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Create a Comfortable, Productive, and Personalized WFH Space

 

Create a comfortable, productive, and personalized work-from-home workspace. A few quick changes can make all the difference:

  • Level up your office organization by taking advantage of vertical space, allowing for more supply storage as well as a little decorative flair

  • Make the most of your desktop with compact L-shaped desks that can fit snugly in a corner

  • Create mixed-use spaces with furniture that can get the job done during the workday but move out of the way while the room serves a different purpose

  • Use bins, baskets, and desktop organizers to DIY your storage in a way that's functional and fun

Create a comfortable, productive, and personalized work-from-home workspace. A few quick changes can make all the difference:

  • Level up your office organization by taking advantage of vertical space, allowing for more supply storage as well as a little decorative flair
  • Make the most of your desktop with compact L-desks that can fit nice and snug in a corner
  • Create mixed-use spaces with furniture that can get the job done during the workday but move out of the way while the room serves a different purpose
  • Use bins, baskets, and desktop organizers to DIY your storage in a way that's functional and fun

Work From Home
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Clear the Home Office Clutter

By now, it's obvious that the layout and look of your at-home workspace differ from your traditional office. Organizing a residential workspace comes with a whole new set of clutter challenges, but, just like their corporate counterparts, there are ways to clear the home office clutter for a more productive workday.

Home vs. Home Office

First, make sure "Home" is always the away team. During your working hours, your at-home workspace should be your focus. Make sure that this space—no matter where it's situated—is thoughtfully separate from the rest of your house.

Even if adjacent spaces are a little unruly, keeping your desktop and storage pieces clean directly impacts your working hours. Although it might be overwhelming to be near other cluttered and unruly spaces, start with those productive places to make it easier to focus on work. From there, use other organizational techniques to tackle the rest of your house.

What Stays and What Goes

If your home goods bleed into your workday workspace, be diligent about removing those objects immediately. Grab a box and evaluate what doesn't need to be there, quickly packing up extraneous items to put away after work is done. While some workspaces might need to share their real estate with other supplies, the more separate they can be, the better.

Step Up Your Storage

Keeping clutter out of sight and out of mind starts with a thoughtful storage scheme. Invest heavily in storage pieces that make sure your workday supplies don't overwhelm your home:

  • Mobile Pedestals: Smaller mobile pedestals allow for movable and right-at-hand storage that can accommodate a small number of files or extra supply drawers for smaller stuff.

  • Bookcases: These true home and home office chameleons are great for displaying décor and accommodating working items. Make the most out of these pieces with bins and baskets for extra organization.

  • Built-In Storage: Residentially-geared desks are available with storage drawers or slots built into the design. Amenities can range from a series of spacious drawers to a simple center drawer (often used as a keyboard tray) and anything in-between.

  • Modest Hutches: A smaller hutch or desktop organizer might be available in a coordinating finish, encouraging you to keep your desktop orderly while sometimes functioning as a monitor stand.

Bin It

We're not talking about garbage cans. Open storage can get noisy, so make sure smaller supplies out of sight with a series of small-to-large bins organized on open shelves. This is a great way to make sure your visible storage is aesthetically pleasing—it can be as decorative as you'd like.

Purchase Space-Specific Supplies

When shopping for office supplies and simple organizational tools, you have more freedom than you might within a traditional office. Seek out space-saving or modular items that are well-coordinated and easy to arrange in thoughtful ways. An abundance of supply and organizational sets available can be tailored to fit your home office décor choices without sacrificing organizational aptitude.

Double-Duty Spaces

Most home office spaces share their purpose with other needs and can benefit from sharing extended storage. While there's a need for separation, that isn't always feasible:

  • Sequestered Spaces: Guest rooms are a popular choice for home office splits. These areas are nicely out-of-the-way and can take advantage of extra closet space, allowing for built-in concealed storage. Make sure shelving is divvied up to accommodate smaller supplies and bulkier items.

