Ole Decor Magazine

Have you recently started working from home? It used to be that saying you work from home carried a negative connotation. Working from home is now an unplanned requirement for many who never had to do so before. Because of the many changes to our way of life, working from home no longer implies a lack of either professionalism or success.

Why you need a Dedicated Home Office

When you work from home, it may feel difficult to keep your work life separate from your home life. Sitting at the dining room table to work makes you feel like you never leave your job. You need a dividing line between your work and home. A makeshift home office does not work well for the long term. A dedicated office space is the solution. Typically, walls and a door create a defined area, but they are not necessary. A book-shelf, chair, or other piece of furniture can serve as a demarca-tion point to keep you in work mode.

Having a home office environment separate from the rest of your home promotes discipline. It is also essential to boost your productivity. A separate office space helps remove any distractions from elsewhere in the house. If you are a small business owner, a home office can also provide tax advantages. You will be able to deduct part of your utilities, repairs, and depreciate the part of your home used for your office. Taking advantage of unused space and using it as an office or building a home office addition will also increase the value of your home.

Where to put your home office

If you have one, use a room that Is large enough to hold a desk, chair, and computer equipment with a door that can be shut to separate work life from home life. You can convert a guest room into a dual-purpose space. It can be an office most of the time and a guest room when you have friends or family come to visit. You might also turn an unused formal living or dining room into a home office. For privacy, install a sliding barn door. You might also hang curtains over the doorway or use folding screens to create a divider.

When space is an issue, a standard closet can be out-fitted with a built-in desk with shelving at either end. Simply close the doors at the end of the day to make a break between work and home. Turning an empty loft space into your home office is another creative solution. It can do double duty as a classroom area or homework station for your children too. Maybe you have room to enclose part of a porch or a corner of a large laundry room. You can convert a small garden shed into a home office “away” from home for those who may need to meet with clients. All of these are great ways to take advantage of unused space.

What to put in your home office

Working from home does have its benefits. It enables you to create the office space you desire. You get to choose every-thing that goes into your office space. When you are in a happy, comfortable environment then you will be more productive. The basic items you need for your home office are a desk, a chair, your computer, and a light source. Keep your office space well organized to keep your mind organized as well. Having a disorganized desk will keep you disorganized in your work and add more stress. If you need storage, build or add bookcases. Your desk or table should be least 29 inches in height from the floor to the top of your work surface. Your desk chair needs to be adjustable, easily movable, and provide lumbar support for your lower back.

It is a good idea to invest in a good quality headset to use when you have video conference calls. Relying on the micro-phone and speaker in your computer can result in poor sound quality and an annoying echo. Another must have for your home office is plenty of indirect natural light so you can easily read papers and see physical objects. Indirect lighting means lights that are not directly in your field of view or reflecting off your computer monitor. This prevents strain on your eyes which can result in headaches. Find a good desk lamp for those days when there is not enough natural light.

How to decorate your home office

When you create a workspace in your home, make sure that it inspires you to want to use it and allow you to get down to business. You want a space that is stylish, functional, and reflects your personality. Hang art that inspires you. Art energizes a space and motivates you. Keep things in your office which make you smile or make you happy. Even though you are working, your space does not have to look utilitarian. The more creature comforts you add to your workspace, the better you will feel while working. If you sit near a window, the best place-ment for your monitor is perpendicular to the window. Sitting with your monitor in front of the window results in too much contrast between the light from outside and the monitor screen.

If you sit with your back to the window, the light will reflect off your monitor and cause too much glare on the screen. Add a table lamp and a comfortable chair to sit in when you need to think. Place a plant on the table to bring nature inside, help you feel calm, and to clean the air. Add an area rug under-foot for texture, pattern, visual interest, and to absorb sound. Bring furniture pieces and décor from other parts of the house into your office. A mix of vintage and modern makes your work-space feel warm, inviting, and personal. Choose colors that you love instead of what is trendy. Colors that draw you in and speak to you will encourage you to do your best work. Your dedicated home office can be as simple as a desk and chair in an unused corner of your home, or as elaborate as a new room addition with all the amenities of an outside office.

Results of creating a dedicated home office

Jobs and businesses that let you work from home are here to stay. When you work from home, you gain flexibility. Your commute is the length of your hallway so you spend less time traveling and you can get more work done. Having your own home office gives you better work-life balance, increased productivity from being better able to focus, and less stress. Working from home also means that you will learn to rely on self-motivation, self-discipline, focus, and concentration. By keeping a positive mindset and creating a home office that you love to spend time in, you can do a great job and enjoy the benefits that go along with working from home.

-Christina Rodriguez

Professional Interior Designer

divabydesigninteriors.com

Written By Alma Guerrero Barham

Early lighting, before modern electrical devices were invented, consisted of kerosene lamps, candles, fireplaces, gas lamps, and for outdoors— fires made from burning branches and twigs and other materials.

Thomas Edison was credited with the invention of the FIRST light bulb In 1879. If he were alive today, he would, without a doubt, be vastly impressed with how far his invention has come.For too long, lighting was not given proper credit for its importance in the design media. Actually, lighting is the most practical, exciting and mysterious element of the world of media. It is exciting due to its ability to transform the objects it touches. Light directs attention within a space because the eye automatically seeks out the brightest and most interesting object in the field of vision. It is mysterious because light rays are invisible until they strike a surface. As for its practicality, that is self-explanatory.

