luck had it, you just bought more bookshelf than you thought you needed!

For some of the items mentioned above, the best is to put them in a container first and then have the container set in the bookshelf. Putting your larger items in a container first allows for a better organization as they are regrouped thematically (all supplies in a container for ex.).

Also, where an item would take up space on a shelf, in a container, you can store multiple items for the same volume. So, the container actually saves space on the bookshelf. Finally, you can and should labels the containers so you can find at a glance the container that has what you need.

Here, I will tie back to our first paragraph as some of the “larger items” could be your filing boxes if you have any. Just like a filing cabinet, a filing box contains suspended folders and is used to file paper and other types of documents. You may have some filing boxes in lieu of a filing cabinet or in addition to a filing cabinet. In any case, filing boxes would fit well in a bookshelf as well.

The last category of large items are whiteboards and other boards that you put on your wall. Somewhat simpler here: as long as they are on the wall and their accessories attached to them, you are in a good shape. The one thing I pay attention to is whether I really need the boards. At a time I had 3 whiteboards and I actually really only need one, so I removed the extra boards, forcing me to be more organized even with what I write on the board.

Smartboard: I don’t have one but I dream of one for my Home Office. What’s a smartboard? Think of a huge flat screen that is also a touch screen. You want to draw something or write something on the board? Just use a digital pen, choose your color and there you go: you have a nice, colored diagram. You want to share that diagram? Just send it from the smartboard to any number of recipients… It really is as easy as it sounds. Oh, by the way, you want to conduct a video conference call? And share your diagram while you speak with your team? Yes, it can do that too. So, if you can afford a smart board, you could advantageously replace your traditional whiteboards in your home office.

Maintain the organization

So you spent the time cleaning and throwing away what you don’t need and organizing your Home Office. Every thing has its place and all looks good. You now will need to maintain this organization and for that, I suggest three simple techniques:

First, every day, when I’m done, I do put back whatever I used at its place. Pens? go back to drawer. File? Go back to the working pile. Laptop? Folded and back to its place. No, I don’t watch movies on it and end up spilling soda on it. That’s my work laptop (and I do have a backup, but that’s a different story) and it goes back under the monitor, in the riser / organizer I discussed about earlier.

The above takes no more than a few seconds but it is a discipline I have and I encourage you to take that habit up. The next thing I do, also on a daily basis, is to store somewhere all the new items that come up on my desk and that do not have a place yet. I designated a shelf on one of my bookshelves where I would put such items. For example: I receive a product sample. I don’t really have a place for it. I actually may not even keep it. Goes to the bookshelf…

Lastly, on a weekly basis, I do a more in depth “clean up”. All those files that are in the working pile but that I’m done with: should I file them? Or should I throw them away? Or maybe I’m still working on them… Those new items that are sitting on the bookshelf? Same thing: do they stay or do they go? If I want to keep them, now it’s the time to find them a proper home. It does not take long and frankly, I do skip a weekly clean up from time to time, but I do manage to maintain the organization of my Home Office the routines above.

Related question

What is basic home office equipment?

There are three broad categories of basic home office equipment. Category 1 is furniture with desk and chair and filing cabinet and other storage. Category 2 is IT equipment including laptop or PC, software, Internet connection and smartphone. Category 3 is stationary and related items such as all-in-one printer, shredder, pens, paper and notebooks.

How can I decorate my Home Office?

Suggestions to decorate your Home Office: 1. Work on the walls with new paint, artwork and boards that fit together. You can also turn to your curtains and blinds and make sure the ensemble suits your taste. 2. Your desk and furniture: ensure they are of the appropriate color and even shape. Also, use small decorative items and / or plants. Finally, 3. Lighting, rugs and other large items: work on lighting and possibly an area rug to get the right mood. Large items such as statue, globe or large plant can also be used for decoration.

Last week I visited my friend to work on a project together at her place. First time in her newly set up Home Office and we actually struggled to concentrate on our work. We started brainstorming and making a few changes to make her Home Office more comfortable and more conducive to proper work.

So, how to make your Home Office more comfortable? Three must haves are: proper lighting, good chair and adjustable desk. Beyond that: use ergonomic accessories, have a flexible office layout, ensure you have the right temperature, a good organization system, a way to hide unwanted wires, have some plants and personalize your décor.

We started on this project to making her place more comfortable. Before long, my friend definitely felt that her new home office put her in the right mood for work. She would work for hours and be more focused on her work… In the paragraphs below, I’ll get more in details into how we did it.

Proper lighting

The first rule to make your home office comfortable is to ensure that you can get plenty of natural light. Multiple studies have shown that workers who get natural light have better sleeping patterns than those that do not and are up to 40% more productive. Perhaps you have realized that in the work offices, most workers prefer sitting near the window as they work…

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA – belonging to the US Department of Labor) recommends that the light be directed away from the line of sight, so you need to have your windows running alongside the monitor, not in front or behind it.

