Whether you are working from home or setting up your ‘creative’ station, your home office needs to be a place that inspires imagination and allows you to get busy. You will need a space that can mentally take you away from the usual home distractions, but is also practical and spacious enough for your needs.

Working from home is exciting because it offers an opportunity for real comfort and efficiency, but if the office is too casual, or isn’t effectively separated from the home environment, peak productivity may be lost.

A distinction has to be made regarding the physical boundaries of this working space. The most effective way to do that is with the design of the space itself.

So before you begin creating your office space, you need to ask yourself what you will be doing it this pace, will there be clients or colleagues visiting, what will you be storing in this room, what equipment you will be using and what time of day will the work be mostly done? Whit these questions in mind, here are some more things to consider.

Layout and organization 

The old saying, “a place for everything and everything in its place” is certainly the one to honour in your office as a tidy space relieves stress. If you have carefully thought through your storage requirements, you’ll have the space you need.

The desk surface serves to support your laptop or desktop computer and work-related items. Your desk will likely be the place where you spend the most time. Consider the myriad of options available for organization of your desk, as well as drawers or cabinets beneath for storage of most frequently used items. What is essential for productivity is an organized desk that keeps pending work in order and prevents the chaos of disorganized piles.

With so many options for storage, the challenge is more in finding what works best with your flow of paper and work. Do you need the majority of storage beneath and next to your desk? Could you use base and overhead cabinets in your office to have more room to move around the desk. How large do you need the desk surface to be?

Colours

There is no real hard and fast formula for colour associations. The colour blending is a matter to the your personal preferences. However, there is evidence that certain colours can impact mood and energy levels. For example, blue, green and violet are said to evoke feelings of peace and relaxation. Green, being a dominant colour in nature, is considered neutral and may bring about restful emotion and foster concentration. Yellow grabs attention, whereas red is energetic and stirring, and therefore should be used as an accent only.

Once you have chosen the colour preference, you can consider adding some white, ivory, gray and tan. They can be neutral with overtones of the colours you feel most comfortable with, such as a warm gray or a cool gray. These colours do not distract and can be combined with accent colours for vitality and energy.

Make sure you test the colours combinations on the wall in large enough area to ensure compatibility.