Pin it

A pin board is a great idea if you have the space for it. Instead of ruining your wall with blu tack, nails and sticky tape, a pinboard means you can change its appearance frequently and move it around at free will. Having a place to express your creativity helps get your ideas from your mind into reality. It is a creative process that will help you with other design ideas. 

Taking breaks

Emily Wright: "I find that taking short breaks every hour helps keep my mind sane. If I sit in front of the computer for too long I find myself loosing concentration. During my breaks I like to take a short walk, or do something I enjoy, like reading. The breaks are a time for me to relax my mind, and not think about the work I am doing. Once I come back from my breaks, I find my mind is fresh."

Storage

No matter if your design station is tidy or messy, you will still need space to put all your things. This is where storage comes handy. Depending on your space there are plenty of different ways to create storage:

• Wall shelves
• Storage cabinets 
• Drawer units 
• Bookcases
• Shelving units
• Cabinets and sideboards 
• Desks 
• Boxes

Usually we run out of space to put everything, and we begin to rethink how our workspace can adapt so that we can store more things. If you are designing your new workspace, it is important to incorporate a lot of storage options, starting with your desk. The desk is one of the most important things you will buy and one of the hardest to change. It doesn’t need to have storage options, but if your house is lacking space then it is ideal. You can find desks with shelves, draws and pigeon holes that can help you.

If you already have a desk and need other options then I would look towards shelving units if you have enough space. If you have no space on the floor, then look towards wall shelves. They can be quite stylish and it keeps the clutter away from the floor.

Having adequate storage will help you organise your design station so that you keep the clutter away from your desktop. Once your design station is organised, your life will be too.

Here are some cheap workspace storage options from IKEA.

Desk lamps

Desk lamps are important and contribute to the overall light in your room. You should try and have three sources of light:

1. Natural light: Coming from a window, preferably with a blind so you can filter the light. 
2. Ceiling light: This will light your whole room.
3. Desk lamp: This is a task light and helps you focus light on your desk. 

I talk about lighting more in my earlier post 'Natural Lighting'.

The current fad are these industrial looking desk lamps. They are perfect for design workspaces because their height and focus can be adjusted easily. I found a great range at IKEA.

Throw rugs for your office chair

A recent fad in the office workspace is fur throw rugs. Most commonly sheep skin rugs, are being used over chairs to bring comfort and warmth. I personally love this idea, especially because my workspace gets very cold in winter. It feels amazing and looks very stylish. You usually see white throw rugs, but other colours (like the grey above) can be used to, depending on your rooms colour palette. 

I found a cheap sheep skin rug at IKEA.

Amazing architecture

Country view

Inspiration Wall

Johanna Lynch: "As an artist I find that having an inspirational environment helps my creativity. I have a wall behind my computer that I pin my recent inspirations onto. I pin my favourite drawings, artworks, pictures, photos, quotes, or anything that inspires me to do my best work. I use my own material and the work of others. I change the wall constantly to keep my mind excited. I really enjoy redecorating my wall and spend time making it look great."

Desk tour

A nice little desk tour of a work and home office. It shows you what most designers use technology wise and how it is set up.

Inspirational Workstation

This is one of the best design workstations I have ever seen! It has draws, cupboards, a pin board for creative inspiration, a calendar and the white theme is very sleek. You could really run a business from this workstation.

Shapes

This workstation is very simple. It is the wall that is inspirational. The colour theme is amazing. 

Natural lighting

Lighting in your design workspace is probably the one thing that you need to get right. This post will discuss the common problems with home office lighting and how you can fix it to get better productivity. In work offices lighting is usually not controlled by you, whereas in your home office you can control your lighting situation. You are in control of the space and can make changes to improve your productivity.

Too much light, not enough light or even artificial light can all have negative effects on you while your working. It is important that you find the right type and amount of light to work in. The wrong type of lighting can cause a number of issues, the main ones being: eye strain, headaches, migraines, drowsiness and lack of focus. None of these symptoms are ideal. Too much light could be a bright light too close to your workstation or a window without any blinds to filter the light. Dim light can be light that has low lux or the light source is too far away or pointed in the wrong direction.

Combining artificial and natural lighting in your design workspace is ideal. In a home you are likely to find a room with a window where you can set up your design workspace. It is important that you remember that unlike artificial lighting, natural light changes during the day and depends on the weather, so to achieve the ideal work environment make sure to have blinds that can control the amount of natural light coming in.

Read more about how lighting impacts our productivity.

When setting up your design workplace the position of your desk and computer needs to reflect the position of the window. Don't position your workspace so that you face the natural light directly, nor should you have the light coming from behind you. Align your workstation at a right angle to the window to avoid glare and excessive background lighting.

Once you have the option of natural light in your workspace you need to focus on the artificial light. It is best to have more than one source of artificial light, usually an indirect lighting source installed to brighten up the entire room and a smaller direct light source situated on the workstation.

Look at some recommended home office lighting options.

RECAP:

• Combine artificial and natural lighting
• Use a room with a window
• Make sure the window has blinds
• Position your desk at a right angle to windows
• Have more than one artificial light source