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if you’ve been following my stories over the last few moths you will know that we have been on quite the renovation at our family home. Not only are we in the middle of a big kitchen extension but we have just finished having an office built at the end of our (VERY long) garden which going forwards, will be a home office and snug room space.
One of the biggest advantages for me is that I will be able to create a working from home space that meets all of my needs – no more navigating my way through children’s toys to reach my desk; no blurring of my work and home space and no sitting at the dining room table where I should be eating my tea.
One of the things I was most excited about was designing a space that was entirely mine, somewhere that reflects my personality and is aesthetically pleasing, striking and unique.
If you are looking to create your own working from home space, here are some of my working from home / home office essentials!
Drinks Station
Whatever your drink of choice and particularly if you are planning a garden office like ours, it’s crucial to maintain easy access to liquids to get you though the working day. Whether its a fancy coffee machine such as the Nespresso Lattissima (which got rave reviews from Mike) one or the more traditional ‘water cooler’ style drinks – find a choice that works best for you.
In the same way that you need to have access to delicious food to give you enough energy to work, you need access to a drinks station to hydrate you while you work. You’ll be a much more professional and productive individual when you start your day with Growli and then have access to drinks and snacks in your home office all day. You get the chance to eat delicious food all day long when you’re at home; just ensure that you are equipped for it!
I am making a real effort to drink more water at the moment and step away from the Pepsi Max. It’s easy said than done, but having a large jug like the ZeroWater 5 Stage Advanced filtration is a great option. Not only does the ZeroWater reduce 99.6% of all total dissolved solids in your drinking water, but performed better than the Brita Maxa in tests, delivering the purest tasting water within minutes. Get yours here.
Suitable Heating
Working from home all the time can certainly have an impact on your heating bills,, so something like the Google Nest Learning Thermostat is a really sensible option, allowing you to have far more control over your room temperatures and working conditions.
Not only can the Next thermostat help ave money on heating and cooling costs (normally around 10% in heating costs) but it actually learns and adapts to your schedule. If you working on a hybrid basis and coming home earlier than planned, you can even manually adjust the temperature on your phone so that it’s nice and toasty on your return/
That’s not all – this super smart thermostat can even alert you on your phone if something is wrong, such as low temperatures that can cause frozen pipes or a furnace that is malfunctioning! Get yours from Very here.
Suitable lighting
I have a real issue with some office lighting – the fluorescent over head lighting often gives me a headache and I hate the lack of control over the brightness of my surroundings. It’s important to ensure you have regular eye tests (you can pick up new frames from Silver & Rose Opticians Formby) but you need to consider your room lighting too. Top of my list in the garden office was ensuring no glare from windows by purchasing bespoke shutters or blinds and adding dimmer switches and focused desk lighting that can create more localised lighting and simply be turned on and off as required.
For office lights with a difference at Floately – these are a great way of combining lighting with meditation, calm and green plants too.
Prints
If you want to add some personality into your room, Desenio are a great option, having absolutely loads of modern, on trend designs to choose from and always at really affordable prices too. There are even a few discounted options at the moment, meaning you can save even more off their already very reasonable prices and update your living spaces without needing to spend a fortune!
If you’re struggling to picture how the prints will work in your space, you can even check out Desenio’s inspiration rooms for lots of ideas on how to combine prints into gallery walls, centre pieces and themes to match the rest of your interior.
You can see the prints I have chosen in the pictures above and below. Our office room is going to be fairly clean and bright, with white walls and grey soft furnishings, so a monochrome colour scheme was ideal. With wood panelling being added to the back wall, the plan is to create a picture rail on the top for some of our larger prints to stand pride of place and be the first thing that catches your eye as you walk in to the room.
Ergonomic Home Office Chair
As someone who works in HR by day, I know just how important it is to look after your physical and mental wellbeing when working in an office – whether that’s a traditional office space or when working from home.
Factors such as taking regular breaks, making sure your screen is at the right height and sitting at an ergonomic workstation where you can adjust how you sit really is key.
For the last 18 months I have sat on a dining room chair to work. Whilst great for eating and lounging, a chair such as this is not designed to be sat at for 8 hours a day, meaning I often found myself crossing my legs, folding up one leg or sitting cross legged to raise up my height. None of these things are great on my physical wellbeing, neck or back. I would often feel tense and uncomfortable at the end of the working day.
I have recently worked with Summit At Home on a review of their home office chairs. With over 45 years experience, they really are the experts when it comes to finding the right chair for you.
Summit chairs are designed with safety and comfort in mind. Their chairs offer Dynamic Sitting, meaning each of the chairs can be adjusted whilst you are seated, enabling you can constantly move positions whilst you work and keep your spine healthy and happy.
Summit At Home home office chairs are made to order here in the UK with a free 10 day delivery turnaround time. They even come with a 5 year guarantee! You can see our full review of their chairs here.
