Where Function Meets Style: Curating Your Ideal Home Office

This year, let’s create and curate our homes. Let’s start in January in the home office, study, den, or wherever you call, where you pay your bills, plan your future, and connect with friends. An office may not be a designated room, but it is a space we need. And we need it to be a space where function meets style. January is an excellent time to get our “financial” space in order and start the year soundly. So, let’s begin creating and curating our homes here in our office space. This blog is part three of the ‘Creating Home Series’ blogs; December Musings and Beginning Thoughts are the previous ones.

Do you have a designated room for your office? Or do you have a desk in a room in your house? Or do you use the dining room table as your desk? This is the jumping-off point for our “office.” I put “office” in quotes for the fundamental reason that it is the place where we get work done.

Function is needed before style.  

A desk is a flat working space essential for your computer, notes, files, etc. So, how big of a tabletop do you need? And what kind do you need or want in your home? There is no firm line in what you have for a desk or if you use the dining room table. It needs to be as big as your task needs. Here is where I will put a disclaimer on the last sentences. Your desk or table needs to be at a height for physical comfort. A desk’s comfort height is dictated by whether you are sitting on the floor, in a chair, or standing. Remember, we’re going for a function meeting style.

I cannot stress that enough. Therefore be sure that where you are working does not put a strain on your body. This includes lighting. Lighting needed in office spaces includes general lighting, typically overhead, and task lighting, which could be the lamp on the tabletop.

Function is essential in the office for the tasks at hand

Organization is required for whatever kind of space you use. Why do I say that? Because our office space and desk are a place to focus on the task at hand:

• Professional work 
• Correspondence
• Manage your budget and oversee your finances
• Dreaming & Planning
• Children’s schoolwork
• Hobbies workspace

As we stated earlier, a flat surface is needed to work on these tasks, but they also need organization. Whether paper storage or digital clarity, plan for what you need. Examples of task storage include: 

• File cabinets 
• Shelves for books and binders
• Desk drawers or boxes to store stationery
• Boxes for children’s school books and papers
• Bins for hobby and art supplies

Please make a list of what you need to keep the space clutter-free and functional for all who will use it.

Tips to Design Your Functional Office Space

How do you know what works for you? Use your space or spaces over the next two weeks, but keep a notepad close by and write down your likes, dislikes, wishes, and perfect design. This notetaking time is always the best way to start any project. Evaluate what you have, then grow from there. Build a relationship with the space and how you feel about it. Note: I used spaces as plural in case you move around the house working on different tabletops.

In the meantime, explore styles and ideas of what you like concerning workspaces and offices. Desks with file drawers? Open clean line tables? A desktop with coordinated office accessories? Gather ideas via Pinterest, magazines, and websites. Let’s gather our information for the function meeting style before we act. 

Create Your Function Meets Style Office

1. To begin with, use your notes for your test period and style ideas to decide what to purchase or use from your existing furniture. 
2. Then, go on to get the needed storage and task items.
3. Check to see if you have adequate lighting; add that to the space.
4. The final step, and one just as important as the function of the desk and chair, is to add your personality.

I will leave this as the last step in creating a function meets style office space, which is usually a sterile work environment. Create your workspace with a glimpse into your personality. Do this with the art on the wall, the lamp on the desk, unique pieces found on your travels, the cup that holds your writing utensils, or a collection that inspires you to curate your dreams. 

As we leave this month on our year-long journey of creating and curating our home, I hope this will be an enjoyable process. Have fun with it. If you have already made this space, curate it. Access what is working or not and tweak the room. You may want to take out old items you brought in because “they work” and bring in some new pieces that inspire you to create. Whatever your “office” needs for you to love it, this is the month to make it happen. The blog ‘5 Tasks for January’ is an another step for starting the year off strong.