A NEW APPROACH TO HOME OFFICE DESIGN | Part 2

I’ve always loved working from home. From day one, in 1997, when I made a career shift, I’ve loved working from home. Back then having a home-based career was a rarity. So, I guess I was ahead of my time, but it wasn’t for long, because things are different today. Today, home offices are a part of most households, whether in a full-time or part-time capacity. The question is — are they getting the respect they deserve? (Or, are you getting the respect you deserve?)

Home offices need to be thoughtfully designed. They need to support you as much, if not more, than an off-site office. It is the hub for your professional career, and since you are the CEO in your career, your home office needs to be CEO-worthy. The caveat is that the home office must also harmonize with your home’s dynamics. The first step is finding the best location in your home for an office and understanding why location matters. You’ll find insights for designating a space in part 1 of this series. Please read Blending a Home Office into Your Everyday Life | Part 1 before investing time and money in décor. Once the location has been thoughtfully resolved, and an inviting space has been selected that is separate from the family’s activities, the task of arranging, organizing, and personalizing it is at hand. This is when the fun begins!

The choices made at this point determine how the space will serve you and how success flows to you. These choices can either support or weaken your success, aspirations, productivity, creativity, wealth, as well as your inner balance and harmony. This is why I’d like to share a few tips to help empower and inspire you, whether your office is an entire room or a quiet niche. But be forewarned, my guidance is not the typical guidance most designers, architects, and contractors give. Please trust me, because the following insights are tried and true, and if you apply them, you will feel empowered!

It Starts with Purpose and Intention

Before painting, moving furniture, or buying anything new, analyze what you need to be productive, focused, and energized. Take a moment to answer these questions:

• What feelings do you want to experience when you’re in this space?
• What distracts or drains you?
• What does your work require? Is a desk enough, or do you need a task table or conference table?

Design your space around tasks as well as around your personal energy and needs. A writer might need quiet and minimalism, while an artist might benefit from a visually stimulating environment. In your mind’s eye, envision a space worthy of a successful leader. When you walk into your home office, you should transform and feel a sense of focus, clarity, inspiration, and confidence.

Make Wise Furniture Choices

I highly recommend drawing a scaled drawing either on the computer or simply on grid paper. It’s much easier and cheaper to play with furniture arrangements and sizes than purchasing items that won’t work in your space. A small space needs small-scale furniture. Taking time to measure the floor space and creating a scaled drawing will help you stay focused on scale. With the dimensions of your new office space in hand, you are ready to focus on CEO-worthy furniture. As you shop for furniture, keep in mind that the expansive space in large retail stores creates an illusion of making furniture look smaller than it actually is. This is why it’s important to keep your office dimensions or layout with you. I keep my office’s dimensions in my phone so I can easily access them when inspiration strikes.

Whether you need a small-scale desk or a large one, select one that is solid with an enclosed front. Since the desk is the foundation to all your business activities, you will need a solid foundation. Do not purchase a glass desk or a table-like desk. These create feelings of fragility and vulnerability, which are not what you want to build a successful business on.

After selecting a desk that supports your professional goals, select a desk chair that supports you physically and energetically. Make sure it is adjustable and supports your posture. Your hands and thighs should be parallel to the floor when typing and sitting. This will help your physical body stay aligned and supported. To support your CEO confidence, choose a chair with a high back. This provides a solid support, energetically and physically, much like the saying “I’ve got your back.” It protects you while establishing a presence of authority.

This furniture creates a confident, supportive, and proactive office, worthy of a CEO-minded professional. A solid desk facing into the room, a solid wall behind, and a high-backed chair provide strong, energetic, and physical support. Win-win! (credit: 3dbrute.com)

Furniture Placement Sets the Stage

Furniture placement is crucial for your mental efficiency, emotional support, and overall well-being. From my observations, the majority of home offices are not arranged to empower our psyche and natural instincts; most are arranged to weaken our focus, creativity, and confidence. The space may look amazing, but if it is not arranged properly, the person using it will start to feel uncomfortable within a few hours. Their discomfort will quietly cause them to fidget; the fidgeting then builds to agitation or foggy-headedness, and this causes the inability to focus. The feeling will continue to subtly gnaw at them until they instinctively get up and move around, trying to reset their thoughts.

