Designing the Perfect Home Office: A Stylish Guide To Creating An Ideal Work Space

Depending on your living situation, you might not have much flexibility when it comes to the location of your home office. A couple of things are important though – you separation between your work space and your living space. Without this separation, you will constantly find yourself distracted. Ideally, your home office should be in its own room – but if you have limited space to work with the addition of a Japanese screen or some other elegant partition is fine. Having a window in your office is also important. The smaller the space, the more claustrophobic it becomes. Having a view of the outside world and some nice, natural light coming in is essential for sanity’s sake.

If you’ve ever worked in a corporate office setting then you know that the furniture is rarely comfortable. While in a home office you have more flexibility to get up and take a break when you want, having comfortable furniture is essential for both your productivity and your physical health.

You need a quality office chair. No question about it. Herman Miller makes a great line of eco-friendly, ergonomically designed office chairs that, while on pricey end – are totally worth it! The Aeron Chair for instance is made of mostly recycled materials and provides you with ultimate comfort and lower back support.

When it comes to the rest of your office furniture, look for products made out high quality, durable hardwood. Eco-friendly hardwood furniture is durable and very stylish. Consider the space you are furnishing before you purchase furniture. The essential pieces you need are a desk, a chair and storage space. Choosing a desk with storage space built in is idea if you are looking to save space.

Sure, most offices today incorporate some sort of recycling program at the office – but its scope is going to be pretty small. By working from home, you are allowed more flexibility when it comes to being green. Not only can you recycle paper, but you can also recycle your old printer cartridges, install energy-saving CFL light bulbs, control room temperature, and purchase an eco-friendly computer. All of these things would be hard to do, working in a downtown office. Bottom line – make it comfortable, and stylish and you should be ready for work.

*Jamie Sward is a home decor expert for hermanmillerseating.com, a part of CSN Stores, where he has been for over a year. With a BA in Journalism from Indiana University, Jamie loves to write about the latest in design trends for the home. He currently resides in Boston, MA.