Other pieces of advice: have additional desk lamp shining down on paper rather than on the screen. Use overhead lighting as well as desk lamps. Have your overhead lighting run parallel to your screen / monitor…

Invest in a very good chair

Extremely important as you will spend hours on the chair. This is the second step towards creating a comfortable home office: get the ideal chair. For your back (health wise) and for your comfort as well.  Also, you can’t be productive if you are seated on a chair that makes you feel tired within two hours of working.

Go for an ergonomic chair. As alluded to earlier, long hours seated improperly can be do a lot of harm, especially to your back.

Choosing the right chair is the challenge because you will definitely want to try it. My research online shows that you absolutely need to try the chair, however good it may seem in a picture. If you buy it online, make sure you can return the chair if it does not work for you.

Make sure all the components of the chair are adjustable: lumbar support, armrest and height. Again, based on my research on the web, you also need a chair that rotates 360 degrees and can rock and bounce as well. Prices? Well, a high-end Aeron chair will be a minimum of $ 1,000. You can find other ergonomic chairs for less but be wary for going to far on the low side as you will pay for it… With your back or neck aches!

Adjustable desk

So… I never used to have an adjustable desk until I was given one at work and it does make such a huge difference…! You are not seated for part of the day at least but it still feel much more comfortable! The fact that I can change position throughout the is what makes it more comfortable.

Digging into it, I did find articles comparing fixed and adjustable height desks and all point to the fact that fixed height desk actually cause more back pain. There is a growing body of research that lists all the health benefits associated with the use of an adjustable desk but what I can personally attest to is that I do feel reduced back pain and higher energy levels.

I would recommend the adjustable desk which goes up and down with simply pressing a button (the one I have at work..). You can precisely adjust it to your most comfortable height and bring it all the way down so you can sit in your chair. I did some research online and those cost around $ 800… Again, I would pay for it…

Ergonomic accessories

So, after all of the above, there are a few other ergonomic accessories that you would need to consider: anti-fatigue mat (when standing) and a footrest (when sitting). The anti-fatigue mat helps reduce the stress on your joints when you are standing on a hard floor. Not only that but it also helps with blood circulation in the feet and legs. The footrest will help especially with the posture which in turn, helps with back pain (I tend to suffer from that one most). Footrest is also good for blood circulation. These are just two of the benefits you get by using a footrest and there are many articles that talk more about a number of other benefits. In short: consider both anti-fatigue mat and a footrest.

Second monitor. Not an accessory per-se however, it’s so much more comfortable to work with two (or more) monitors. In some cases, you can get an extra wide monitor: two monitors side by side but already built together. The number one benefit is that you don’t juggle with windows anymore (or a lot less). Also, a second monitor is not that expensive but makes an immediate impact.

Lastly, I need to mention a padded wrist rest and an adjustable keyboard or even a keyboard with two sections to allow the wrist to remain straight in their natural position while you type. The two combined will help with wrist aches associated with typing for long hours… I must say that getting used to the sectioned keyboard is not as easy as I thought it would be but the benefits for the wrists are undeniable. Oh, and tilt your monitor so that your neck is straight!

Flexible office layout

Bottom line: your work may change and your body will change, so best is to have a modular layout so your home office can change with and adapt to you and / or your new work… What may have worked for your business (and yourself) last year may no longer work now.

The best thing to do is to get furniture that is easy to move around: Modular furniture tends to be more lightweight and easier to disassemble/reassemble and is often on wheels (even easier to move).

Also, make it such that nothing is fastened to the walls and have your shelves such that they can easily be added or removed.

Finally, when you must re-arrange your furniture because, you know, your work has changed for example, a modular layout with save you money as you can re-use those modular items (or at least some of them).

Right temperature

The right temperature makes a world of difference! We can work when the temperature is slightly above or below what we can handle but it seriously impacts our work. We may still be and act fine for a period of time but the wrong temperature will catch up with you: it’s so much better to work with the temperature with which you feel comfortable.

The first factor that influences the temperature is how insulated your home office is. If not well insulated from outside, it will be more difficult to keep the right temperature. And even if you feel comfortable, your heating system or A/C might actually be “over-working”, which means that you’ll pay it with your electric bill. Insulating your room could be very costly as well, so you may want to run the numbers… The simplest thing to do here: find a better insulated spot to make it your home office.

The next factor somewhat related is where your home office is in your house: is it a corner in your garage? That will be difficult to control the temperature there… Or do you have a proper spare bedroom? Temperature control will be much easier… Where exactly your home office is located in your house will greatly impact your ability to control the temperature. Admittedly, I can understand that your choices may be limited in practicality.   

