In the past I’ve written a lot about working from home. Ironically my commute to work is over 40 miles a day. Nevertheless, I dream about having a job that doesn’t require me to drive all the way to sit in a cubicle on a computer and instead allows me to work from home from a home office.
There are some clear benefits of working from home. These benefits range from not having to commute to saving money on dress clothes. While these benefits deserve our attention, they are not the focus of this post. Instead I want to talk specifically about how to set up a functional and comfortable home office.
Separation from the rest of your home
One of the problems that people face when they work from home full-time is that they are “always on.” Work is always one step away so checking emails late into the night and working on projects when you should be taking time away from work is an easy trap to fall into.
This is where a home office can really benefit you. Having a separate room that is only for work can help differentiate work time from family or personal time. Additionally, if your line of work requires frequent conference calls and video chats with clients, make sure it’s in an area that won’t have distracting noises in the background (i.e. don’t set it up in the same room as your kid’s playroom!). Pick the location of your office wisely.
With that being said, sometimes switching it up for part of a day or an entire day can boost productivity. Whether it’s working from the kitchen table or a coffee shop, changing your work environment may have a positive impact on your work.
Choose the right furniture
To be truly comfortable when you are working, consider the important features of your work space.
Chair – If you are looking for one place to splurge on, consider splurging on your office chair. When you are sitting in a chair eight (or more) hours a day, five days a week, it only makes sense to spend more money for added comfort.
Desk – Nothing makes work more difficult or uncomfortable than a small desk. Make sure you choose a desk that has plenty of surface space. Yes we are moving more and more towards an online and paperless setup, but between your monitor, laptop, tablet, phone, coffee mug, binders, and file folders space becomes cramped quickly.
Storage – Storage is something we take for granted until we need more of it. Having adequate shelving, filing cabinets, and space for your supplies is essential to keeping everything organized and accessible.
Besides furniture, make sure you have adequate office supplies, and keep them stocked. The last thing you want to do when you are trying to meet deadlines is waste time searching for staples, post-it notes, and other supplies.
Add your own design touch
Every office space has a desk, chair, and office supplies, but one of the benefits of working from a home office compared to a cubicle is that you get to make all the decisions as far as what the design is.
Perhaps you like to have the TV on in the background while you work; consider adding one in your office. Maybe dim lighting makes you more relaxed while you are working – use lamps instead of the overhead lighting. Include a comfortable couch to nap on when you need a quick ten minute break. Add a big bookshelf, a huge white board, or just add some pictures on the wall. Home offices can be whatever you want them to be, so use your imagination.
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With technology trending towards new and better ways to communicate remotely, it’s only a matter of time before employers start to transition towards work-from-home setups instead of renting expensive office space. Additionally, more and more small businesses are becoming home-based. Whatever the reason you have for setting up a home office, make sure you make it a place that is both functional and comfortable.
What suggestions do you have for setting up a great home office?
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First photo by Dylan
Second photo by liz west
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I’ve been working from home more and more but as of now I do not have anything close to an ideal setup. I get separation from my wife and son (who are home a lot of the time) by going into our bedroom, but I really need to look into creating a real setup if this is something that stays frequent enough for me. In terms of gear, I’d definitely want a monitor and keyboard. A laptop is great but having a bigger screen is really helpful.
Matt @ Mom and Dad Money I have a large monitor but haven’t used it much, mainly because the only time I work from home is for my blog and I like to be around my wife in those times. If I worked from home full-time for work, though, I would definitely utilize one or two monitors.
I would say to make sure your office has limited distractions. I find that when my space has too much clutter or anything that doesn’t belong, it becomes impossible to focus. Keeping a clean space really helps improve productivity in my experience!
BudgetforMore I have this problem as well! It’s actually on my list today to clean out some of the stuff in my office. I have so much extra junk sitting around that needs to be sorted and looked through that it can be distracting for work purposes.
That is one thing we definitely need in our permanent home. Right now my office is in the corner of my bedroom and it is not working. I need a place to work that isn’t also where I sleep! I’m glad its temporary.
Holly at ClubThrifty I remember reading about the setup you have right now. I hope in your permanent home you will have a nice office you can escape to so that you can continue to crank out some amazing blog posts!
Love this! Hopefully I’ll be working on setting up a professional home office soon – and I’ll be coming back to this article when I do :)
CSMillennial Thanks for the kind words about the post! Like I said, I would love to work from home full-time, but it just isn’t in the cards for me right now. When I do, though, I will be taking my own advice!
