Furnishing your home office

Adding a Splash of Color

The world is made up of beautiful layers of light helping us to see the vibrancy of the colors swirling all around us. Why don’t we bring these colors into the rooms we are constantly using?

Fast Company writes that color both affects our mood and our efficiency. The color white (or lack thereof) painted on many home office walls was found to actually contribute to more human error in the workplace, according to a study conducted by researcher Nancy Kwallek at the University of Texas.

Kwallek found that the sterility of the white office space causes people to lose focus. Instead, colors on the blue-green spectrum helped people fuel their creativity and kept them cool under pressure. A study done by the University of British Columbia found that the color blue encouraged communication, brainstorming and trust. This led to idea development and forward-moving strategies.

Different colors influence our behavior. For an office that is sure to get you to generate ideas, strategy and inventiveness, the colors blue, green and red will help you do just that.

Sitting Pretty: Form & Function

One of the first mistakes we make when buying office furniture is getting a desk chair that is more fashionable than it is comfortable. We want our offices to be funky and personalized, but sacrificing comfort for style isn’t the way to go, especially when you can have both.

Lifehacker suggests that before you invest in an office chair, make sure it’s ergonomic. Why is it necessary that your office chair be ergonomic? Because you will be sitting in it for hours at a time. If your chair is uncomfortable, chances are you’ll be making excuses to get up and away from your desk. If you’re spending even 15 minutes away from your desk every hour for eight hours, you are wasting two hours of your work day. All of this time is being mismanaged just because your desk chair is unsupportive.

There are three things to look for when getting a desk chair:

• Seat height: Your feet should be firmly on the ground when seated in the chair with your forearms parallel to your desk top.
• Arm rests: Your elbows should be set at 90 degrees when at rest or working.
• Adjustability: You should be able to adjust your back rest to go up and down or at an angle to provide you lumbar support.

Once you have figured out the functional uses you want out of a chair, you can reexamine its aesthetic form. For some ideas, check out these five best office chairs.

Staying Cool When You’re Stressed

With deadlines looming and teleconference calls dropping, it can be hard to keep a cool head. As you feel the perspiration dotting your forehead and your shirt collar wilting (darn you, stress sweat!) you find yourself grateful for having installed a ceiling fan in the office.

After installing a fan from a brand like the Modern Fan Company to help you save on energy bills (running a small business from home isn’t exactly cheap, and hey, you’re helping save the environment too now, right?) you’ve learned that switching it on helps you to collect yourself after a particularly rough brainstorming session. Feeling the cool air on your skin helps you to re-center yourself and get back to the task at hand; building your business.

Don’t Burn the Midnight Oil: Lighting Space

In your office space, you’ll want a mixture of natural, overhead, and task lighting. Apartment Therapy suggests that positioning your desk in front of a window will help you to collect your thoughts and process your ideas as you look out at the view.

As the natural light of the outside dims, overhead lighting will brighten up the room, but you’ll find that it’s not enough to keep you focused. Placing a lamp on your desk or a nearby shelf and using it for task lighting will help you avoid eye strain and keep your work area sharp and in focus.

Working from home can be distracting, but when you’ve arranged your office space to be a full-functioning center of production, it won’t be.

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