5 Stylish Home Office Features!

This post is provided by Jason Tilton.

Home offices are the most requested “special” room addition to homes being remodeled and built today. With more people beginning to telecommute and work from home, it makes sense to include a place within your home where you can work privately and efficiently, without interruptions or the intrusion of home life. And while you do not need to create a commercial office design within your own home, there are several attributes of traditional office design that can help make you feel more productive while in your office. These attributes do not have to come at the cost of style, however; it is possible to create stylish home office designs that will make you look forward to going to work each day. These five examples can help you get started.

Hardwood Floors

Nothing adds value to your home like hardwood flooring. Hardwood is elegant, easy to clean and maintain, and instantly dresses up any area of the home. Ripping out old carpeting and installing hardwood in your home office can instantly make it feel more professional and more like a workplace than a converted bedroom or storage space. Best of all, with new engineered hardwood flooring, you can install wood anywhere in your home, including below grade which means that you can get that beautiful hardwood look even in a converted basement area. 

To really up the style of your home office, consider inlaying a second color of hardwood as a border around the room. You can outline your desk area or just the perimeter; either way a two-tone hardwood floor can really set your home office apart.

Lighting

No matter what type of work you do in your home office, good lighting is crucial to your success. Many commercial office spaces are beginning to include more natural light in the office design, as studies have shown that the inclusion of natural light not only lowers energy bills, but also increases worker happiness and productivity as well.

Make sure that your home office has plenty of natural light to begin with. Consider enlarging any existing windows, and invest in window treatments that can give you the privacy you need without blocking any of the light. If you entertain clients frequently in your home office, a large picture window behind your desk can be a stylish and impressive feature in the room.

Next, add strategic task-oriented light sources at your work area. These can be as subtle as recessed lights installed from your coffered ceiling just above your desk, or as decorative as some handblown glass pendants suspended over a work table. Whichever route you choose to add additional light, make sure that it is focused on your work area, and that when the light is on, that it helps to define the space, setting it apart from the rest of the room for maximum impact.

Built-In Furnishings

The best part about designing a home office is being able to create something that is uniquely suited to your work, your lifestyle, and your personal taste. Built-in furnishings within the room allow you to get those features in a way that is not only functional but very stylish at the same time.

Bookcases are a traditional office addition, with many people choosing to build them into the room, rather than simply placing them there. This creates an impressive display and sets the tone for the rest of the space.

Next, consider your desk area and how you could create workstation that caters to all of your needs. Maybe you have shelving attached to the desk and extending upward against a wall. Or perhaps you have a desk that is built into a corner of the room to create an L shape that allows you to have multiple devices running at the same time, all of them in easy reach. By building your furnishings into the room, you create a powerful image within the space that will not only make you feel more at home there, but that will impress visitors as well.

Conversation Area

Whether you entertain clients on a regular basis, or you just want to create a comfortable space within your home office, a conversation area is a great addition. Including a couple of comfortable chairs with a table and rug and some amish decors to define the space can not only create a stylish addition to the room, but can add a sense of welcome and comfort at the same time. 

Conversation areas should invite intimacy, so be sure to angle the seats toward one another and set them apart from the main work space within the room. Now when you have clients or friends drop by, they will feel instantly welcomed and at home within your office.

Wall Treatments

While the walls in a commercial office may be plain, the sky is the limit when it comes to what you can do within your home office. To create a place that you want to go to everyday, consider trying out some different wall treatments in the space.

Consider a bold accent wall color behind your desk to liven up the space. Or, consider using a different material to create your accent wall, such as dry stack stone tiles or reclaimed wood. You can also change up your walls frequently with the help of vinyl wall decals, which peel off easily without harming the paint behind, so you can change out the decorations whenever you choose.

Create A Better Home Office

You spend a lot of time within your home office everyday, so make it a place you want to visit by including some stylish features. Use these five features as a starting point to creating the perfect design of your own.