My current home office is the dining room table, so it doesn’t lend itself to being able to “turn off” easily. That said, I think it would be hard for me to even with an office. I’ve learned that cutting down the distractions is huge to help you in staying focused. Of course, having three little ones running around can make that difficult at times. ;)
FrugalRules Haha yes I have a friend at work who struggles when he works at home because his kids keep bugging him (He has four kids, oldest 9 youngest just a couple months). If I worked from home full-time I think I would still work from the dining room table from time-to-time, but it would be nice to have a dedicated office space.
I don’t have a home office, but we do have a corner of our living room that’s sort of set up like an office. I’m hoping our next home has a dedicated office space. I typically end up working in the living room in front of the TV, which is pretty distracting.
StudentDebtSurvivor Surprisingly I sometimes work better with the TV on in the background. I think I developed this in high school and early in college when my friend and I would work on our website ideas with movies on in the background.
I am currently upgrading my office slowly. One thing I want to get so bad is a chair. The one I have now has very little padding and when I sit to edit it’s not very comfortable. So I will be getting a chair first And since my office is in the living room (living in apartment) I also get distracted by the TV sometimes.
BorrowedCents I hear you on the chair. I need to take my own advice and get a really comfortable one, especially if I start to work from home more often.
We just moved into a new house that has a dedicated office space where I can shut the door and get work done without too many distractions. Sometimes it’s impossible to get completely away from distractions when you have a 3 year old in the house, but it helps to be able to have that separation.
When we moved we upgraded our home office furniture. I got a nice big desk with plenty of desk space available for paperwork, books, etc as well as for my dual monitor setup. We also got new filing cabinets for both of us, as well as a big cabinet to house our networking equipment and keep it out of the way. Less clutter and more organization.
moneymatters I saw some pics you posted on Facebook of your new setup – looks awesome! I have an extra monitor in my current office space but hardly use it, mainly because I get overwhelmed at the clutter I haven’t gone through and the papers I need to go through and file. I have today and tomorrow off from work so hopefully I can make some progress on that.
Our next house I would really like to have a designated office space. While we currently do have one, I’m *pretty* certain if we stay here longer-term (10 or more years) we’ll knock down walls and make 2 bedrooms out of 1 upstairs. Then we’ll have a guest bedroom downstairs, kids bedroom upstairs, and our bedroom. Only bad thing is that means the office space will have to share the basement with entertainment space.
DC @ Young Adult Money moneymatters Here’s our office after I put together all the desks and other storage. Took me the better part of a week!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BZc32EVCUAAwSUl.jpg:large
moneymatters Your office looks amazing!
Separation is a HUGE key for me. I use to be in a bedroom right next to the kids rooms and it was not pretty. A couple years ago I built a separate guest house that now houses my office. Obviously not an option for everyone, but if you work from home full-time you gotta get some separation one way or another.
RatherBeShopping Oh man a guest house sounds absolutely amazing. My friend’s parents have something similar. It’s a garage with a full bathroom and upstairs a living area. My friend lived there for a year during college and it was a pretty sweet hangout place. Anyway I agree, if I had kids I would need separation for sure.
Great suggestions. I use a spare bedroom for my office. It’s where I pay the bills and do my blogging. But I’ve been thinking more and more about moving everything to the finished basement and just keeping our only spare bedroom as a guest room and putting a bed in there. I also need to setup more shelving.
Practical Cents I just replied to Peter from Bible Money Matters explaining my future dillema! If we stay in this house long-term I plan on knocking down walls and turning our current 3 bedroom upstairs into two bedrooms. Then we’d have two bedrooms upstairs (us and future kid(s)) and a guest bedroom downstairs. That means the office will have to be shared with entertaining space in the basement. Not a terrible setup but definitely not ideal.
I don’t work from home, but my goal for our next apartment is to get two bedrooms, so I can make one an office. I like to separate the computer from everything else in the house anyway. Too often when my boyfriend and I are trying to watch TV, I’ll be sitting at my computer half watching and commenting on blogs. I think the chair and desk are very important aspects of an office. At my last job we had to downsize from bigger desks to cubicles, and it wasn’t fun trying to find space for paperwork.
JourneytoSaving I would definitely recommend the two bedroom apartments. That’s what we had last year and it worked out really well. We had one room as our bedroom (obviously) and the other room was essentially half office half storage.
I pretty much always “half watch” TV while working on the blog. I think I’m actually more efficient with the TV on in the background :0
We got new cubicles at my work a year and a half ago and I still hate them with a passion. Pretty much no privacy and people constantly invading your personal space, and there is less space for you to work as well.