  • Out-in-the Open Areas: Dining rooms, corners of living rooms, and small nooks are other options for small apartments and homes. Since they're blended in with the rest of the home, take advantage of open storage solutions that keep the design from becoming too bulky, opting to use baskets or bins to keep small storage in good order.

Find a Furniture Fit

Outside of storage pieces, the rest of your office furniture contributes heavily to the aesthetic of your space. To keep your space from becoming overwhelming, select furniture that isn't visibly overpowering. Make sure that the measurements of desks and storage pieces are modest, accommodating any doors or windowsills. Carefully measure ahead of every purchase to make sure you aren't taking up too much space with poorly-fitted furniture, and then build your storage based on the remaining space.

Work With Wires

When you're on your own, cable management is an often-overlooked hardship in the home office. Purchase the right tools to keep cords out of the way and neatly organized. Many tools are available:

  • Install channels under desks to make sure you're making the most of cable management grommets at the desktop.

  • Clips and stick-on accessories can further tidy cords that run off the edge of desks.

  • Charging cables that are frequently used benefit from a side-mounted area that keeps them from falling to the floor when not in use.

  • Position furniture near outlets to avoid running extension cords around the room.

  • Make sure your cable management choices work with any temporary power sources in case you need to take your charger on the go without making reorganizing cords a tedious process.

Make It a Ritual

Focus on cleanliness as part of your workday routine. Dedicate a small block of time to tidying up your space, ideally at the end of the day, to make sure that all of your files, supplies, and tech are put away and don't bleed into your nonworking hours. Pair this ritual with a favorite podcast or cup of tea to make this time a calming resolution to a busy workday.

 

The Side Effects of Working From Home

Shutdowns, layoffs, and remote-only workplaces have swept the nation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The instant effects of working from home are easy to pinpoint: it's harder to schedule meetings, some people won't have access to the tech and tools that are too big to remove from the office, quick in-person conversations have to migrate to chat, etc. However, secondary effects can also drastically change a person's workday.

While transitioning to a remote-only workforce, leadership should consider some of the side effects of these changes. Compassion, understanding, leniency, and communication can make or break a working relationship. Understanding what employees are experiencing is the first step in creating a remote workforce that works.

It's All in the Family

It isn't just workplaces that are shutting down—it's schools and daycare centers, too. Suddenly, you've gone from working alongside team members to trying to focus on the task at hand while your spouse and children are adjusting to their new normals. Who knows, maybe the dog is constantly begging to go out or your cat's taking over the keyboard all at the same time.

For employers, this is a time when compassionate leadership can make a sour situation a success. Be patient with employees whose familial responsibilities suddenly fall during the workday. Understand that part of their normal working hours might involve tending to the household, and allow for a bit of breadth with start and stop times. A productive workday is all about results, not mindless hours clocked in and paying little attention.

As for employees, thoughtfulness and attentiveness is the answer to juggling the sudden intersection of work and home. Just as you'd schedule your workday, schedule your kids' playtime, learning, and meals alongside your meetings and the times you need to focus. Seek activities that can inspire your child's development into an independent and curious person. If possible, consider reaching out to healthy family members who may be fully laid-off, retired, or otherwise homebound to let your kids see other familiar faces while giving yourself a few moments to breathe.

Make Time for Mental Health

Whether it's anxiety about the global situation or sadness brought on by isolation, it's just as important to look out for your mental well-being as your physical health. While some people thrive in isolation and stillness, not everybody handles a quarantine in the same way. You can do a few simple pick-me-up activities during a brief break from work, at the start of your day, or after wrapping up in the evening.

  • Take a walk. While many public places, restaurants, and leisurely stores are shut down, there's still a great big world to explore. Even if it's just a stroll around the block, getting out of the house is more important than ever.

  • Exercise. Fire up your Chromecast and stream a few YouTube videos while the gym is closed. Look for yoga, weight, cardio, dance, or meditation series that resonate with you and keep up your exercise momentum.

  • Make a few calls. You're not the only person with a little free time, so try to connect with people you'd normally see in person. No matter how short, a quick phone call can brighten everyone’s day.

