Why should an office be boring? Why do most people have the idea that it requires a desk that gets placed against the wall, with a whiteboard or pin board, and a boring bookshelf to put the books that you may (or may have not) read?

I am always stumped whenever I go into someones’s home and it looks like they put next to no thought into the room where (let’s be honest here) most individuals spend the most amount of time. I personally thrive off of a well defined and designed space, it improves my workflow and makes me feel more at peace with the environment that I am in.

In this blog post you will find a few simple tips to improve and enjoy your workspace.

Tip 1: The orientation of your desk or table is crucial. Determine where the natural source of light is coming from and how it moves throughout the day. (My office receives a lot of morning light and then a diffused evening light). This will allow you to determine where you want to face when working. Another thing to keep in mind is where the entrance to your office is, you really do not want to face in the direction where you have to turn around to address someone who may be entering the space. Additionally, my advice is to place your desk away from all walls, thus creating an island for the desk to be a feature and not just part of the wall. (I understand if you have absolutely minimal space to work with, there are a few other ways to navigate this)

Tip 2: Your storage solution should accent your interests or conceal the potential clutter. There are various ways to think about storage, an open bookshelf (you better be a tidy person who wants to display the minimum amount of stuff), a glass door bookshelf (you have the ability to store a bit more and it can be cleanly clustered), a partially concealed and partially glass bookshelf (hide the mess and show the nice stuff vibe), and something completely concealed (we all know what kind of person you are, and well that is completely okay!) Personally, I have the half and half option, this allows me to display a lot of my nice objects, while concealing all of the product that gets delivered and requires a home. It is the perfect happy medium in my opinion. I also positioned my shelving directly behind my desk for this reason.

Tip 3: Additional seating is an absolute must! Depending on the amount of space that you have, whether that is a singly chair, two chairs, or a couch. You absolutely need it! Ask yourself how many times someone has come into your office and they haven’t had a place to sit and it get’s very awkward? Well this actually happened to me! Not because I had the option, but my couch was being shipped and I didn’t know when it would be delivered. (They were awkwardly sitting on the floor) That just can’t happen! I recently had my assistant over for a meeting and having the couch was a saviour and created a much more relaxed and casual vibe.

Tip 4: The decor should not completely take over. You might wonder what I mean by this, but this is because well this is where you will be working correct? So try to focus on a few key decor pieces that accent certain areas; art, moulding, lighting, greenery, books, and/or a few objects.