I agree that it is a good idea to have an office in a separate space in your home. For the most part I am okay with sitting in the living room with my laptop working but if I really need to focus I have to go sit at my desk. And, I like to decorate my little home office corner with pictures of quotes and sayings the motivate me.
SingleMomIncome Thanks for your insight, especially someone who works from home full-time. I also don’t mind working in the Living room, and do most of my blogging there. If I worked from home full-time, though, I think I would try to dedicate certain hours of the day to my desk so that I am forced to sit down and hammer out projects.
My desk is right next to my bed, so whenever I’m working from home I’m always tempted to lie down. I have found myself reading blogs in bed, computer on my tummy, and completely passing out ;)
brokeandbeau Haha been there, done that.
My husband works from home so we took the time to make sure it was functional. Definitely invest in a good chair. That was the one I disliked when I worked in Corporate – the chairs weren’t very good and we sit in them for at least 8 hours a day! Having a separate space if you can is important too. These days it’s harder than ever to disconnect from work so being able to physically shut a door and walk away helps. Also, if possible, a room with good natural light is nice too.
ShannonRyan Thanks for your insights, Shannon! My work got new chairs a year ago so they are pretty comfortable, but before that we had old chairs that could really hurt your back after a while. That’s awesome your husband works from home full-time. Wish I could say the same.
Having a dedicated space would be a must. Otherwise, I’d see something that needed to be cleaned our laundry that needed to be folded. If my main job was from home, I’d need to work on making a space my own for sure.
Eyesonthedollar I agree. I had PTO today and had a list of blogging work I wanted to get done, but it ended up merging with my cleaning “to do” list. Needless to say I cleaned the entire family room and my bedroom and did about 10 loads of laundry :0 It hurt the blog productivity, but I’m not doing it full-time. If I was, I’d need that office space for sure!
Great post! I still have not set up a designated home office, even though I do have a room with a desk. It just isn’t “pretty” enough to where I would want to work in there.
SenseofCents I hear you, plus if you plan on travelling for a few months in the near future I imagine it wouldn’t make much sense to get used to working in a dedicated office!
As soon as I saw this post, it reminded me that my back is sore from sitting in my not-so-comfortable home office chair! Thank you guys for reminding me that it’s worth it to splurge on something like a comfy, proper work chair – if you’re going to be sitting down for so many hours a day, it makes sense.
I’m actually very new to the working from home thing (only a month in!) but so far, I’m loving the kind of balance that it gives me. I come into work 2 days a week, and work from home the rest. It’s nice to be able to get out into town every other day, but also great to know that I won’t be making the trek the next day!
LucyZ This sounds like an ideal setup and one that I would love to have myself. Some bigger corporations have fully embraced work from home, while others have almost completely opposed it. I hope I can eventually get something like yours where I can go in a certain number of days a week and work from home most of the rest of the days.
I don’t think you can overstate the “separation” part enough; it’s such a big problem. It’s also why me studying is very good for the local coffee shops’ revenues!
Ugifter Let’s just say I have given coffee shops my fair share of income as well!
Forget the office chair, get a standing desk instead! Research seems to indicate that we may be shortening our lives significantly by spending lots of time sitted and sedentary, a standing posture is not only good for our health, our backs and burning calories, it also keeps our brains alert and sharp during the day. I have been trying it on and off and can attest to the benefits.
Secondly, consider getting a plant for your office :)
Simon @ModestMoney No plants! I have allergies haha. Also I think the standing desk sounds great but I could never do it all day long. The desks at my full-time job are set up for it, though, and some people do it for a set amount of time each day.
having an adequate desk with the right storage makes the most sense! I hate my current desk and never use it because it has no drawer space. We also lack adequate space for my printer. Eventually I want to get a better one, but one that involves a usable hutch and under storage as floor space is a premium in our place.
Tara Zee I hear you, sometimes getting TOO big of a desk actually hurts you long-term because it uses up so much valuable square footage. That’s one reason I love IKEA design. There seems to be no space too small for their furniture and design.
Drawer space is such a great thing! It really makes things better and keeps things organized. I also find a comfy chair is key especially if you are sitting all day. So much easier on the back.
DebtandtheGirl One thing I think would really help me is shelving. I don’t have any and haven’t found any that I like enough to install.
The less distractions the better. I run everything from my computer but if I was stretched for time, I would probably have two computers, one for work with no social media or movies or anything on it, and one for fun. It is too easy to switch to something more fun otherwise.
