[Ad – This post is in collaboration with Posterlounge]
Our office is the first room in our apartment that actually feels finished.
It’s not of course, but in terms of furniture and the overall feel, it’s definitely the most finished room so far.
One thing that’s really important to me is to create an office space that’s welcoming – somewhere I actually want to go to work and not somewhere I’m already dreading before the day has even begun.
Here are our top 5 tips for creating a motivational home office:
1. Invest in a Desk, Storage & Lighting
Start with the basics.
It doesn’t matter if you have a huge space, a tiny room or work in a corner in your living room – there are 3 vital things that every home office needs.
The desk.
Well, it’s not really an office without a desk, is it?
What kind of desk you opt for really depends on your personal preferences. Some people don’t need a large desk others just can’t seem to ever have enough space. Choosing the right desk is all about how you work and how much space you need.
Storage.
In any office, you’ll inevitably have lots of paper, folders, paperwork, etc. Keeping it all organised is so important and definitely keeps my stress levels down!
My favourite storage is our Esavian chest with loads of drawers to keep everything organised but no matter what kind of storage you have, just remember that it doesn’t have to be fancy – it has to work!
Lighting.
This is something that’s often overlooked but getting your lighting right is important, too! You’re probably not going to be able to get much work done if you can’t see what you’re doing.
We shared a post with our top lighting tips a while ago but basically, you’ll need task lighting, ambient lighting & accent lighting to really make a room work.
Admittedly, it’s something we’re still working on in our office (and the rest of our home.)!
2. Add Art & Personal Touches
It’s your home office – make it personal! Create a space you really want to be in!
We have art and personal items dotted all around the room and have just added a fun gallery wall, too! It’s really transformed the way the whole room feels.
All of a sudden our office feels so much more finished and inviting. Let’s face it, staring at a blank wall wasn’t a huge amount of fun!
When Posterlounge recently got in touch to see if we’d be interested in sharing some of their fab art we figured it would be the ideal opportunity to challenge ourselves to update one of our ridiculously large walls. And I think you’ll agree that it turned out pretty well!
Their prints are super affordable and available in lots of different sizes. You can even choose from different materials you’d like your print on. Our swimmer is on canvas but they have lots of other options like wood or acrylic glass, too!
Oh, and Posterlounge is available in Germany and the UK!
These are the gorgeous prints we added to our office wall (from left to right)!
Frida | Big letter graphic | Three Feathers | Racoon With Feather Crown | Swimmer In Yellow | R2D2 Robot | Retro Snakes
3. Create A Place To Relax
Admittedly this is a luxury but if you can, create a chill-out zone.
Somewhere you can take a break, sit back, maybe read a book and take a break from the computer screen.
We have both our sofa (it’s a sofa bed so the room doubles as an extra guest bedroom) and our new hammock which I love and spend way too much time in.
The set up works really well for us and I find myself able to stay motivated for longer by moving from one place to another. It’s not exactly a change of scenery but just the small difference of sitting somewhere else makes a big difference!
4. Keep Clutter Away!
There’s nothing worse than a mess. You really want to keep any distractions to a minimum and seeing clutter everywhere can take your focus off what you should be concentrating on.
For me, this is vital to even begin to get any work done! Mess distracts me and always reminds me of other things I should be doing which is another reason why I’m so happy that this room is “finished”.
5. Make The Most Of Your Space
You don’t need a huge room to be able to create a great space to work. It’s all about working with what you do have.
If you’ve not got a huge room our tip would be to go vertical, which is exactly what we did in our last home office where we added a huge DIY corkboard wall!
It was such a fantastic place to store bits and pieces, random receipts and inspirational pictures but a magnetic pinboard or even just some sticky tape and your wall could work just as well and help keep your desk clutter-free.
How do you stay motivated? Do you have any tips for creating a motivational home office? Do you have a gallery wall in your home? Which is your favourite print? Mine’s the racoon (although it seems to change daily)! Can you guess which print Jan chose?Save
Flo | Tasteboykott says
Oh I love that Frida print, your office turned out amazing!
Christine says
Thanks, Flo! I love the Frida print, too!
Cx
Lucy Wynne says
Thanks C for your lovely comments :-) If you want a stained glass window but don’t have a window. Get a box frame, paint design on back of glass then tape copper foil lights into the back of the box. Make a small hole for wire and velcro battery holder underneath box (not on back or it won’t hang properly). Shoe boxes have so many uses :-)
Christine says
That’s a lovely idea, too! My list of projects to try is getting longer by the minute! ;)
Cx
Lucy Wynne says
Lol, makes a lovely gift to :-)
Lucy Wynne says
My work space (office is to grand for it) is a space in my living room. I needed a memo board that wouldn’t look out of place in my living room and wouldn’t cost a fortune.
Solution was a very large framed picture in a charity shop. I took glass and picture out and put aside to recycle. Covered the backboard of the frame with cork floor tiles (also from charity shop). As it’s my living room too and I wanted a less industrial look than cork I covered the cork with some left over fabric. So I can ring the changes I used double sided tape to secure the fabric to the back of the board. Result pretty and practical place to pin notes, postcards ext.
The glass from the frame I `painted’ a picture using glass paint and glued some pieces of glass left over from my stained glass projects. This stands in front of my kitchen window which has a deep sill. Lovely to see the colours change depending on the sunlight. Still to find a use for the picture but I will :-)
A friend liked my memo station so much that I’ve made her one too. I made a simple frame for the glass and she has a memo board and a stained glass to hang in the window off fishing line.
Another way to keep down clutter ~ I get empty shoe boxes from shoe shops, cover them in wrapping paper. Small index card for contents.
Christine says
That’s so creative, Lucy! Your memo board sounds amazing – such a fab idea to create something that’s in keeping with your living room!
I love that you’ve not wasted anything and have used the glass, too! It really sounds amazing – might have to ‘borrow’ your idea! ;)
We covered an old shoe box in wrapping paper, too (it got left behind when we moved). It was always on our dining room shelves and no one would have ever thought it was just a shoe box!
Cx