Does your home office need an upgrade? There’s no doubt that the kitchen table isn’t a long-term workspace solution. Keep reading for home office essentials that will transform a temporary workspace into one that meets your long-term needs.
Create a Separate Work Space at Home
While working from the cozy comfort of your kitchen table certainly puts your coffee break within easy reach, it’s far from ideal. Instead, seek to establish a space within your home that allows you to focus on your professional life. Indeed, a dedicated home office can improve your productivity and make it easier to say goodbye to your job at the end of the workday.
As you begin to plan a home office, there are a few things to keep in mind. Entrepreneur suggests the following guidelines.
- Make a work area that lets you stay separate from your kids and pets.
- Try and minimize distractions.
- Keep your workspace confined to one area in your home.
Of course, it’s not always practical to use a room solely as your home office. Still, it’s possible to incorporate the above guidelines into a workspace that will function beautifully as your home office. Let’s look at some home office essentials that will make it easier for you to meet your workday goals.
3 Home Office Essentials
The perfect home office might feature more than three terrific components, but who has time to craft it? To make creating a pleasant workspace an achievable goal, let’s focus on three things that we think are home office essentials.
Ergonomic Chair
The home office essential that we think that you should focus on is the office chair. There’s a reason that corporations spend so much money purchasing office chairs. An outstanding seat is a must if you hope to spend hours at your desk each day.
Choose an ergonomically appropriate chair that you can adjust to fit your body. Sitting in the wrong type of chair throughout your workday can lead to agonizing neck and back pain. It’s worth a little extra money to purchase a desk chair that suits your work style.
Computer
Unless you’re using a typewriter to write your next bestselling novel, a computer is a home office necessity. Fortunately, gone are the days when a desktop computer took up all the space on a desk. Most people can get by using a top-notch laptop.
If your job requires significant amounts of computer time, consider buying a monitor. Computerworld recommends that you match your monitor to the video specs required by your computer system. Generally, a twenty-five to twenty-seven-inch monitor is large enough to suit most display purposes.
There are also ergonomic keyboards and mice available that help to ensure that using a keyboard is a comfortable experience. Since there are a variety of products on the market, take time to pick ones that make your keyboarding easier.
Don’t forget to check with your internet provider to see how you can access high-speed services.
A Right-Sized Desk
An appropriately sized work desk is an ideal complement to your ergonomic chair and computer set-ups. A right-sized desk is one that supports the type of work you perform from it. Additionally, aim for a height that lets your forearms rest on the desktop when you place your feet flat on the floor.
Happily, you can locate a desk that suits both your work and style needs. The best functioning work desks also enhance the overall design of the room. You don’t need to stick to a typical cubicle desk in an elegant Victorian-flavored room unless you’d enjoy that kind of funky style.
Consider how you use your desk throughout your day when choosing one for your home office. Don’t dismiss how the desk must work as a piece of furniture in your home. For example, a desk that squeezes into the corner of a living room typically looks different from one that dominates a dedicated home office space.
Here are some thoughtful ideas to help you choose a terrific desk for your space.
Once you decide on the above home office basics, you can begin to accessorize in your decorating style. When it comes to accessorizing, the only rule is to surround yourself with items that make you happy.
Last Thoughts
Lastly, transitioning to working from home is a learning process. One of the surest ways to create a workspace to ease the transition is to focus on the home office essentials. Start by selecting a terrific chair, desk, and computer system, and complete your space with items that give you calm and inspiration.
KJL Interior Design wants to help you create a productive and inspiring home office in Eugene, OR. Contact our office today to chat about how our design services can make working from home a productive, worthwhile experience.