Establishing the Optimal Home Office

As the prevalence of telework has increased over the past decade, having a study or home office has become an ever more important feature. Now that many people have had to rapidly adjust to remote work, having a dedicated workspace that allows you to concentrate and be creative makes an enormous difference in your ability to work effectively and maintain a healthy life balance.

Observing your environment and determining what you require to work optimally takes consideration. In a recent article by Architectural Digest, cognitive scientist Anja Jamrozik lays out the five basic things that people need in order to work well: “access to natural light, a comfortable temperature, good air quality, comfortable furniture, and a strategy for minimizing distractions.”

Christie’s International Real Estate gathered expert advice on how to create an inspiring workspace, speaking with award-winning architect Sevil Peach. Peach first recommends considering your business needs and to designate different settings to suit individual tasks. For instance, when is a compact workspace sufficient and when do you need to spread out throughout the day with plans, drawings or view multiple paper files at once? Dedicating space to these types of tasks ahead of time can minimize stress and frustration throughout the workday.

Surrounding yourself with objects of inspiration as well as plants or fresh flowers can also help a space to feel more stimulating. Peach suggests, “’having books to read during your breaks, or even games that are mentally stimulating, and art on the walls’” as well.

Several designers and architects advise finding a room or location with a view of the outside and abundant natural light. Donald Rattner, an architect and the author of My Creative Space, goes further, stating that, “’[y]our line of sight is important, but telecommuters can’t neglect other senses, especially sound. If the room is too quiet or too loud, work will be difficult. “Seventy decibels seems to be a sweet spot when it comes to creative work…’ That’s about as loud as a vacuum cleaner, but rather than run a Dyson all day, Rattner suggests queuing up some instrumental music.”

Take a look at some of the beautiful home offices that owners of our homes have curated.