  • Ask for help. If you're struggling, there are resources for you. Your HR department will have information on any Employee Assistance Programs or even over-the-phone counseling. Always remember that mental healthcare is just as important as any other healthcare.

Keep Up the Good Work

Productivity shouldn't take a nosedive when you switch from deskbound to homebound, but what changes do you need to make to your workflow and workday? Maintaining a high output requires careful consideration of what matters, how you do it, and how you can make it work within your circumstances.

Identify what you need to succeed in the office and bring home or recreate those tools in your space. If you don't already have a home office set up, you'll need to adjust your living quarters to make your workflow work. Rearrange a shared space, such as a dining room or living room, to install a compact desk with enough room for a simple yet ergonomically-friendly task chair. Likewise, take advantage of a guest room and let it do double-duty as an out-of-the-way private office suite.

After returning to the workplace, consider how best to maintain and use these new spaces and tools. Will this freshly renovated space serve as a temporary office for future work-from-home days, or could the space be best used in another way? Having gone through the work to set it up, try to repurpose the area for arts and crafts, personal development, or a hobby requiring concentration and the same sense of focus you need at work.

Stay in Touch

Instant messaging, collaboration suites, and teleconferencing have reached a new level recently. These tools are invaluable for keeping on track in the office, and they've made it possible for so many companies to pivot quickly to a fully-remote workforce. By becoming fluent in these tools and technologies, you can share in real time with the people you work with.

But sometimes, it's just not enough. The value of a person-to-person interaction comes from subtle clues that get lost in text. While you're moving meetings online and setting up phone calls, see if you can make individual conversations or small conferences into video chats. While it's not perfect, facial expressions and body language can humanize interaction in a way teleconferencing and chatting cannot.

If you're in a management or leadership position, your guidance is more important than ever. Checking in on isolated employees can be a massive help. Set up a one-on-one video chat or phone call to review projects and accomplishments and touch base on employee wellness. There's a bigger picture to employee success that can't be measured by workplace achievements alone, and maintaining a sense of comfort and normalcy will aid in the transition back to in-office operations.

 

Create Your Perfectly Productive At-Home Workspace

Picture this: It's 2020, and you've all but worn a hole in your dining room chair. Every night you have to sweep away a stack of papers to make way for dinner. Maybe your legs are permanently burned from sitting on the couch as your laptop overheats in your lap. Finding a quiet corner to take a conference call? Good luck. Your new "coworkers" are distance learning, taking their own meetings, and barking (Fido is a really hard worker). Your calls are just adding to the fray. Sleeping spaces are occupied all day and all night.

Take your pick from these subpar options—any one of them might hit a little too close to home.

It's probably been a while since you've made your way into the office. And if you're still working through your workflow from home, you're probably past due for an upgrade. Shape your living space into a workspace that's fit to make for a positively productive home office. It's partially intuitive, partially tedious, but 100% worth it for whatever way you work.

The Bare Necessities

Pop quiz! What makes an office an office? We're going beyond "makeshift" and moving toward "ideal.” Whatever defines your workspace, it starts with furniture you can build a room around. There are still some things to consider while you're making the most of any size of space:

Desking

Seating

Storage

Desks come in all shapes and sizes, but you need the right size for your space. Whether that's an L-shaped desk, corner desk, writing desk, or standing desk is up to you and your measuring tape, but a dedicated workspace is necessary for workday productivity. "Making it work" isn't a great solution for the long haul.

We've all heard "sitting is the new smoking" by now, and that's not too far from the truth. Choose an office chair designed to handle the long haul regardless of where your workspace winds up. Ergonomics and comfort are more important than sleek and stylish designs.

Especially at home, you're drawing a tenuous line between work and play. Concealed storage keeps your workday separate from leisure time. If you're not quite paperless, file storage can keep you orderly, while some employees can probably get away with a few simple and stylish supply drawers.

