When you decide to operate or manage your business from home, you will require some ample workspace. However, not all work needs an office in the ‘traditional’ sense.
If you are a freelance photographer, you need a dark room where you can produce your pictures. If you perhaps operate an automotive paint shop, then chances are your workspace will be the garage. If you are into music, then one of the rooms has to be converted into a studio.
In other words, your home workspace needs will vary depending on the type of business you operate. For example, if you run an at-home business selling bakery-type items, such as specialty cupcakes.
Once you determine what you require and the type of business you want to venture in, then you get down to either remodeling or converting one of the house rooms to be your workspace. In this article, Mark Johnson from ByPrify, is sharing some guidelines for remodeling your office.
Useful, Efficient Home Office Design Tips
When you decide to move to your home for a more chilled and convenient work area, then you need to put much thought so that you can create a working environment that is suitable for your business and in balance with the needs of your family. Here are a few tips on how you can successfully achieve this:
#1.Plan for a Suitable Workspace
The location of your office is everything. You need a private space where your kids are not likely to come running and break your machines and pencils. It would be best if you also had an area where you will not be tempted to watch that movie you have been waiting for.
If you are also planning to meet clients and have some small meetings in your office, consider locating the room near a side entrance and ensure it is exclusively private.
If you will also need to refurbish, and probably move some cumbersome objects, make sure that you take the necessary safety precautions.
#02.Light It Up
No, we do not mean that you torch that room. You have to consider which lighting technique is appropriate for your office.
The average person, in today’s society, spends seven hours a day in front of a computer screen, according to the American Optometric Association.
Even if brighter is better when it comes to productive workspaces, glaring on monitors for more than three hours a day causes us to squint and strain our eyes, even more, hence the number of people dependent on spectacles or contacts these days. OSHA advises computer-dependent workers to direct light away from their line of sight.
You should also include some natural light from the windows. Meaning, you have to choose a room with direct access to the natural light. You also have to consider having some supplemental light from an adjustable desk lamp.
#03. Keep Your Workspace Clean and Fresh
No one, even the most scatter-brained person, can work in a stuffy room. Air circulation and a refreshing space are ideal for brain functioning and stimulating those creative juices to flow. So, you need to invest in a powerful air purifier, one with a HEPA filter, like ionic air purifier to combat dust and other allergens.
You might also require the services of a vacuum cleaner, especially if you have pets around the house, or you are prone to dust allergies.
#04. Times Are Hard, Thus Inspire Yourself
Working at home might seem like the best idea you have ever come up with, in, let’s say ten years. However, there are challenges, and balancing between home affairs and work can be draining. Therefore, set up a shrine with some of your favorite knick-knacks, that beautiful piece of framed art you bought in Bora Bora, or an exclusive photo of your family to help motivate you to stimulate your cerebrum to get creative or get the work done so you can get out of there.
A cultural picture from Kenya can channel your inner muse and that Christmas picture of your children will always remind you that you are working to provide for them.
#05.Have the Right Furniture
Invest in the right furniture combination; partner up an adjustable chair with a desk with adjustable height. You should also remember that fixed-height offices lead to a lot of back pain, so you should avoid them. You may also need, with time, an anti-fatigue mat for standing) or maybe an adjustable footrest for sitting, some stools to perch on, a flexible monitor arm and perhaps an adjustable keyboard platform with a padded wrist rest.
In as much as you are also keen on the type of furniture you bring in, do not forget to make it stylish. When you have an elegant office, you always get psyched up to get in there and make that money!
