While working from home has become a necessary normal over the past year, for many of us, it’s likely to impact our lives going forward, too. So how do we make our WFH spaces as inspiring, motivating and focus-driven as possible? From minimizing the office aesthetic to adding creative stimulation, we share our views today.
1
Approach your WFH space as you would the rest of your home
Your design approach to a home office is should be the same as the entire house. With that, it maintain a certain flow throughout the whole home. It should speak your visual language and evoke personality. Of course, not all of us have the luxury of a dedicated room for a home office, but these constraints create an innovative design challenge and push us all to think out of the box. Take the time to study what you love about the room, then figure out where you can designate your ‘official’ workplace.
2
Forget perfection and strip back
Approach the work office with a ‘work-in-progress’ mindset and remove the notion of perfection. Instead, tap into your own creative sensibility and cultivate your inner vision. It doesn’t have to be a ‘perfect’ home office – in fact the notion of perfection can limit your design potential. The key is to find somewhere with good natural light to increase productivity and with enough space to accomplish your tasks. Start of with a "less is more" approach, and slowly include things that you find suitable for your home office. Stripping things back to simplify your space and including only the pieces that bring you joy or add purpose is an essential part of the design process. Take time to improvise rather than "perfecting" the work space at the first try.
3
Add the creative stimulation you need
A home workspace should be personal and a reflection of you. Creating mood boards is essential to the creative process. We recommend you to visit Pinterest, the site where you can get the best inspiration and ideas. If you couldn’t find any boards that met the design aesthetic, create pin boards yourself. Don’t be afraid to suit your space to the needs of your workflow. Remember, this work space is for you to enjoy the whole WFH experience, it wouldn't be enjoyable if you are too constraint with the design. Beyond the essentials, burning a candle or adding a fresh vase of clippings or branches from outside will also lift your spirits and channel a productive energy and focus throughout the working day.
4
Fill your space with inspiration
A good way to start is to add a piece of art – something that inspires and energizes you – then work from there. We love the flexibility of paintings, simply swap an old painting with something new to inspire you every now and then.
It’s easy to source incredible art online, visit our decor selection here:
5
But avoid unwanted distractions
While you love ‘things’, we personally find clutter quite stressful. It’s important to strike the right balance between curating pieces that hold meaning, add value to the workspace or are particularly charming aesthetically, while also keeping the interior calm and productive – with no unwanted distractions, clumsy storage systems and so on. You could consider to add in cabinets to store away unsightly documents. Tidy room, tidy mind!
6
Choose decoration carefully and display accordingly
It is so important to surround yourself with art and beautiful objects that ignite creativity. Open shelving is one of our favorite elements to add to any home office. It allows home-owners to fill their workspaces with found objects from their travels, favorite books they’ve read, or family photos. These might not directly correlate to what they are working on, but they offer a sense of comfort and ease that are essential when getting into the right headspace.
7
Keep it beautiful
The secret to designing a successful working-from-home space, whether it’s a desk tucked under the stairs, a converted dining table or a whole room dedicated to an office – aside from staying organized – is to make the space as beautiful as you possibly can. A lovely lamp on the desk or table, some botanicals, a candle. Your home office should really be an extension of your apartment or house. What we love about table lamps is how practical it is! Not only it helps to light up the area, the lamp's design beautify your work space too. Check out our table lamps collection here: https://www.shioklighting.com/tablelamps
8
Use your space to establish a work/life balance
If you don’t have a separate space for your work area, then the ability to put your work away at the end of the day is imperative. Working from home has reinforced what so many of us knew already – that work/life boundaries are challenging to establish. But there are ways to nurture a good balance. A work-from-home setup can allow for more rituals – for instance, a plant on your desk, a nook for tea/coffee, some natural light; we often don’t have that opportunity at the office.
9
Minimize the corporate aesthetic
The most important features when designing an inspiring working-from-home space is not to make it feel too office-y. Instead of shopping in the office section, try looking at ways to repurpose other pieces and shop in the living-room or dining-room section. Add in some art or sculpture – not only are they nice to glance at from time to time, but they will help seamlessly blend your workspace into your living quarters. Your space will instantly feels warmer and homier. Invest in a good rug, a pendant lamp (pendant light really turn home offices around), throw in some plants, and even a cozy blanket. You can check out our full range of pendant lamps here: https://www.shioklighting.com/pendant-lamps
10
Fuse functionality with style
You can balance practicality and productivity fabulously by working in an aesthetically uplifting, organized space. Use all your vertical space by installing shelves, bookcases and hanging baskets – plus adding a cork board will make the space feel a little more styled, and there is a lot of stylish storage out there to choose from. Perhaps the most important thing to remember is the delicate dance between aesthetics and utility. A workspace should be designed to inspire and motivate you each day, but also be grounded in practicality. But in that process, always think about that fusion of the functional and the decorative.
Article courtesy: net-a-porter
Photo courtesy: Pinterest