Over the past year, working from home has become the norm, with the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions requiring us at points to either stay indoors entirely or to simply avoid the boardroom and the office. And, with flexible working looking to be sticking around for the long-haul as more businesses begin to embrace the possibility of making remote working a standard part of the nine to five, office life might never be the same again.
Whether you’re thrilled about the idea or not so much, if you’ve spent the past twelve months propping yourself up at the kitchen table or hunching over your laptop on the sofa, then it’s time to take things up a notch. Successful home working requires an environment that is conducive to productivity – not one where the kids can interrupt you for playtime, or where the fridge and the TV are in all too easy reach – and that means that creating a dedicated home office for yourself is essential.
The good news is that home offices don’t have to be boring, and the beauty of having control over your own space is that you can design and decorate it entirely according to your own tastes. While practicality is a key consideration, there’s no reason you can’t inject a little luxury into your set-up, and given that a stylish and sophisticated backdrop can only be a good thing when it comes to jumping on those all-important Zoom calls, you’ll need little more excuse to do so.
Here, we take a look at what it takes to create the ultimate luxury office space in 2021 to optimise productivity, upgrade your aesthetic and transform it into a space you’ll love.
A minimalist approach
Studies show that a clean and tidy office helps us to focus and work more efficiently. So, right from the start, plan the layout of your home office so that you can keep your desk as clear as possible. The cleaner the better – you don’t want things like inkjet cartridges, paper, your printer or files and items of stationery to be in your eye-line, nor do you want clutter to create the wrong impression during important virtual conferences and meetings.
Of course, you’ll still need these items to be accessible, so invest in a desk that includes a decent set of drawers so that you have plenty of space to organise them and neatly put them away. Having a separate cabinet for your printer with space to stow paper and replacement cartridges is a good idea. If you can, set things up so that your shredder sits below your printer so that you can shred unwanted print-outs and important documents straight away. A small cupboard with a stylish roll-top desk and a drawer is the ideal setup for home office printing.
A spacious work desk
Whilst it’s true that the larger a surface is, the more clutter it tends to attract, feeling cramped and overcrowded while trying to do your work is a big no-no and can be detrimental when it comes to your productivity. If you don’t have enough workspace to easily spread out what you need to complete your daily tasks then the work day can quickly begin to feel stressful, so invest in a broad and expansive desk to ensure that you’ll have all the space you need.
If space is tight, consider buying a desk that features panels you can fold out occasionally when you need to spread out. Go for a high-quality finish that is easy to maintain – wood is a good choice and is timeless. There are some beautiful one-off wooden antique desks available if you know where to look – plus, if you choose wisely and look after it, there is a chance that it may even increase in value over the years you have it.
Luxury home office lighting
In any office, choosing the right lighting is essential. Your space needs to be bright enough for you to keep working effectively in the winter months and as flexible as possible so that you can adjust it to suit the time of day and night and change it up with the seasons as required. A statement or antique light fitting will make for a sophisticated addition to your room, but make sure that they are dimmable and that they do not cause glare. An overly bright office space – artificially speaking – can be just as bad as a dark one, and can make you feel just as tired and drained, so pay extra attention to this element of your set-up.
Somewhere comfortable to sit
For the sake of your back, you should definitely invest in a good-quality office chair. Modern chairs are usually the best because they can be adjusted to suit your height and shape and help you to maintain good posture. The leather or faux leather look is a good option for a sophisticated luxury office. Choose one with an extendable footrest so that you can sit back and relax while reading and doing research, or when taking that much-needed coffee break.
The bottom line
The perfect home office ensures a perfect balance of practicality and luxury, and should be carefully designed to support your productivity in every possible way. Done right, it will fast become one of your favourite spaces in the home, making the work day seem just that little bit more bearable and, dare we say it, enjoyable.