The last factor in how to get the right temperature, is what heating / cooling system you have and the thermostat you use. You will need a thermostat to regulate the temperature for you. It’s hard to tell what the temperature should be as I personally prefer it to be on the colder side but I do know people who likes it better on the warmer side. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) recommends 68 to 76 degrees Fahrenheit or 20 to 24 Celsius. I prefer 19 C (65 F)…

Good organization system

The biggest issue with home offices is that papers and other documents end up on top of one another due to lack of space or, if your home office is large enough, that the papers end up taking too much (if not all the) space. More so than in a regular office as presumably, you work alone in your home office, so no one will remind you to keep your document and your work space organized.

A good organization system will help you have your papers organized and, most importantly, help make your home office more comfortable. The most important thing is that everything must have their place. Use filing cabinets and bookcases is a first good step to get papers and other work documents in a proper place.

What is used regularly should be easy to reach and grouped together logically (all files for client A for example or for a certain type of research). Where possible, use color codes as well. Have your filing cabinet within arms reach also so that whatever has been filed can be retrieved quickly.

Organize your filing system to mirror the workflows you naturally use: create a meeting folder with info for all your meetings, another “reading” folder for what you need to read at some point. Likewise, create a “magazine” box for the magazines you want to read. You will also need a storage box… Remember to regularly reassess what documents / magazines / etc. you really need and throw away what you no longer need or use (OK: you can store away some if you need them or want them in the future). I cannot even begin to tell how often I get back to my office at home and see a magazine or other item that I’m still hanging on to but I have not used in months… A good rhythm is about every 6 months: “spring” cleanup and “back to school” cleanup .

Hide unwanted wires

A great way to make your home office more comfortable is to have all those annoying cables neatly organized and hidden. The office and desk are clean, with no unruly cables all over the place… Just imagining it gives me a great feeling of relaxation. If that’s you too, then try the following tips…

Some office desks come with electric sockets built-in. If you can do that, go ahead. The only downside is that those desks are usually the “modern” style type, so no nice old-fashioned wooden desk for you… The upside: electric sockets and even USB charging ports are right here at your fingertips.

Otherwise, you will need to strategically organize your wired items on your desk (screen, laptop charger, cellphone charger, telephone…) and look at the cable paths: you want to regroup them as much as you can and create one or two bundles that will be easier to manage. We will want to tie the cords together and then Velcro them to the table all the way to the surge protector. Also, hide your power surge under the desk. You need to Velcro it to the desk so that it’s hidden. Some office desk come with a mini rack under the desk where you can simply put the surge protector in, hidden from anyone’s view.

What about the cell phones and other portable devices that require charging? Best is to dedicate a spot and make it a “charging corner”. You actually may want to use a charging station that will help get control over the multitude of charging cables (and hold your electronics). If you can go for wireless charger for your cell phones, that’s even better: one (or maybe two) less charging cables.

Plants

You might not realize it now, but watering and attending to the plants increases your happiness, reduces stress, and can improve your productivity by as much as 15%. There is something soothing when tending to plants and seeing them grow. If you are inclined to or into caring for plants or simply open to it, get a plant or two in your home office.

If plants are not your thing, I would not force it. But if they are and if you are not away from your home office for long periods of time, then you should add a couple of plants and at least see if it makes enough of a positive difference.

Go for easy to maintain plants and also, ensure that whichever plants you go for are suitable for your air quality. The scent should not be too strong as the aim is only to make the air quality better, and these may include ficus, dracaena, Boston fern, and spider plant.

Personalized décor

When I personalize my décor, I do feel a little bit more “at home” when I sit in my Home Office. It is sort of funny because, at the end of the day, my Home Office is in my home, but it is a workplace too and, to make it a bit more comfortable, I do bring in a little bit of “at home” feeling with personalized décor.

The personalized décor can be very simple: I like family pictures in nice frames. Well positioned, they are there when you want to look at them but there are not in your way also. Souvenirs are good too and can be very inexpensive. Other ideas include funky accessories (lamps, mugs…) or calendars with nice pictures. What I like a lot also is to have those inspirational messages or quotes in a very simple canvas.

Related question

What are the best locations for a Home Office? In order of popularity and if available: dedicated office room, spare bedroom, corner in the living room, kitchen table, nook in the corridor, own bedroom or children’s bedroom and garage.

What size should a home office be? According to an architectural study, the average home office size is the US is 8×10 (small), 12×14 (medium) and 14×18 (large). Those dimensions need to be modulated based on industry, specific work/tasks needs and even geography (Manhattan vs. suburban Houston)