Home office 2: Designing rooms well

Part 1: Home office - good routines

Guest article by housing consultant Tanja Sauer

What unites us all at the moment is that we have been and are being challenged from one day to the next to change our lives and our everyday lives as a result of the coronavirus.

Working from home with a separate office?

Many of us are now working from home. Not everyone is in the fortunate position of having their own workspace.

In this case, the switch to working from home is relatively easy. In the morning, you simply go to your office after breakfast, close the door and can start working from there. At least if you don't have to supervise your young children's school lessons at the same time...

Home office without a separate room

But probably very few of them have their own workspace.

That's why, as a home consultant, I'd like to give you a few ideas to help you create a workplace where you feel comfortable and can be productive.

For me, living and living beautifully is a breathing space for the soul - even while working.

I am convinced that beautiful and individualised living concepts are not a question of budget. They can arise from the interplay of the uniqueness of each room, the people who live in it and tips from experts like me.

I have compiled my living tips from the point of view that it is currently not possible to make a quick trip to a furniture store to buy one or two things. I have also taken into account the fact that many of us will have little financial and time leeway for purchases in the near future.

Even if you can still buy something from an online shop at the moment, you don't know when it will be delivered.

Instant tips for a nicer home office

We live in the here and now and that's why I want to give you living tips that you can realise immediately.

1. structure

This room tip is independent of how much space you have available for your home office:

• Familiar order: Have you organised things the way you do in your workplace? Of course change is good for us. However, it has been proven that too many changes at once stress us out. I would therefore recommend that you organise your workplace in a similar way to how it usually looks - for example in your office.
• Separate working and living: Make sure that you separate working and living areas. This is also possible if you do not have a separate room available (see 3.).
• Lighting: Make sure you have the best possible lighting. Poor lighting makes your eyes and you tired more quickly.

2. home office - in a separate room

Your previous office, which you only visited in the evenings or at weekends, will now become your permanent workplace. I have the following suggestions for you:

• Tidy up and reduce: Have you been using your office as a storage room for everything possible? Then tidy up or muck out, so that nothing distracts you. Otherwise you might see the air mattress from your summer holiday, think about that holiday, think about when you can travel again and then you're no longer thinking about work.
• Use cloths: If you are distracted by visual stimuli - such as looking at a shelf full of stuff - you can use sheets or cloths to create more visual calm in the room.

3. home office - changing the function of a room

Maybe you have a guest room. If so, I would recommend using it for your home office. 

• Distraction-free: Organise your workspace so that there are as few distractions as possible when you let your eyes wander. You may first need to tidy up and organise things so that nothing distracts you.
• Improvise a table: If there is not normally a table in the guest room, you will of course need one. Perhaps you have a table on the balcony or in the garden that you can use. You can build a simple table from boards and trestles from the Bauhaus. Another option is perhaps to unhinge a door and use it as a worktop. It is advisable not to use the door for your new home office space. 

4. Home office at the living room table or kitchen table

Create a visual separation at the desk where you work, especially if you share it with others at the same time. Create a workspace for your working time.

The basic idea is to divide the table into a working and living area. 

• Draw a line: For example, you can draw a line on the table and place houseplants on it. Of course, the whole thing shouldn't look like a jungle. 
• Vases: If you don't have any houseplants, you could perhaps place several vases with one flower in each. 
• Feierabend-Platz: Create space for your work materials in a cupboard or shelf and store them there when you have finished work. You can plan your work for the next day first and then put all your work materials away. This is important so that you can really wind down after your time working from home. Even if you use your laptop to watch films later, you've put a stop to it for now.
• After-work box: If you don't have space in a cupboard or shelf, maybe you have an empty box somewhere, or what most of us have is a suitcase to store your things in when you get off work.
• Change of place: If you use the desk "normally", then it can also be helpful not to sit in the space you use for your home office in your free time, because your brain associates this with work, effort and possibly also stress over time.
• Office mug: Perhaps a special office mug will also help you to mark the difference between working time and free time.

Home office in your style

It can also be helpful to make sure that you only furnish your workplace in a certain style that suits you. Perhaps your family is more romantic, but you are more businesslike or vice versa. Then make sure that your space matches your style. You can find good ideas for this on my website and in the impulse booklet "Living, impulses to discover your personal style"  (see below)

My wish is that these living impulses will help you to feel comfortable in your home - while you work or relax.

I wish you the best of the best, stay healthy and if you have any other home office-related questions, please feel free to email me. get in touch with me via Facebook or Instagram.

Tanja Sauer has published the impulse booklet Living. Impulses to discover your personal style.

She says about herself: "In spring 2006, I founded my company "Tanja Sauer - Wohnberatung und mehr". Since then, I have also been working as a home counsellor.

If you would like to find out more about me, you can visit my website www.tanjasauer.com visit.

Continue to part 3: Home office - my 10 best tools

Photo  Agnieszka Boeske and Stefan Grage on Unsplash