If you have been following Meetings Northwest, you know that we have a wonderfully unique business structure where we, the staff, get to work primarily from the comfort (sometimes not so comfort) of our own homes. I recently moved from my small two-bedroom home to a larger home. Yet, because of the age of my children and the need to set-up shop quickly, my office is directly in the mix of all that is my life (two – 2 year olds, a dog, a cat, and a partridge in a pear tree – please don’t tell me partridges come with pear trees because our new house does indeed have a pear tree). Anyway, back on subject of setting up a home office to suit your needs.
What does a home office need to make it look, feel and work right? Good question.
Functional Space. One of the requirements of our new house was to have a space that would allow me to work in the heart of our home as efficiently as possible. Our new home has a space that was set aside for a kitchen nook (luckily it wasn’t a built-in) that gives me ample space to set-up my workspace. Of course, this is still a work in progress, but I do have my desk and computer in working order. This allows me to work while I figure out how the rest of my home office will fall into place. And it will, as long as I pay attention to the details.
Lighting. If you have a place to set up shop with a window or some sort of natural lighting, do it! Natural lighting is really important to me – woohoo for sitting next to a glass patio door – perfect! (With the added advantage of watching my kids play in the backyard – another very important aspect of my real job as ninja mom of twin toddlers.)Of course, if your space doesn’t allow for natural lighting, don’t fear – we can make it work. Make sure your space is well lit. If you have overhead lighting, consider a lamp on or beside your desk. A lamp will provide you with the right amount of lighting for tasks. Even though I have ample natural lighting, I am still adding a desk lamp to provide warmth. A lamp also helps to equalize the intensity of a computer screen. Plus, it isn’t always light outside (oddly enough) and working from home means that you sometimes have to wait for the kids to go to bed or some days you may choose to take advantage of that wonderful sunshine and shift your work time to later. Either way, invest in a lamp or two so you don’t have to strain your eyes as much.
Desk. Because working from home can be chaotic at times, it is very important to be as organized as possible in your workspace. A functional desk is a must. Choose one that fits your work needs or add accessories to keep everything in order. We have always had limited space, so we searched for a small desk with some storage that was charming and inexpensive. The scale still works well in our space, but the quality is not ideal. While sturdy, the “stain” pops up leaving exposed wood not even close to the same color as the desk. (Tip: If you do end-up purchasing a piece of furniture with this problem, purchase a stain pen to fill in the color gaps.)
Good chair. A comfortable chair is very important – you need to have good posture and your feet need to be planted on the ground. Having an aching back or pain in the shoulders from sitting in the wrong chair is not a good way to get your job done. I need a comfortable chair, which right now is a yoga ball (for reasons that have nothing to do with building my core strength – and more to do with my kids not climbing up on a chair and tearing my space a part). I may have to revisit this when my kids are a little more apt to respecting my desk and computer. However, it is hard to have bad posture and sit on a yoga ball – so seems like a win, win right now! (Tip: Look is important, but function and comfort come first in this category. Test out some chairs.)
Organization. If you want to work at all, at home or in the office, you need to figure out organization. Invest in some pieces that help you stay organized. Know what type of worker you are. Do you need to see certain things or do you need everything clean and put away to focus? I am the visual person. My husband is the clean person. I literally can work in chaos – I like to think it is because I have laser focus, but mostly it is because I tend to have jobs that bring me in and out of different projects throughout the day so I jump around and never get something fully put away before I start something new. But I do work better if I have space to work, so organization is really important. This is what I am tackling next since our move.
Right now, my small desk space is cluttered with papers, tools, children’s pretend food, and whatever else has plopped here during the move. If it looks like it belongs in a file or on a desk and hasn’t found a home yet, it gets put on my desk. So, I am in search of the perfect hutch/armoire or shelving unit to fit my space. One that is open on top so I can see what I need to see and one that has some storage capacity to store what I don’t want to look at. It is not okay with me to feel like my space looks unfinished. I need to get my printer off the floor, put my inspirational books and magazines in tangible grabbing space and I need to be able to spread out some sheets of paper on my desk for editing. I am tired of looking like a poor college student, for goodness sakes!
Personality. This is your office and your time to make your working space “work” best for you. Even if it has elements that aren’t perfect (aka finger prints and food smudges – or whatever your dilemma) you have a chance to be creative and make it your own.
Color. I have toyed with painting the wall behind my workspace, but I haven’t nailed down the color choice yet. Neutral colors allow you to have bright accessories, but if you don’t have a lot of accessories, maybe a pop of color on the wall(s) is the right thing for you. Some types of blue are great for methodical work, yet other blues are calming. Yellows stimulate creativity (so I may get some yellow accessories). Reds stimulate movement and physicality, but may heighten stress. Some greens create balance – other greens make you think of money.
I think I am leaning toward a warm grey, but it depends on the armoire/shelving unit I get and whether that has a pop of color or not. Here is an excellent article on the psychology of color (another really important aspect of my job – color).
Accessories. I am going to add a bulletin board and some pictures to the walls in my space. You may jump to family pictures and other things that make you happy, but it is also a good idea to hang pieces that inspire you and help you work.
Nature. Include a plant, or at the very least, hang a picture with a natural setting. This way, your mind’s eye has a resting place to recoup in your somewhat chaotic setting (home). Even if you don’t have two toddlers running amuck, your home itself is a mine trap full of “unrelated” work grasping for your attention. Plants are calming. They bring the outside in – plus, they clean the air. The more oxygen the better, right? Natural materials also warm up a space. If you like a more cozy style office, you may add whicker baskets, woven rugs, wooden shelves, etc.
Just remember – if you don’t have the luxury of a spare room when setting up your home office space, you can still create a functional and inviting space to get your work done. Of course it takes communication (see my blog on Virtual Teamwork here) and a lot of discipline to work from home, but that is another topic entirely!
I hope once you take the time to make your home office work for you, you’ll love working from home too!
About the author:
Kasey B. Wright is a small town, small business kind of girl with nature in her heart. She grew-up working long hours at her parents general store in amazing Joseph, Oregon – Google it, oh wait, here’s a link – visit! Really- Arts, Camping, Resort on Wallowa Lake, Mountains, 52 high lakes, Gorgeous! Enough with the free advertisement, but truly it is amazing – Google it! Now days, if not twiddling away on her iMac, painting, or mentally re-designing pretty much everything, she is outside with her family enjoying all of the adventures that lay beyond her front door (which in Missoula are abundant and basically start within a five-minute radius of her house). Her family, a husband of whom she met as a freshman in college (architect – I know two designers and yes, nothing ever gets done), our dog (neurotic first child wire-haired pointing griffon), cat (shelter cat – maybe the most adjusted member of our family), and toddler twins (girl+boy) in chronological order, keep the adventure alive! Oh yah, fish too (rarely claimed).
