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When we moved to our new house almost a year ago, one of the things I was most excited about was my work-from-home office. I had a whole double bedroom size room to make my own and choose how I needed it. It was such fun to design and I wanted to share with you a bit about how I chose different elements to help you with your own work-from-home office design.
There were two elements that mainly decided how I wanted my office, comfort and practicability. There was no point making my work-from-home office stunning to look at but with elements needing replacing every year. No one wants to pay to redecorate or recarpet a room more often than they need to, do they?
My office design for comfort
I work hard, sometimes too hard so I spend a lot of time in my office and wanted somewhere I would feel relaxed and comfortable. I chose light colours for the walls so they would always seem bright and airy and be perfect for photography too. My mental health is also really important to me so I wanted to ensure nothing was gloomy or depressing.
When choosing the flooring I was tempted to have a wooden floor so it would last well with my office chair going over it constantly. That said, I knew it would feel cold and less comfortable on my feet so opted for a carpet.
I was initially concerned about the idea of a carpet thinking it would wear quickly due to my office chair but soon realised this actually isn’t always the case. I have a plastic floor protector which stops the carpet from getting caught in the wheels under the chair but that doesn’t stop the wear on the underlay.
Did you know that hardwearing underlay only changes the feeling of the carpet a small amount but actually protects it and makes it last much longer?
We chose the same carpet for my office and our spare room. However, the underlay is different. In the office, we went for a really dense crumb rubber underlay, whereas in the spare room, we opted for a softer foam underlay.
There is a slight difference in the feel but none in the appearance. Choosing the correct underlay will make my office carpet last longer and I still get that fluffy carpet under my feet!
Making my work-from-home office design practical
Choosing the right carpet also made my office design more practical but that isn’t the only thing. Don’t you hate it when you can never find a plug for something?
When we had an electrician here changing some plugs before we decorated I had an extra double socket put where my desk was going to go and you know what, it has made such a difference! A really simple thing that didn’t cost much but makes my office work perfectly for me!
Another thing that I found was perfect for my office was a large chest of drawers from Ikea. I wanted good size drawers for storage of things like backgrounds, props and camera accessories and none of the office drawers I saw were quite right. Instead of getting something that wasn’t suitable I looked at other drawers and found the chest of drawers we had previously from Ikea would be perfect so ordered another!
What would I change if I designed my office again?
I think if I was to design my office again I would keep most things the same as I am really happy with how it has turned out. The only thing I would change is that I would put up the pictures and wall art I have chosen for the wall above my desk before I put my desk in. To do it now is going to be such a faff either leaning over my desk and monitors or unplugging everything and moving it to put up a few pictures!
Another thing I would probably do is have blinds as well as curtains but that is something that is easy for me to add at some point without too much trouble so I am not too worried about that!
Do you have a work-from-home office? How have you designed it? Would you do anything differently if you did it again?