Good lighting is also extremely versatile. Depending on its use, it can highlight art, wash walls, facilitate a multitude of tasks, direct attention to beautiful landscaping, or it can be used to provide excitement and drama. It is also one of the few design elements that can be changed easily and quickly. With the flick of a switch, or the turn of a dimmer, light can alter pattern, color and intensity. Lighting must suit the purpose for which the room will be used and also create moods in which the occupants will be happy to live or work.

Now we enter the arena of all the different options of lighting systems that can be utilized for the ultimate effect. The most important concept in creating a good lighting plan for a home is to utilize a variety of different types of lighting: 

• AMBIENT

• TASK

• ACCENT  

All three types are equally important in achieving the desired effect and are highly recommended.

AMBIENT lighting, which is the most important, can be attained by utilizing basic lighting fixtures such as chandeliers, track lights and recessed lights  which are also known as downlights. A downlight is a type of light fixture that is installed into a hollow opening in ceilings. When installed, it provides the appearance of light shining from a hole in the ceiling, concentrating the light downward as a broad floodlight or narrow floodlight. Wall or ceiling mounted fixtures also create ambiance and come in a variety of shapes and colors.

TASK lighting provides increased light for tasks that require accuracy such as writing, reading directions on medicine bottles, etc. It is also useful for work spaces such as workbenches, workshops, or spaces used for studying, arts and crafts. Desk lamps, customized floor lamps, under cabinet LED (lighting emitting diode) are appropriate examples. A diode is an electrical component with two terminals which conduct the electricity in only one direction. Track lighting consists of light fixtures attached on a continuous track device that contains electrical conductors. Track lighting can be used as task lighting and ambient lighting.

 Perhaps the most common error in kitchen lighting is the lack of downlighting in work spaces. It is imperative that light comes down and across all work surfaces and towards your task, whether it is chopping, stirring, etc. The best solution is to install lighting under hanging cabinets, recessed and shaded so that the light falls gently onto the work area. If there are no hanging cabinets above the work area, soffits on track lighting around the edges of the ceiling will work sufficiently well. Fluorescent strip lights are the most convenient to be placed under cabinets. Fluorescent bulbs also use much less electricity than incandescent bulbs.

The bathroom is the other room where fluorescent light is mostly used; although it should not be your only source. For shaving and making-up, you need good, clear light at least on either side of the mirror where you perform your tasks.

ACCENT lighting focuses light on a particular area or object. It is used to highlight art or other artifacts. Common types of accent lights include wall sconces, floodlights, recessed lights, torchere lamps, track lighting or uplights. Uplights are lighting units that are placed on the floor around the perimeter of the room. The lights will illuminate the walls from floor to ceiling. Uplights are also very popular for weddings and special events since they create intimacy within the room. Lighting also affects the way we perceive the size of a space or room. Overhead lighting gives the effect of closing up a space and narrowing a room. To make a small room look larger, wash the walls with light. Uplights, downlights and spotlights can be used to give a part of the room more recognition and visual importance.

We must not neglect the subject of LANDSCAPE lighting or GARDEN lighting which refers to the outdoor illumination of private gardens and public landscapes. Well-planned lighting for these areas enhances them and provides safety, nighttime aesthetics and security. Recreational sports and other social event uses need good lighting and it is best to consult an expert in this field. They can explain the different functions, features, and latest technology to best achieve the desired effect.

Lighting brings SPECIAL EVENTS to life and helps show case or minimize features or elements that you like or don’t like in a space. There are several options which will  transform an event into a special and memorable one. UPLIGHTS, once again, play a dominant role since they project washes of light which add warmth, color and depth to the decor. TEXTURE lighting projects patterns on walls, ceilings, floors, stages, etc. There are hundreds of stock patterns for light fixtures—from simple to ornate that can be used. The actual templates used that have the patterns are called gobos. PIN SPOT lighting has very narrow beams of light highlighting center pieces, place cards, guest book areas, bar areas, etc. The BLISS LIGHT creates 1000’s of pinpoints of light that look like stars which slowly move towards and away from each other, creating a slow moving star field effect. There are other event options available; and once again, it is highly recommended to utilize a lighting consultant for your projects.

 No matter how much thought goes into choosing furniture and colors to create a particular ambience, none of it will work well if the lighting is wrong.

Hopefully, I was able to shed some light on this subject!

I must include a few words about how the PSYCHOLOGY of lighting also plays an important role in different settings. Studies by John Flynn, professor of Architectural Engineering at Pennsylvania State University concluded that in the office, people who want to participate actively in a meeting and make sure their views are heard, will try to sit in the most brightly lit part of the room. Those who simply want to take notes and listen, prefer to sit where the light is less bright. In corporate settings, Michael Konda, author of Power and Success explains that the executive will design his office lighting to be warm and cheerful so that a potential buyer would be transported  into a pleasant mood and be more likely to agree to the executive’s price. On the flip side, if someone was selling to the executive, the light would be colder and ominous to give the seller the feeling that this might be his/her last opportunity to close the deal and possibly settle at a lower price! It is not uncommon for corporate executives to have their office lighting aimed at themselves, so visitors will perceive who is in control!