Five Tips to Makeover Your Home Office

Five Tips for an Effective Home Office Makeover

Working at home has the perk of no commute nor any dress code, but you’re also more susceptible to distractions. Perhaps it’s your spouse or partner leaving for work in the morning, your dog wanting to play, or the kids making noise when they get home from school.



When the house is finally quiet and you can get some quality work done, you want to do all you can to minimize your own distractions. Having to get up in the middle of an assignment because you just wore out the eraser on your last pencil or your only pen ran out of ink, would indeed be a major distraction.



Your sense of focus will all but diminish as you have to stop what you're doing, go searching in another room for what you need, and then come into your office again, sit down, and try to get back into the game.



To prevent these time-wasting trips, have more than what you reasonably need in your office at any one time. Don’t just keep one pen or pencil handy, but a dozen. The same goes for paper pads, erasers, staplers, hole-punchers, and anything else your day-to-day job requires of you. The next time you need a supply and you don’t have to leave the room to get it, you’ll appreciate having taken this step.

Of course, more stuff in your office means that everything needs a home. For storing all of your regular home office odds and ends, a credenza may be a good option. This large storage solution has the space to contain all of the supplies that are otherwise creating clutter on your desk. Having a cleaner desk will help your focus, which should bolster your creativity and productivity.

If your job involves printing and scanning a lot of files, then you may have stacks upon stacks of papers in your home office. Rifling through these papers just to find the right one is a major waste of time. Before you know it, chunks of your day are gone that you can’t get back. You then end up working later because of it.



File drawers in your home office could be an ideal solution for scaling back those mountains of paperwork. You can sort through all of your files and organize them however you want in the drawers, whether that’s chronologically, alphabetically, numerically, or any other organization system that suits you best.

Your office is already looking so much better due to the addition of the credenza and the file drawers. You have no more loose staples, broken pencils, and paper clips lying around nor folders taking up valuable space, but what still remains is a bevy of cords.



From your desktop computer or laptop cord to a cord to charge your smartphone, one for your office phone, another for your desk light, and maybe even a cord for a table fan for good measure, your office floor is practically a tripping hazard with all of those cords.



A cord organizer or several will become your new best friend. These come in all sorts of styles nowadays, from Velcro loops you attach around a few cords so that they stay grouped together to rubber or plastic contraptions with grooves or holes for your cords. Cord sleeves are another option, which keep rows of cords neatly contained.



No matter your home office redesign budget or your personal style, surely there’s a cord organizer that matches it. Less time spent confusing one cord for another is always time well spent, plus, your office floor will look so much better being cord-free!

If your at-home business grows to a point where you need even more storage options than those already discussed, you may want to consider some wall cabinets. These prevent your office from feeling too small since the cabinetry is off the floor. Plus, you have the option to double or even triple your home office storage capacity.

Besides the great functionality of wall office cabinets, this home addition is also stately, elegant, and appealing. Your office will have a professional air to it that will put you in a more productive mood almost instantly.

You’re a human, not a machine, and you need to take breaks throughout your day. On particularly long and hard days, sometimes you need a little pick-me-up. That’s why choosing the kind of décor you’ll add to your home office is such a monumental decision.



Yes, functional items are great, but having some things in your home office that are nice to look at is also good. For instance, maybe you opt for some stunning wall art from your favorite artist. Perhaps you want a motivational poster on the wall, a lovely flower vase for your windowsill, or even some funky carpeting in your favorite color.



Potted plants are always a wonderful addition to the home, including your office. You’ll enjoy the perks of purer, higher-quality air as well as less stress depending on the plant species you buy. Plus, you could always talk to or gripe at the plant, letting off some steam.