If you have a spacious home office that is actually in a private room, separate from the hustle and bustle of the main house, then you’re one of the lucky few. But if your home office is tiny or cannot be considered an “office” at all, you may not be getting much benefit from your working environment. And guess what? That means lower productivity, motivation, and eventually dissatisfaction with work.
If you’re in the same boat, there’s no need to worry. There are plenty of ways to make the most out of a small home office or a pseudo-office, starting with these ones:
1. Cut the clutter
When you’re trying to think of business growth strategies, the ideas will flow more freely if you aren’t distracted by the piles of paperwork on your desk, the excess equipment taking up space in the corner, and the multitude of knick-knacks that are cluttering up your shelves. To make your office more conducive to productivity and free up precious space at the same time, remove unnecessary items from the room. This includes non-essential equipment, furniture, files, books, and decor.
2. Hide your cables
Having messy cables in an already cramped space can make your office look a lot more unkempt. Plus, there’s also the risk of you or someone else tripping over the cables and wires strewn across your floor. Keep your cables mess and tangle-free by tucking them behind the desk and around the walls. You can also use zip ties or cable organizers to prevent them from tangling up, making it easier (and safer) to navigate through your cables.
3. Hang mirrors
One of the best ways to make any room feel and look bigger is to install more mirrors. Adding reflective space to the room will give the illusion of a bigger space, as well as provide additional surfaces for light to bounce off of. So aside from making your home office seem bigger, mirrors can help more natural light permeate the room and make it look brighter.
4. Use smaller furniture
Big desks are a thing of the past, and no, you don’t really need that gigantic swivel chair in your office. If you already have limited space as it is, investing in the right-sized furniture can make a big difference. Moreover, it’s best to keep the number of furniture to a minimum. Aside from your main workstation, you don’t really need much else aside from a chair and a few storage pieces.
5. Go vertical
When you have a small office, it makes much more sense to use vertical space. Install shelves that go high up, stack drawers on top of each other, and utilize the space above couches or desks. In this way, you’re optimizing storage space in your office without taking up horizontal space and making it cramped.
6. Repaint the walls
Dark colors can make a small space look and feel even smaller. Apart from that, they are usually not ideal for working spaces as they can make the environment feel gloomy and depressing. However, they can be used for accents, especially for spaces behind monitors to minimize visual distractions.
If your walls are drab, dark, or generally unkempt, consider applying a fresh layer of paint in light or natural colors that are great for productivity, such as beige, warm white, and pale blue.
7. Join two rooms
Sometimes, a tiny room just won’t cut it as a home office no matter how much de-cluttering you do or how many mirrors you hang up. Therefore, if it is feasible to join two small rooms together into a bigger one, consider exploring this option when making your home office to eliminate spatial issues once and for all.
8. Invest in space-saving furniture
Expanding chairs, extendable tables, folding workstations, compact workstations, and other types of space-saving office furniture can help you maximize the space in your office without sacrificing style and comfort. Space-saving storage such as stackable cabinets and mobile bookcases are also good options for a tiny office.
9. Work outside the office
Sometimes, an office can feel too cramped to work in, regardless of its size. When your workspace feels too suffocating, try working in other parts of your home such as the living room or kitchen; or perhaps go to a coworking space or cafe to enjoy a more productive workspace.
Having a tiny office at home can feel akin to having a cramped cubicle at work. Either way, not having enough space can be a damper to productivity. Nevertheless, these tips can make your small home office feel and look much bigger, helping you achieve optimal work performance while working from home.
