In an open-concept living room, such as a condo, you may find it the best place in your home for an office. You don’t need much for a home office. After you carve out the specific area you intend to use for your work-from-home setup, the next stages are simply about creating an optimized workspace for you. Here are some office-in-living room ideas that will provide maximum benefit and comfort without renovating.
Idea #1: Choose Your Area
An office in a living room doesn’t involve sitting on the couch and working on your laptop from there. While that can be comfortable for a few hours, it’s not sustainable long-term and will do more interference than anything else.
An optimized work area involves a desk and a chair and similar furniture, storage, and accessories to fill it in. Section off your living room for exactly that.
Idea #2: Get Your Essential Office Furniture
You don’t want the whole living room to feel like an office, so investing in some key pieces of office furniture is important to delineate between work and leisure.
Visit a furniture store to choose a premium desk, an office chair, a file cabinet or something similar to store key paperwork, and other materials. A divider might even be helpful in clearly separating ‘work’ and ‘play.’
Idea #3: Minimalist Living Room Office Décor
An uncluttered living room office is best. Chances are you don’t have much space, so be very conscious about what you include in the form of décor. At the same time, have fun with it.
You may want to differentiate the décor from elsewhere in your living room and give it it’s own aesthetic, with colours and accents that make it its room without being in another space. The bottom line here is when filling in the colours and decor, always opt for clutter-free minimalism over busy maximalism.
Idea #4: Have Proper Lighting At Your Desk
No one wants to work in a dark, poorly lit space. Have some warm lighting so you can work any time, day or night. It will help keep you awake and engaged and prevent you from straining your eyes.
A simple desk lamp fulfills this purpose and can also be quite decorative. Targeted task lighting is also another trick to keep your focus on what’s in front of you.
Idea #5: Try a Behind-The-Couch Workspace
A creative and effective approach to making a living room office is to face your work area in the opposite direction of the room’s typical centrepiece, such as a flat-screen TV, and to install it behind your couch.
This way, you’re not facing your living room when seated at your desk. You’re facing away. You’ll be in a completely different headspace and able to zero in on the work in front of you.
Idea #6: Choose a Work Wall
A word wall might have a corkboard or whiteboard where you can put notes, reminders, deadlines, and motivation. A work wall might also have some hanging art you like or something that inspires you.
Ultimately, this will be somewhere you can put your work brain at work and keep out of perspective when you’re relaxing. A work wall should ideally be in front of your desk or somewhere that won’t be visible when sitting on the couch and relaxing.
Idea #7: Invest in the Right Office Desk
There is no right office desk in the living room. You may want small and trendy if you have very limited square footage. You may want a sit-standing model height adjustable. There are wall-mounted desks, corner desks, and L-desks. Desks made of wood, glass, and other materials.
The only rules for investing in a desk in a living room context are to ensure you find one at the right height and that the desk is not oversized.
Idea #8: Have Readily-Available Storage
A home office will have some office supplies, accessories, and tech that you’ll want out when you’re working but probably put away when you’re not. Hidden storage, floating storage shelves, or a filing cabinet provides many areas to put those things.
Pens, stationery, books, documents, binders, and even your work laptop can all be put away and tucked away when you’re not working. That way, you can shut off your ‘work brain’ and ensure you’re not overworking when you’re not on the clock.
Idea #9: Don’t Be Afraid of Making It Cozy
Just because you’ve created a ‘work’ area and a ‘leisure’ area, it doesn’t mean your workspace has to be uncomfortable. It’s the opposite! Why not make it cozy? Try a soft throw blanket across your work chair.
Consider a soft rug you can place underneath your work desk and living room office chair. Don’t think you can’t get super comfortable at work. Comfortable is good! That means you’ll be able to focus on work instead of how uncomfortable you are.