The time for your DIY home office is now!

Create your perfect DIY home office with help from DIY Homefit

2020 has definitely been the year of home working. At the beginning of this year, most British employees had never worked from home.

But then came the UK-wide lockdown in March, and many of them were required to do so for the very first time. 

Since then, over half the people working from home now want to be able to continue to do this, for either all or part of the time. In parallel with this, many businesses are very open to staff continuing to work remotely when their job enables them to do so. Twitter even went as far as saying that its employees can work from home “forever”.

So if you currently work from home for at least some of the time, the chances are that this is likely to continue indefinitely.

Which means that if you still haven’t got round to setting up a proper DIY home office, then now is the time to do it. The longer you put it off, the more bad working habits you risk sliding into. So take action now to help you start 2021 on the best possible footing.

Find the right space for your home office

The first thing to do is to find a good space to convert into your office. This is really a case of making the best use of what you have available.

Home offices vary enormously. You may be able to allocate either a whole room, part of a room, or a hall/landing area inside your home. 

Another alternative is to consider some kind of outbuilding. You may remember that former Prime Minister David Cameron invested in a shepherd’s hut as a writing room. The shepherd’s hut contained a wood-burning stove, sofa bed and sheep’s wool insulation. A stylish and practical addition to your outside space.

But, inside or out,  what are the key factors to consider for the perfect home office?

How to create the perfect home office

We think that there are six main boxes to tick to create your perfect home office. Whatever space you have available, you won’t go far wrong if you get the following things right:

Create physical separation between work and home

Wherever possible, try to have a home office space that is in some way separate from the rest of the household. This is particularly helpful if there are other people around during the day, so that you do not have noise and distractions to deal with. But it is also important to help you separate home and work life, so that you are able to switch off when you are not working. 

If you have a dedicated room as your home office then you can simply close the door and walk away at the end of the day. But if you are using part of another room, then try to keep your work out of sight when you are not using it so that you are not constantly reminded of work. 

The image below shows how sliding wardrobe doors can do this very effectively. The room could be used for other purposes whilst most of the work stuff is hidden behind these stylish contemporary doors.

Design your home office to fit with how you work best

When planning your home office, don’t just rush in and do what everyone else does. You are in control here! So think carefully about your ideal work environment. How do you work best? 

First of all think about the best position for your desk. Do you like to face a window or the wall? Are you happy to sit all the time, or would you also like the option of a standing desk? You also need to make sure you have ready access to plenty of power sockets for your office equipment. 

Also consider what other furniture you need. Do you like to sit in one place, or would it be helpful to have another seating area (if you have space) to move to for a change of scenery? Also think about other equipment you either need or would like to have, such as a TV or music system.

It’s your office, your rules!

Maximise your storage space

Whatever the size of your home office, you can never have too much storage space. A cluttered office will eventually overwhelm you and interfere with your productivity. So make sure that you build in as much storage as you possibly can. DIY Homefit’s DIY home office furniture range includes many different combinations of cupboards, drawers, shelves and filing cabinets.

So even if you only have a small office space – such as the example pictured below – make the most of every corner of space.

Invest in the best quality furniture

As we saw earlier, home working is here to stay. So when creating your DIY home office, it makes sense to  invest in the best furniture you can. As well as a comfortable, ergonomically designed chair, we recommend getting the biggest desk that you can fit into your space. At DIY Homefit we supply made to measure desks to ensure that you have exactly the size that is right for you.

Our desks also come with a choice of cupboards, drawers and filing drawers, so you have the choice of the perfect combination for your needs. And of course we have a wide range of door finishes available to fit in with the decor of your home office. You can see the full DIY Homefit range of desks and other home office furniture here. 

Choose the right colours for your working environment

As well as planning the layout of your home office and choosing your furniture, you also need to ensure that the colours are right for you. In our recent article The Best Colours for your Home, we explored some current trends in terms of colours for your home. But we concluded by saying that the most important thing is to choose colours that are right for you.

This is particularly important for your working environment. It is easy to become distracted, and if there are aspects of your home office – such as the colours – that you are not happy with, then you are likely to find yourself becoming irritated by that. Colours can also influence the way you feel, which in turn can also affect how well you perform.

So choose your colours wisely. The images above and below show neutral coloured home offices, but there is nothing to stop you having either bold bright colours or a dark dramatic look if that is the environment that works best for you.

Get the lighting right

The final aspect to consider when creating your home office is the lighting. We’ve already looked at where to position your desk, and what colours to choose, and both of these will have implications for the kind of lighting you have in your home office.

If you’re lucky enough to have a room with lots of natural daylight, this can really help to boost your mood and your energy for working. But if not, then you might want to find lighting that mimics natural daylight as much as possible. 

But whatever type lighting you choose, do make sure that you have sufficient light to enable you to work comfortably and help you to avoid eyestrain. Cleverly positioned wall lighting, such as in the image below, can illuminate even a small home office area and make it a pleasure to work in.

We hope that our home office tips will encourage you to get started on creating your perfect working space. Why not take a browse through our home office furniture to get some ideas for your own home office, then let DIY Homefit help you to start making your plans a reality.