If you’re working at home full time, or take a few days out of the week to work out of your home office, you may want to find ways to make your office a little more inviting, without turning it into an extremely relaxed environment.

Where Do I Start?

Before you begin doing any serious decorating, make sure that your office is as clean as possible. You may not enjoy working at home as much as you could because of all the clutter, and files you’ve bee looking for may miraculously show up once you tidy up your office space. It may also be a good idea to purchase file cabinets or additional drawers to help you organize all your office material. Once you see how great your office looks cleaned up, you’ll be much more motivated to put your own personal touches on your office, and you’ll fell much more at ease doing work there.

When choosing the color scheme for your home office, choose colors that are nude or neutral in nature; these shades are both warm and calming, but will still give your office an air of professionalism, even though you’re at home. Choosing wall color and furniture in calming shades is also a good idea if you work out of your home office full time, and have clients over often.

What about Windows and Walls?

If you plan on painting the walls in your home office, using certain patterns and color combinations could give your walls the creative/professional look you want. Instead of completely painting your walls a different color, you may want to try painting only the paneling of the walls with a new color, or you can paint a stripe of color in the middle of the wall. This technique works well with nude and beige colors, or with shades of orange or even blue.

Treating the windows in your home office will give the room a bright and welcoming look. Using sheer curtains will give you the privacy you’ll want, and let just the right amount of sunlight in to keep you motivated to work. If you have blinds or shades in your office, try to match them with the colors you’ve chosen for the walls; this will keep your office coordinated, and you’ll be more likely to keep the rest of the office organized. Using accents like clips to keep your curtains open will add a unique touch to your office as well, without being too over the top. Try wooden hoops, gold clips, or ribbon to keep your windows and your office together.

What about Extra Decorations?

For additional accents for the room, try an area rug, or add pillows to chairs or couches you may have in the office. Everything doesn’t have to be the same color, so choose furniture pieces and colors that you think will go best in your office. It’s also a good idea to have matching office supplies and equipment. This may not be especially feasible for your budget right away, but if you can afford it, try to purchase office equipment, like a computer, printer, and fax machine in the same color. For a cheaper way to coordinate, try buying pencils, pens, paper clips, and Post-it Notes in matching colors. This helps to keep your office supplies in order, and shows potential clients that you definitely want to make a professional statement.

Once you’ve got your new office in order, try your best to keep it clean. If other members of your family use the office as well, ask that everyone do their part to keep the home office looking its best. You may even want to assign each family member a file cabinet or drawer to store their things. For extra reinforcement, post a sign as a friendly reminder on the door of your office to keep the office clean (for yourself and your family). Then, try working in your office for a few hours at a time to get a feel for the new space, and to change anything that you find isn’t working. With the right decorating and organization, you’ll be amazed how much more work you’ll get done in your new office!