Top drawer
A home office shouldn’t be a soulless space devoid of personality but a comfortable room that’s both functional and reflective of your own aesthetic, says Marie Kelly.
The clue to creating a functional and inviting home office is in the name – it should feel as comfortable and as homely as any other room in your house. The idea that a work space must be clinical clean lines free of decorative ‘distractions’ is as tired and uninspiring as magnolia wall paint. Personality should be the driver behind any home office interior scheme, just as it would be for a bedroom, snug or TV room.
Our physical environment has an enormous impact on our creativity, productivity, motivation and sense of satisfaction, but what is off-putting for one individual may be stimulating for another, which is why your own disposition should be the first consideration. Interior designer at Dublin lifestyle store April and the Bear, Emma Delaney, agrees. “A home office should be a very personal space,” she explains, “and there should be a fluidity between it and the other rooms in your home. Quirky, intimate details can be strategically dotted around the room without causing any interruption to your creativity or productivity. I find that sterile work spaces are often underused by homeowners.”
She says the two fundamentals for a successful home office are, firstly, choosing an appropriate dedicated space that has a degree of separation from the chatter and activity in the rest of the house, and secondly, maximising natural light. “If you can, choose a room that is bathed in window light. It reduces fatigue and makes the space look more inviting,” she explains.
Even if your home office has the perfect aspect, task lighting is essential, Delaney says. “A quality desk lamp is vital. A decorative pendant light is an attractive alternative to traditional ceiling lights and there are also great adjustable wall lights on the market, which are battery operated so you don’t have to deal with unsightly cables.” Portable desk lamps can be placed on open shelves around the room to give the entire space a warm glow, she adds. By illuminating dark corners in this way, you’ll also make the space look bigger. “Many have a tap functionality allowing you to strengthen or lessen the brightness of the bulb to suit the time of day,” she adds.
When considering colour schemes, Delaney recommends looking at earthy paint tones, which are naturally calming without being too relaxing. “Most people gravitate towards greens and blues because they’re colours we associate with nature,” she says. For anyone who prefers a more traditional, neutral backdrop, Delaney advises staying away from brilliant white, which can cause tiredness and dull creativity, and opting instead for more nuanced hues. “White with a subtle red pigment can work really well,” she adds. “It will bring a gentle warmth and greater depth to the space.”
Sligo-born Deirdre McGettrick, founder of furniture and home decor comparison website ufurnish.com, is a lifelong interiors enthusiast, having worked in her parents’ Ballymore drapery store as a teenager. She writes a regular interiors blog for the company website and recommends trying vibrant orange in your home office, though with one caveat: “Perhaps don’t paint all four walls. But a single feature wall in orange can have an energising effect,” she explains.
A home office needs to match the individual way you work and accommodate your idiosyncrasies.
So if it energises you to stand for the morning while on Zoom calls but sit in the afternoon to deal
with paperwork, you can create the set-up that suits you best.
The biggest game-changer in any home office fit-out, Delaney believes, is bespoke storage and she always recommends it. “Custom-made units work with the nooks, crannies and corners of a room ensuring that the entire space has a nice flow and always appears neat and tidy.” It’s also a great way to partly conceal necessary but often unattractive tech such as printers, cables, portable monitors and headphones. “A bespoke unit with open shelves on top but an enclosed unit at the bottom is great for hiding a printer while ensuring it’s still conveniently to hand,” she says. “I often design the bottom unit with a roll-out surface for ease of use,” Delaney adds.
Messy wires are a bugbear of many clients and Delaney explains that bespoke storage allows for all cabling to be channelled through one small cable outlet into discreetly positioned power points. Irish online store Amber & Willow also stocks attractive vintage braided extension leads in different colours, which can be used to replace ugly white leads and bring a more attractive, tactile feel to the space.
While reflecting your personality, a home office also needs to match the individual way you work and Delany often collaborates with clients who want both a standing desk as well as the traditional executive-style, credenza unit or writing desk. The beauty of a home office is that it can accommodate your own idiosyncrasies, so if it energises you to stand for the morning while on Zoom calls, but you prefer to sit in the afternoon when dealing with paperwork, you can create the set-up that suits you best.
McGettrick agrees that understanding your personal work habits is important, especially when choosing a desk style and size. “Think about whether your work involves a lot of paper documents or mostly digital files. This will determine not just the surface area of the desk but whether or not you’ll need a model with built-in storage.” Trestle tables have become a popular choice for professionals who don’t have much physical paperwork and who like an unfussy workstation, but for those who simply have more ‘stuff’, the conventional executive desk is a popular choice.
“Traditionally this style of desk was at the epicentre of corporate decision-making, so they have an authority that continues to appeal,” explains McGettrick. “The modern version is not a monolithic wooden avatar, though. There are a variety of sleek designs available now made from interesting materials such as steel, glass and engineered wood, while also incorporating cable management systems, built-in charging ports and other modern conveniences,” she says. If contemporary design leaves you cold, however, hunt down vintage or reclaimed pieces of furniture instead. They’ll instantly add individuality.
The trickiest part of fitting out a home office for most people, Delaney finds, is the decorative aspect and achieving the correct balance between bringing character to the space without visual discord. “Subtle touches can make a big difference,” she explains. “Try lining the inside of a closed storage unit or the back wall of a bookshelf with wallpaper,” she suggests. “Most of the time, it won’t be visible, but when it is, it makes for a really nice feature.” There’s nothing inspiring or motivating about a blank wall, so Delaney is a big fan of using artworks to create a gallery wall and incorporating pieces that have sentimental value and tell a story about the owner. You don’t have to be a collector or aficionado of art either. Prints and posters with motivational slogans or inspiring quotes can work really well too. Placing art on battens fixed to the wall is another method of display and allows you to rearrange and replace paintings and prints with less effort.
“As in every other room of your house, textiles will elevate a home office into a space that you’re comfortable spending long periods of time in. For final touches, place an occasional chair in the corner of the room with some cushions,” she says. Add in a textured rug as it will define the perimeter of your workstation and bring an appealing tactility to the area. A sheepskin rug, meanwhile, thrown over the back of your computer or office chair will make it feel less like a generic ergonomic necessity and more like a handpicked item that reflects your own style identity.
This article was originally published in Business Plus magazine, August 2024