How to Design a Productivity-First Home Office

Understand What You’re Planning to Use the Office For

Before setting up your home office, you need to understand how it will be used. Will this mostly be a workspace, or will you also use it for personal tasks like helping the kids with homework, managing bills, or practicing a hobby? Knowing these details can help you decide the best layout for your office as well as the type of furniture and equipment you might need.

Set Up Near Natural Light

Studies have shown that working in or near natural light can help reduce stress, improve morale, decrease anxiety, and boost productivity. So, as your Inspired Closets designer creates the best home office setup for your productivity, they can configure a layout and organizational features that keep you in the right space for peak focus.

If your home office lacks any windows, our team can add integrated lighting systems to your room design. This can help brighten up the space by using light bulbs that mimic natural light to help you maintain your productivity.

Choose Comfortable Office Furniture

Whether working from home full-time or just for a few hours, you will want comfortable office furniture in your space. The right office chair keeps your thighs parallel to the ground, your knees at a 90-degree angle, and your hips and lower back properly supported. Once you’ve found the right chair—and desk—for your home office, we can seamlessly integrate them into your design of the best home office layout for productivity.

Ensure Accessories Are Within Reach

For a productive desk setup, you want to ensure that all your accessories are within reach. This can include items like pens, paper, chargers, or any other things you frequently use throughout the day.

Keep Clutter off the Desk

One of the best tips for how to make your home office more productive is to keep your desk clutter-free. You can have a few personal items on your desk, but the majority of the things should only be what you need for work to help minimize distractions.

Create Storage for Electronics and Cords

When trying to figure out how to make your home office more productive, we recommend putting away rarely used electronics and hiding all of your cords. It may not seem like a big deal to see all of your power cords while you’re working, but the visual clutter can distract your brain and cause you to lose focus.

As your Inspired Closets designer discovers how you want your home office to look and function, they can recommend adding dedicated cabinet space for your printer, scanner, or other electronics and give you organizational solutions to cover up your power cords.

Design a Space for File Organization

Paper piles can quickly become a cluttered eyesore, and it can be hard to have a productive desk setup if it’s covered up with loose files. If you work with many physical documents or have extensive personal paperwork, let your Inspired Closets designer know. They can add deep-set drawers to your office cabinetry that are the ideal size to help you organize and store your files.

Invest in an Office Plant or Two

Did you know that adding live plants to your space helps create the best home office setup for productivity? Indoor plants can help prevent fatigue during attention-demanding work, purify the air in your office, and they could potentially increase productivity by as much as 15%. Don’t worry if you don’t have a green thumb, though; there are several low-maintenance, low-light plants that are easy to care for in a home office.

Consider a Refreshment Station

When you’re in your productivity groove, the last thing you want to do is take a break to get food or water. With a refreshment station, you can have your favorite items within arm’s reach so you can refuel and refocus faster. Your designer can incorporate custom cabinetry into your office design with features like pull-out drawers for all your snacks or an outlet so you can plug a mini fridge in for some soda or water.