The Ultimate Home Office Design Guide

We are still very much within the era of remote work, or “working from home”, despite the pandemic being three to four years ago now, so the need for a practical and comfortable home office has never been greater. Nowadays the home office is seen as a necessity, rather than a luxury for many homeowners.

Creating a home office that is both practical, comfortable, and an aesthetically pleasing environment to be in may seem like quite the task! But it’s essential for productivity and overall well-being.

Over the years we have designed countless home offices for our clients. The need for a home office in our homes will continue to grow so learning what design aspects are essential for creating a practical home office is key.

In this Home Office Design Guide, we will walk you through the essential furniture considerations to transform your space into a functional and inspiring work space. From knowing what to look for in a new desk or office chair, we’ve got you covered!

Let’s get started on creating a home office that works as hard as you do!

Sherwin Williams Forever Green paint color

Key Design Considerations

First up, let’s explore the fundamentals you need to consider with your home office space.

The layout of your home office will depend on the room or corner you should dedicate to creating a home office area. For those with small home office areas, make sure you allow enough space to work comfortably at the desk. This will mean having lots of storage, and keeping only the items you need everyday on the desk itself.

In terms of “an optimal home office layout”, this is largely personal preference. Some work better without distractions and may benefit from having the desk facing a feature wall, while others may work better facing a window.

Have a think about where you have worked your best previously and how the furniture was planned out.

This will also influence the furniture you choose. When purchasing new home office furniture, you should consider the type of work you do. For example, do you have lots of paperwork or is it mainly computer based work?

It’s also important to think about the amount of time you spend sitting down, and how often you’re on the phone versus online calls like Zoom or Skype. Do you mainly work during daylight hours or does this vary? This is important for considering the type of lighting that is required for the space too.

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How to Choose Home Office Furniture

There are lots of different home office furniture pieces on the market these days, and it can be hard to establish what type of desk or office chair is best for your needs.

Here are a few things you should consider when looking for a home office desk:

The desk should be wide enough to hold all of your equipment (computer, mouse, keyboard, external monitors, etc). If paperwork is part of your job, or you’re more of a pen-to-paper type of person, it will be important to have a desk large enough for these types of ancillary tasks too.

And aside from the work aspect of your desk, it’s good to have some space for a water bottle, desk light and any other small personal items you may need throughout the day (hand lotions, lip balms, etc).

Now onto the home office chair:

Your home office chair is one of the most important pieces of furniture to get right because of how long you are spending sitting down. If you spend a long time sitting down, then you should prioritize a more ergonomic office chair over something more decorative in nature.

While ergonomic office chairs have a bad reputation of looking ugly, they can actually be beautiful! Look for a chair with lumbar support, and a height adjustable seat (your thighs should be parallel to the ground when sitting) at the least.

Bonus points if the chair comes with adjustable armrests!

Aside from the practical aspects of an office chair, color is actually quite important. Look for a chair with little visual texture so it hides dirt and normal wear and tear.

Some of Our Favorite Home Office Desks:

Height Adjustable Standing Desk

Use a sit-to-standing desk in your home office to add a practical element to your home office.

Metal Base Desk

Add a wooden and metal base desk to your home office to inject texture to your space.

Brass Desk

This stylish brass framed desk is perfect for those that work from home regularly and want to create an aesthetically pleasing space.

Light Oak Desk

Use a wooden desk to inject texture and character to your home office space. We love this one!

Some of Our Favorite Home Office Chairs:

High-Back Leather Office Chair

This leather high-back office chair features adjustable features to provide a comfortable seat all day.

Upholstered Swivel Chair

We love the stylish look of this office chair! Ideal for creating an aesthetically pleasing home office.

Ergonomic Leather Office Chair

This leather office chair is the perfect choice for purchasing an ergonomic home office desk chair.

High-Back Swivel Desk Chair

Another great home office desk chair option is this high-back swivel style chair! It’s also available in a wide range of fabrics.

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Creating a Productive Home Office Environment and Lighting to Reduce Glare!

Finishing Touches

A home office wouldn’t be complete without some extra decorative accessories and finishing touches! Accessorizing your home office adds personality to the space, and should motivate or inspire you when you are working, all the while not being distracting.

Use practical items such as coasters, but also think about décor like a plant to bring the outdoors in.

If you can, decorate the wall behind you if you spend a fair amount of time on video or Zoom calls. Don’t forget a fun task light too!

Our Recommendations

So where can you purchase some of the items mentioned in this home office design guide?

Even for client projects we like to use Wayfair for home office furniture! They have a wide variety of ergonomic options that are brilliant for home offices. But depending on the budget, you could use places like Crate and Barrel or West Elm too as they have some beautiful pieces available.