This reaction can also happen in an off-site office when it’s inappropriately designed; the difference is that in an off-site office, people will go to the water cooler or break room to reset their focus; in a home office, most people leave the office and get distracted with household odd jobs, and the business becomes secondary. Sadly, the space that was intended to grow your career is now a space you try to avoid, and it becomes a catch-all area. Your home office is now an unoccupied, disheveled, and a dusty space that is still holding the intention of being the hub of your career path. When this happens your career suffers. Unfortunately, this is the typical scenario for most home office projects I’ve been called in to help resolve.

The three most common mistakes are: positioning the desk to face a wall, positioning the desk to face a window, and sitting with your back to the door while working. All of these placements weaken your focus, authority, and confidence. Always position the desk to face into the room, not a wall or window. Facing into the room engages you in the business’ dynamics and its activities, and your engagement feeds the life-force of the business, propelling it forward, generating opportunities, and professional growth.

The mistake of having your back to the office door while working positions you as if you are turning your back on your profession, its business activities, and any opportunities coming to you. Always position yourself to see the door; yet, do not sit in the flow of the door, just make sure you are able to see the door at all times.

Correcting these common mistakes will place you in the power position of the room and of your business. You will now be confidently poised for success and any opportunity that comes your way.

This arrangement makes a confident statement with the desk facing into the room, a solid wall behind it for support, and energizing natural light filling the space from the side. With a strategically placed plant and a large, inspiring art piece on the back wall, this space would convey a clear message of success with space to grow. (credit: rosiinc.com)

Add Personality that Frees the Mind and Soul

A holistic space is one that nourishes the mind, body, and soul. Adding personal touches that lift your spirit, encourage your confidence, and stimulate your senses is what enlivens your home office with your personality and aspirations. This is YOUR Empire!

There are several ways to express your personality, free your mind, and nourish your spirit. Just remember, as you personalize your space, LESS IS MORE!

One easy way to make a striking impact is to add touches of nature. Keeping in mind ‘less is more’, strategically place a few natural elements in the décor to help you stay grounded. Too many elements can become overwhelming and suffocating, while a few carefully placed items become eye-candy that make a stronger statement, which will nurture the mind, reduce stress, and improve mental clarity and productivity. Here are some ways to add natural elements that feed the soul:

• Plants: Even one plant can bring a space to life, improve air quality, and boost your mood.
• Natural materials: Introduce some natural elements such as wood, stone, wool, or rattan to create warmth and a sense of grounding.
• Views of nature: Position your desk with a window at the side; this allows you to take refreshing peeks into nature to help reset your mental focus. Do not place your desk directly in front of a window; this will distract you and your focus. If your office does not have a window, hang inspiring landscapes or nature-themed art to help your mind and spirit escape into nature and reset.
• Lighting balance: Light motivates and nurtures us, and when used wisely, it can transform us and any room. The key is to layer it by combining ambient, task, accent lights, and natural light. This mix allows flexibility. It can help reduce eye strain while energizing you on all levels. When lighting is combined with an inspiring color palette, the room’s energy rises even higher. Color and light go hand and hand; when they complement each other, your morale and spirit are lifted, and your mental efficiency is enhanced. Avoid harsh fluorescents or using all daylight lighting, these can feel sterile or draining. When used properly, lighting is transforming — even magical. Balancing light can be a bit confusing. Please contact me to create the ideal lighting for your needs.

Take Time to be Intentional

Designing a home office can be exhilarating! It can also be overwhelming. Whatever the case, it must be taken seriously if you take your career seriously. The effort you put into designing your home office will directly impact your professional success, relationships, opportunities, and your overall well-being. Be intentional, and it will work overtime for you.

Keep Evolving

Life is dynamic, so are your needs. As your workflow shifts, so should your home office.

• Reassess your setup throughout the year.
• Ask: Is this space still supporting my well-being and goals?
• Don’t be afraid to move things around or try something new.

A holistic home office is alive—just like you.

…and Lastly

A holistic home office is more than a productivity zone—it’s a sanctuary that reflects your values, honors your health, and supports your best self. By integrating function, form, and feeling, you can create a space that doesn’t just help you work—it helps you thrive.

Implementing these valuable insights will help jump-start your home-based career, but this is only the first spark, click here to schedule a free call with me today to take your goals and aspirations to the limit.

….. Stay tuned — Part 3 of this 3-part series is just around the corner—let’s stay inspired!