Diving Deeper: Delightful Desks

Make sure to measure before you look for your dream desk:

Table Desks

Storage Desks

Adjustable Desks

Simple and straightforward, a table may be the right depth and right height for working. Best paired with your choice of storage.

With built-in drawers, these eschew (some of) the need for separate storage, offering a place to store supplies and sometimes files.

What goes up can also go down! Height-adjustable desks accommodate a sitting, standing, or somewhere in-between posture.

 

L-Shaped Desks

Corner Desks

Executive Desks

In offices, they're usually a stately staple, but at home, an L-shaped desk can take advantage of an underutilized corner while providing a lot of space.

The little brother of an L-shaped desk is a corner desk. They’re often slightly more compact and designed to tuck up against 2 walls.

The "extra" option. If executive is in the name, this is fit for a larger, dedicated home office space with a lot of room to roam.

Who doesn't love a well-used corner space? Corner desks are often more compact than their L-shaped desk brethren and often have slopes at the workspace to encourage a diagonal sitting position. This is ideal for maximizing unused spaces or nooks within your house that might look unbalanced with a typical table desk.

Diving Deeper: Spectacular Seating

A superior sit starts with the right features:

Types of Tilt

Fabric Choices

Ergonomics

Standard tilt keeps the seat and back at a 45-degree angle, knee tilt alleviates this with a tilt that starts at the front of the chair, and synchro tilt is the king of comfort, providing a 2-to-1 ratio that keeps your feet comfortably on the floor.

Fabric might be fitting for your décor scheme, but durable polyurethane is easier to clean. Leather is luxurious, and mesh provides cool comfort for warmer workspaces. The options are endless.

It's a big word with an even bigger impact. Ergonomic adjustments, such as seat depth, arm adjustments, tilt, adjustable headrests, or back support, establish the comfort of a chair.

 

Active Seating

Lumbar Support

Big & Tall? Short & Small?

Fidget-friendly seating is an emerging trend that provides wiggling capabilities for those who struggle with sitting still.

Sometimes it's simply the design of the chair; other times it's an adjustment (or even auto-adjustment) that supports your back for great posture.

Suit your stature with a chair designed to fit your measurements, usually noted in the title and description of a chair.

An ergonomically-minded workspace is essential for both WFH and at-work workstations. You may have settled for a kitchen chair or gone for a chic seat that pulls the room together, but if there isn't enough support, you’ll feel the effects down the line.

Diving Deeper: Stylish Storage

There's no reason you can't be filing and styling:

Pedestals

Hutches

Bookcases

Particularly within small spaces, a pedestal can be a real lifesaver. These oft-mobile, out-of-the-way units feature a few drawers for must-have supplies and maybe a few files.

While executive desks may be frequently paired with grandiose hutches, a lot of residential furniture has more subtle tabletop options that do double-duty as a monitor stand.

Bookcases embody the intersection between home and office. They’re great for décor and more. Add extra organization with chic and stylish storage bins.

 

Mixed Storage

Built-In Drawers

Wall Shelves

Sometimes you want to put things on display, while other times it's best behind closed doors. Grab a mixed storage option to get the best of both worlds.

Did you choose a desk with drawers? If so, that convenient storage solution can take care of the most basic supply storage.

The at-home atmosphere is more conducive to adding wall-mounted vertical storage. Take advantage of this elevated space to keep clutter at bay.

Aim for ‘Inspired’

When you're browsing catalogs or eyeing blogs, it's easy to envision your space in the perfectly propped, effortlessly chic interior design of a professional photo. When you're balancing your budget and assembling your needs, that perfection may not be within reach.

The choices you make go beyond a photograph. The aesthetic you desire and the items you can't live without might be at odds, so a few careful concessions can maximize your capabilities.

Trade This for That

Mid-Century Marvelous: It's tough to go top-to-bottom within the ever-trending MCM style. Keep a clean, uncluttered, and minimalist background with a few stand-out statement pieces that feature the splayed legs, blond wood, and skillful slopes of both Scandinavian and mid-century modern design.

