We’ve been told that we should all be working from home, yet again. And with that announcement, the tricky balancing act of accommodating various family members into hastily arranged home office setups resumes.
Let’s accept it; this configuration is rarely going to be harmonious. We’re all still scarred by the last time our homes were filled with phones going off, the noise of never-ending Zoom calls, and the WiFi grinding to a halt. But most of all, we’re still scarred by the tension that followed. That said, there are a few tweaks you can make to your home to ensure it’s as conducive to productivity and unity as possible.
With that in mind, here are 5 tips to help you design the perfect #WFH setup for your family.
COLOURS TO INSPIRE WELLNESS & CREATIVITY
When we’re working from home, it’s all to easy to feel restless and uninspired. What we need is a space that’s filled with positive vibes and one that promotes wellness and creativity to overcome these feelings. One way to create a space that’s filled with positive vibes is to use simple decor tips and tricks to liven up your space. And one of the most efficient ways to channel these vibes is through colour.
Instead of staring at blank, white walls while you and your family work from home, rejuvenate your living space with colours that positively affect your mindset. Some of our favourites to inspire wellness and creativity include:
- Orange is a very stimulating colour that has a vibrant look and ‘feel’. Moreover, the addition of orange tones to a room can bring new life and a sense of joy. As such, it’s a great choice for home office spaces, helping to keep you energised whilst working.
- Yellow is a colour that uplifting and a mood-booster. It makes us feel cheerlful and energised – very useful when working from home.
- Pale pink is a colour that we love; it’s quiet, comforting and a colour that says everything will be ok.
- Green, known as the colour of harmony and balance, this is colour that will bring that feeling of peace into home; something that’s very welcome when all the family are at home together. It’s also the colour of nature, and as we’re spending more time indoors right now, adding a few licks of green to your home helps by bringing a bit of the outdoors in.
So, why not consider giving your home working space a lick of paint to bring about a renewed sense of domestic harmony.
Read: 5 interior design tricks for creating a sanctuary at home
GO GREEN
Speaking of green, when it comes to designing a domestic space that promotes wellness, nature is a crucial element that should be incorporated into the design process at every turn. Enter houseplants.
Indoor plants are not only beautiful to look at, but they also introduce a sense of nature and the outdoors to your home, and we all know how essential nature is in lifting mood and boosting workplace wellbeing, particularly when we’re confined to our makeshift offices.
If you’re wondering which houseplants are particularly adept at lifting the spirit and productivity of your home working space, then check out our guide on just that here.
DIVIDE AND ZONE
As the Evening Standard highlights, “We’re switching from open plan to ‘broken plan’, creating separate personal hubs in our homes for working, family time, study and leisure”.
Indeed, when working from home, our households need different spaces for all the family to enjoy their own definition of peace and downtime, and open-plan (which was, until recently, incredibly in vogue) has suddenly fallen out of favour because of this.
Broken-plan living has emerged as a compromise here, due to the pitfalls that come from pursuing an open-plan living project; something that has become very obvious since we’ve all started working and spending more time at home.
The idea behind broken plan living is to keep all the things you love about open-plan – in particular, the light and openness – while at the same time zoning the space to allow for more privacy, which is essential when working from home, don’t you think?
So, how do you achieve broken-plan living? Well, structural elements such as walls of glass, shelving and mezzanines help designate different areas within the same room. Indeed, broken-plan living can be achieved by something as simple as creating ‘walls’ through the use of open boxed shelving units in an already open space.
Of course, you don’t want to regress back to packed, poky rooms, so don’t cram the shelves full of books – instead, artfully arrange a few favourite ornaments and books to signal the change between one room and another and leave some of the shelves open to allow light to freely cascade. Screens that fold back are also an ideal way to separate home and work life.
On a more simple level, we’re big fans of using different colour paints and wallpaper to define and zone different areas of a room.
UPGRADE YOUR BATHROOM
The bathroom is one of the only areas of your house where you can truly find peace, quiet and serenity. Where else are you allowed to sit undisturbed for a stretch of time? In fact, many home office workers have said that they have their best and most creative ideas while sitting on the can. Who knew?
As such, to help the whole family achieve a more peaceful home working environment, why not concentrate on turning your bathroom into a sanctuary away from the rest of your household? You can turn your bathroom into your own private spa, introduce some more modern features like a Bluetooth stereo or voice-controlled radio, or simply introduce a more fashionable colour palette, such as teal, pebble shore or misty mountain.
The only problem now is the queue to spend time in everyone’s new favourite room!
Read: 6 ideas for designing a bespoke bathroom
EXTEND YOUR LIVING AREA OUTWARDS
After working in the domestic office for an extended period of time, the four walls of home start to feel like they’re closing in. Instead, why not extend your living space outdoors? Yes, even though it’s winter, as the Norwegians quite rightly say, ‘’there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.’’
If you have a balcony, patio or deck, add a windshield to shelter it from the wind and other elements, creating a little sanctuary for family members to take five and gain some new perspective. Add a chiminea or an outdoor heater to your decking area, or, alternatively, an outdoor fire pit, to make the space even more welcoming (and warming).
By attracting members of the family outside, to get some air and enjoy this groovy new decking space, you’ll also free up some space inside of your home. Result!
