Home Office Furniture Guide

We’re aware that it’s not always easy to create a home office that is optimal for your needs. Too often, people believe that simply squeezing a desk and chair into a spare corner, or setting up a laptop on the dining table is all they need to get on with the day. But this can create an inefficient working environment.

Here are our top tips on how to make the most out of your office, both for your productivity, and your comfort:

1. Choose a room you can control

Whether it’s music you need or total silence, your room should be one that allows you to create the ideal environment to be at your most productive. Having a place where you can shut the door and shut out the world is often the key to controlling your focus at work.

2. Learn how to make the most out of your space

You might feel like your home has hardly any room for a home office, but a more creative look at your space can reveal surprising opportunities. From a converted closet to a loft conversion, to a spare room or even a space defined by a dividing screen, we’ve seen it all! When you find it, bear in mind that you can end up sabotaging good organization if you don’t utilize your space well.

3. Bring in the light

Hopefully, you can create a space that works for your type of home working, and use one that has lots of natural light. It’s a real bonus to work in the daylight and will be much easier on your eyes, helping your productivity. If you can’t manage to get enough natural light and/or need to catch up on work in the evenings, you need to ensure you have some good task lighting at your desk or workspace. A decent desk lamp, anglepoise or similar will be kind to your eyes and keep you bright and alert.

4. Clear the clutter

Everyone knows the famous saying… ”a clear desk is a clear mind”. Well, whether it’s true or not, clearing away office clutter certainly goes a long way to creating an organised space, which allows you to think and work more effectively. Not to mention how you’ll next be able to find that tax bill that needs paying.

So, creating a good filing system, backed up by sensible, clearly labelled storage is imperative. And if you want it to look pretty too that’s not a problem. We can easily accommodate that wish, particularly as there are lots of stylish yet practical office storage solutions available at all kinds of price ranges.

5. Room with a view

If possible, place your desk next to a window which gave me a little view to look out onto. It’s really important to give yourself something inspiring to look at. It will help you feel connected to the room and give you more motivation to get back to work if you enjoy being in the space.

6. Plan, plan, plan

We all need to keep on top of our to-do list, and none more so than those that work at home. It’s so easy to be distracted when you’re working alone at home, by all kinds of things. The solution to staying on track is to create a good planning system, one that’s visible to you at all times, reminding you to keep motivated.

Not everyone will want a specific space in their home to work from, but defining your workspace has many benefits:

• It will help vastly with reducing distractions. It can also help you separating your leisure time from business. Once you’re in your work zone, you’ll automatically be more prone to be in a working mind-set.
• You´ll have a space for all your work items. Of course, how much equipment and paperwork you have depends on the type of business you run, but chances are you’ll have more than just a laptop, so it makes sense to keep these items together. You don't want to constantly be delaying your work by not knowing where something is.
• It allows you to set up a properly designed workplace, with good lighting, ergonomic furniture and space for your laptop, tablet or desktop at the right height and distance so that you’re not straining your body unnecessarily while working.
• You can decorate or display items in your home office that will help keep you focused or inspired at work when you feel your motivation weakening.

Maximizing a home office work space can increase your efficiency and productivity. Even if you aren’t able to expand the physical space in your workspace, here are some of our top tips for making optimal use of the space you have:

Look at your room layout

Determining the available floor space in your home office allows you to create a functional room layout that maximizes that space. You’ll find the exact measurements of our pieces in the product descriptions, making it easier for you to assess if and how will they best fit your room.

Build up on the walls

In addition to floorspace, don’t forget to use the wall of your office to your advantage! You can fit tons of storage by hanging shelves, incorporating wall organisers, and more. The sky’s (or rather, the ceiling’s) the limit! Some of this can even serve as inspirational decor space.

Buy a desk with built-in storage

When you’re struggling with space it’s always a good idea to buy furniture that really gives you the most bang for the buck. In this case, it’s quite a smart to buy a desk that has heaps of storage space distributed throughout drawers and possibly a cupboard too. In fact, we think this is so important that you’ll notice it’s a common trait across our wide selection of desks.

Keep your cables tidy

Firstly, we recommend you label cables, as you don’t want to accidentally unplug the wrong one and create a workplace disaster! Having a cable tray underneath your desk will keep cables in a safe and secure position, it will look better visually, it will free up some space and it will also help reducing health and safety issues caused by trailing cables.

Amp up your storage with extra pieces

A home office is about more than just the desk. Bookshelves are a truly versatile piece of furniture to think about adding to your space and can easily be constructed into a wide range of different configurations.

Tall bookcases can create storage for books and filing boxes from floor to almost the ceiling (making use of all that vertical space in your home office), and small bookcases allow you to create extra working or display surfaces...

There are designs which encompass drawers, such as our Tokyo Natural Oak or Original Rustic Oak bookcases, and a range of widths to suit your room.

A smaller bookcase, from our Bevel Natural Oak collection, could be useful for a smaller home office.

The home office is an important space as it expresses both our individual personality and also the way we like to work. Whatever your working style, getting the appropriate furniture is the key to creating the right environment. One thing to consider when creating a home office is getting the perfect balance between functionality and appearance. Here are some of the more popular home office pieces that you won't want to overlook when shopping at Oak Furnitureland:

Computer desk

Your desk is obviously the place where it all happens. If you tend to hoard lots of paperwork, you might want a desk large enough to keep upright magazine files and baskets. You should also have enough space for a notepad next to your keyboard or laptop as well as some flowers, picture frames or ornaments.

It might not seem immediately important, but having a pleasant environment will make you feel happier at your desk and add to your productivity. Ideally, you'll also want a desk that has heaps of storage space in its drawers and cabinets.

Bookcases

Tall or small bookcases? Or maybe a display cabinet? Whatever unit you choose, one thing is certain: we have something that will meet your needs, as many of our solid oak bookcases have adjustable shelves for greater flexibility.

A bookcase is a fantastic addition to any home office and has many advantages over wall mounted shelves. For example, if you want to redecorate you can simply move it into another room. Also, if just want to rearrange a room, there’s no need to fill unsightly holes where your wall mounted shelves were and drill more elsewhere.

Chest of Drawers

While chests of drawers are nearly always included in bedroom sets, they can also prove essential in the organization and storage of any home office.

Clocks

A stylish clock can be used to liven up a bare wall, add interest to a chimney breast, or to simply keep track of your busy life. Regardless of the reason that makes you buy one, it's certainly a gorgeous finishing touch that your home office will very much welcome.

Lamps

Ideally your home office will have loads of natural light. However, if you can’t manage to get enough natural light and/or need to catch up on work in the evenings you need to ensure you have some good task lighting at your desk or workspace. We have a great selection of stylish desk and floor lamps that are an essential finishing touch to any home office.