Super Simple: Taking MCM out of the equation, a truly minimalist space is often deeply focused on the form and function of your furniture. Since other design items aren't of much concern, make the most of your budget by investing in storage solutions that can keep necessary supplies uncluttered and visibly out-of-the-way. Shop collections that have everything you need to furnish your office or mix-and-match well-coordinating finishes.

Maximalist Impact: #inspo often goes wild, combining potentially impractical décor decisions that you know might break the bank. If you're going for this "more is more" appeal, look for secondhand supplies or delightful discounts to add visual noise while keeping a little budget for more important purchases.

Leave It for Later: Rome wasn't built in a day, and your office might be a work-in-progress for a while. Start with the necessities and aim for the pieces that will make you the most productive, such as a chair that's fit for the long-haul and a desk that has everything you need. The rest? Pencil it in for later.

Do Double-Duty

Pro: Double-duty furniture can expand the possibilities of your workspace, giving you a place to work to pursue hobbies outside of the workday. Make sure that these supplies can be stored out of the way during business hours to limit distractions. Your workspace could masquerade as another piece of furniture during the day, though this may make it difficult to set up in the morning.

Con: If you're working from home for the long haul, having a dedicated space for work is important so it doesn't take an emotional toll on your day-to-day. If your space allows it, keep a dedicated working desk that doesn't clash with other activities. At the same time, be mindful of what you might use this space for if you return to the office and any possibilities for future use.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Maybe you can’t hide your at-home workspace completely, but you can strive for out-of-the-way. Folding furniture is a great space-saving solution, giving you the option to truly separate your space from the workday. Secretary desks are an expandable stationary option, while wall-mounted folding solutions are a collapsible treat. Gate leg tables have convenient foldout workspaces with legs that swing into place to create an on-demand desk.

As with any shifting solution, it's important to establish dedicated storage so your workday tools aren't scattered throughout your space after business hours. A mobile pedestal is a great movable solution that can be adjusted as needed—or opt for a decorative cabinet that can always stay nearby.

All About Acoustics

Soundproofing solutions are a must for shared households. There are a lot of ways to mitigate noise to keep everybody working well while working from home:

  • Invest in Headphones: Sometimes, it's just about noise-canceling headphones for all. Especially when there's an integrated microphone for taking meetings, active noise cancellation can keep 2 people in close proximity without conversations bleeding over.

  • Leverage Layout: Intuitive space planning saves the day. Keep desks facing walls with acoustic panels or soft fabrics to muffle conversations. Wear headphones so the other end of the call isn't projected into the middle of the room.

  • Be Wary of Windows: Glass and other shiny surfaces are known for reflecting sound, so direct your dialogue away from panes of glass or mirrored surfaces. The same goes for any art or photographs behind glass frames.

  • Decorative Deflection: Aside from tasteful curtain panels, using fabric or canvas prints instead of acoustic panels can add an aesthetic twist to noise cancellation. Facing a busy bookshelf with a ton of tomes can also absorb extra sounds with ease.

  • Simple Separation: Sometimes, it's best to stay in separate areas. Designate a "conference room" away from your regular workstation that's well-suited for calls and conversations when the time arises. Make sure to communicate any upcoming meetings with others in your shared space, and consider a backup area if a multiperson household has multiple calls going at once.

You're Due for an Upgrade

If you've made it this far, it has probably been a long time since you've seen your corporate office. None of us expected the COVID-19 crisis to last so long, and as days turned to weeks and weeks to months, work conditions—and locations—have shifted.

The scramble to create a workable workstation may have led to a few hasty purchases or tenuously-assembled workarounds, but that can’t cut it forever.

If you haven't already, we truly urge you: Think about the impact your workspace has on your well-being and workplace success. Think about the lasting impact on your physical health due to an ergonomically-unfriendly chair or the impracticality of a not-quite-the-right-size desk. Think about the lasting impact on your mental health that a hard-to-navigate, needlessly cluttered, and deeply disorganized workspace can have.

 

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