RFIndependence I agree! It’s probably why social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are blocked at my work. It’s too easy in today’s day and age to go on them and waste time, especially if you have no work reason to be on them.
It’s funny how the home office is the only thing that has gotten updated. It used to be a child’s bedroom before we moved in, but my partner transformed it into an office. We have a real long desk so it gives me a lot of space to spread my stuff around. I like how we can sometimes work side by side on our computers. Makes me feel like I’m a real office, because my current job is not an office job.
I don’t have this yet, but I would like to have a huge white board or bulletin board so I can write lists of ongoing tasks or pin ideas for home décor.
MakintheBacon That’s really cool that you put in a long table. My wife and I just bought identical desks, which has worked well for us (we need our own defined space haha). I have planned on adding shelves for a while now and I hope to add a white board or bulletin board where I can add ideas and projects.
That home office also may come with tax advantages. If you have a dedicated office space (used only for an office), you can take the percentage that the office space is of your whole house, and you can write-off that same percentage of all your house expenses. So if your home office space is 10% of your total house space, you can write off 10% of your rent, utilities, insurance, etc. So says my CPA wife. :)
Brian @ Luke1428 I’ve heard that! But I’ve also heard this is an audit flag. I suppose if you really did work from home full-time it would be easy to prove, though. I have quite a bit of work ahead of me trying to figure out write-offs for the rental unit in our basement. Maybe I should interview your wife for a post on that topic…
DC @ Young Adult Money Brian @ Luke1428 Hi, DC, This is Kim, Brian’s CPA wife. You are correct, that the home office deduction does sometimes raise eyebrows at the IRS, however it is a legitimate deduction, and if it is done properly, it can save some tax dollars for you. One of the biggest ways that people lose the legitimacy of the deduction is if the space is not dedicated.
DC @ Young Adult Money Brian @ Luke1428 Sorry, I hit post too soon and didn’t finish my comment :)
A dedicated space means that the space is ONLY for your business, but also that it is your ONLY business space. Meaning, if I had a room at my house that was only used as my office for doing CPA work, it wouldn’t qualify because I have an office at my job location. It is not my principal place of business.
I would recommend reading the IRS guidelines (including the new “simplified” method for 2013), and then if you understand the rules, and you meet all the requirements, then go ahead and take the deduction. http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-%26-Self-Employed/Home-Office-Deduction
KimFourman Brian @ Luke1428 Thanks Kim! I appreciate the insight. I may be emailing you in the future (via your husband) with a couple questions about a different tax issue I’m dealing with.
Location in the home would really be a huge plus. I’ve had to watch B on the phone sometimes wither her freelance work and then the dogs start going off. We really don’t have a seperate room so I have to chase them down to get them to quite down. You would probably still hear them in another room, but at least the sound would be muffled.
MicrosMissions Ah yes, I don’t have dogs but I have a cat that can be quite loud when she wants attention. Had to shoo her out of the room when I was working from home and was on a conference call last week.
Separation (ie, making it a place where you can be alone) is very important. I try to work at the kitchen table, or in the living room while watching TV with my family. Doesn’t work..not even a little bit!
DebtChronicles I’ve actually been able to work while watching TV or being around my wife, but I may try working in the office and really trying to concentrate, and then when I’m done spending time with her.
DC @ Young Adult Money DebtChronicles I get so much done if I just isolate myself for an hour or 90 minutes – then I can put the computer down and just enjoy my family and give them my undivided attention. Then, after they go to bed….fire it back up. LOL.
DebtChronicles Haha I hear you. I currently am isolated in the office, which is something I haven’t done for a LONG time. It’s nice making use of the large monitor I bought a few years ago as well.
I don’t have kids, but I can imagine it would be nearly impossible to work while they’re around. I will have to be even more intentional about planning out my time when I do have them.
I really don’t have separation because my kitchen table is my home office, but I also live alone. But I always keep it very neat and tidy so it doesn’t look too “office-y.” I would say make it bright and cheery. And be aware of clutter. Don’t let stuff pile up.
Beachbudget Clutter is the worst! I have too much in my office space and I just end up being distracted by all the papers I need to sort and go through.
A good chair is so important… so many back problems can be avoided with a good chair and good posture. I don’t have a dedicated office space, unless you count my laptop and couch ;)
OutlierModel Honestly, I spend quite a bit of time blogging from the couch!
I can’t wait to set up my home office and to stop doing work on the kitchen table. I want mine to be bright and happy with some inspirational art work to keep me going when I am tired. :)
BudgetBlonde Sounds like it will be a nice place to work! I do quite a bit of work from the ktichen table as well.