Give your Office a Makeover this Winter
Whether your office is at home or in a business setting it is essential to tap into your creativity to promote productivity. Your space should be a delightful place to be, with lots of stimulation surrounding you.The office is a place for brainstorming and where decisions are born.It is your own personal retreat filled with the energy that fuels you everyday.Every component in this room must be at an optimum function to allow you to be your very best.Yet the visual sensation you feel when in space must also invigorate your inner core.
Here are some interior design tips for giving your office a makeover:
Color Your World
The atmosphere of your office subliminally determines how you function in that space. Nothing brings forth that perception more than starting off with the right color palette. It is a discovery process to find what colors really move you. Realize that there are no rules to hold you back from the cherry berry or dusky moon walls you always found so alluring. When choosing a softer palette or an all white office use bolder accent colors in the artwork and furnishings, this will boost your energy level and prevent the space from looking too sublime. Paint some color samples on the wall and notice how each color affects your mood and your productivity level. Indulge into your senses with color.
Task Lighting
Adequate lighting in your workspace can mean the difference between feeling fatigued or energized while working. The daylight and artificial lighting in your office needs to be controlled at all hours of the day and night. A sun drenched space may emulate a welcoming cozy feeling, but can also become quite intense. Diffusing the light will bring calmness and add an aesthetic sense. Roller shades, panels on a track rod and shutters are an alternative to the typical mini or vertical blinds. Choose a window treatment to either blend with the rooms color palette or hang natural materials like grass cloth or bamboo which always add an earthy warmth. If your office is away from home and has florescent light fixtures on the ceiling replace the “cool white” tubes with daylight color tubes instead , these cast a pure warm light in the room making you look better too! Create a homey personal touch to any office by adding lamps. These to should have the regular bulbs switched out to yellow bulbs that will actually boost your productivity level. Pendant fixtures over your desk is an excellent source of task lighting while showing off your flair for style.
Office Furniture
A big NO! NO! is to fill the room with the typical office furniture. It is mundane and leaves you a space with very little creative stimulation. The choices for furniture are limitless as with any room in your home. Once you figure out how your office needs to function choose pieces accordingly. A classic buffet can be repurposed for a credenza, you will have just as much storage. When it comes to chairs and fabrics for client seating in your office, “the sky is the limit.” Upholstered dining chairs or antique chairs with seat cushions are a classic alternative to office chairs. Shelving units that are stacked or turned on their side creates a unique and different configuration for storage and displays. Simple inexpensive bookcases painted the same color as the walls will look built-in, visually creating more space. For a more traditional office, a European china cabinet that has plenty of cabinet space is also a dust free display case for your books. When shopping for office furniture think of pieces that are an eclectic blend with a unique ability for repurposing.
Show Character
Surrounding yourself with objects that fulfill a purpose as well as adding a personal touch add to productivity in your workspace. Avoid the typical office accessories, in and out bins, trash cans, pen and pencil containers from an office supply store leave nothing to the imagination. Instead, amuse yourself with pieces that are whimsy yet practical. Glass kitchen trays for papers, an old enamel bucket used for trash, an array of brightly colored jars or antique vases filled with pens and pencils. Intrigue your clients with touches throughout your office with sentimental stories, a baseball card collection mounted in a Plexiglas frame, a series of old camera and radios on a shelf. Your personal workspace should look like you have been collecting all your life. Compartmentalize your supplies in old and new leather boxes, an empty classic wooded drawer can be mixed in and filled with supplies. Suspend a metal cable from corner to corner attaching it to the wall with toggle bolts provides an interesting way to clip notes or hang magazines from. Start to look at everything with a dual purpose in mind, be clever when accessorizing your office.
Looking Good
The office desk is the one piece that says the most about the person behind it. What does your desk say about you? It is the focal point of an office, it must show your style yet function for all your office needs. Decide what is the performance of your desk, then think eclectic. For those whose desk needs to be more of a work surface consider an old library table or an exotic modern dining table. Furniture with drawers or filing cabinets on rollers can be pushed underneath the table to provide added storage. A clutter free desk allows your energy to flow freely, make sure “there’s a place for everything” which is another component to an office, everything in it’s place.
You will find yourself beginning each day with a refreshed outlook and a captivating impression.
