Top 10 small home office ideas

Small home office to furnish? We know the struggle! Here are our top 10 ideas to create your dream workstation at home.

Almost everyone needs a home office. Of course, thanks to the Internet, more and more people work from home nowadays, so in this case, it’s not really a question of debating whether or not to get one: it’s a question of needing one, period. However, we all have stuff to do when we’re home that isn’t necessarily just relaxing or watching our favorite TV show. For instance, you may have documents to file, bills to organize, or maybe you simply love sitting down in front of your laptop and pour out whatever thoughts come through your mind! The main issue is, we don’t all have a room we can turn into an actual home office. Do not get us wrong, our house may be perfect and stylish, but it’s not necessarily a mansion, which means that sometimes, we have to make-do with the room we have. But worry not, because there are tons of ways to style a small but cozy and ultra-functional home office! Are you ready? Here are our top 10 small home office ideas.

A lovely, functional lamp by The Architect Lamp

Keep your desk minimal

What you need in a desk pretty much depends on what kind of job you do from home, and on how much space you actually have. For instance, if you’re just working on your computer, you may just need a minimal, clean surface where to place it. However, if you’re one of those people -- a bit like use -- who love taking notes on paper while they’re thinking something over, then you may want to get a desk that allows you to store everything you need inside a few drawers. In conclusion, the most wonderful thing about a home office is that you do you: you get to decide what works and what doesn’t. There is one thing we can say, though: we believe it is always useful to have a couple of drawers at hand. Still, you really need to consider how much space that desk is going to take: we love large drawers and cabinets, but there’s no point having a desk that takes up half the room!

Recognize the style? It's a layout designed by Fendi

Sit in front of a window

If you know your home office is going to be small, there’s no point putting your desk in front of a wall. Of course, you can always decorate the wall, but if you do have a window, we’d even consider re-shuffling all the furniture. Trust us, being able to look outside while sitting at a desk is worth revolutionising your living room (or whichever-room) layout. Why? Well, first of all, you don’t want to be sitting at a desk for hours while only being able to look at a wall, however decorated it might be. Second of all, you need to protect your eyesight. Remember that human eyes get tired very quickly of staring at a computer screen: unless you want to excessively stress your eyesight, you really do want to have a window to provide you with a view.

Pretty beautiful, no? It's a home office design by PER/USE

Use curtains

Sometimes it’s not easy to clearly divide your living space from your home office space -- if you had to put your tiny home office in your living room, that is. Anyway, forget all the stuff you’ve been reading about the joys of multi-tasking: our mind is not made for it, period. Of course we can juggle different tasks at once, but it has been proved that our mind actually works better when it’s tackling one challenge at once. Which is why it is a good idea to separate your workstation and the entertaining area of your living room, at least while you are working. A smart way of doing this is by using a light curtain: it is also going to function as a cute, stylish decoration!

Take a look at more awesome fabrics crafted by Gamma!

Office in your bedroom

The bedroom is the private room for excellence, the most intimate part of the house, a place where we can relax and spend our leisure hours.  The idea of creating your home office in this room of the house might seem odd to you, but it can totally be harmonized and integrated in the bedroom, without disturbing the peace of this environment, not taking over its function. After all, every room must be shaped according to the needs of the people who use it. So, following a few rules, your bedroom can be the location of a small office, if you are a freelancer who don’t need a real office to work in. The main aspects you have to keep in mind are versatility, functionality and personalization: if you take this three factors under consideration, you can’t go wrong when setting up your small office within the bedroom.

Need a functional solution for your house? You need some HENN in your life, then!

Use racks creatively

Have you ever considered employing wall racks in your home office? Maybe you should! We are used to employing racks for hanging our clothes, our towels, or our keys, but in fact, there is no written rule that says what we may or may not decide to do with them! Our suggestion is to employ them creatively. Use them to hang whatever you may need for working from home: headphones (or earplugs), blue-blocking glasses, stationery, and so on.

By Wirth makes even the simplest, most essential design look striking

Stylish lamp

A great way of enhancing even the smallest space is by being original with lighting. Therefore, we highly recommend splurging on a nice lamp: remember, ambiance and atmosphere are everything. As for the intensity of the light, you’ll have to decide on that depending on what kind of activity you are going to carry out sitting at your desk. If you already know that your laptop or an iPad is the only instrument you are going to use, then you can focus on aesthetics only.

Explore more creative lamps by Brazilian brand Luxion!

Comfy seating

No matter how small your home office is, you need a dedicated chair. The last anyone wants is having to spend hours and hours on end sitting on an uncomfortable spare plastic chair.

We're absolutely in love with all the creations by TAM

Wall lamp

If your office really is super tiny, you should avoid having unnecessary stuff on your desk, and guess what, a table lamp would be a waste of space too! Do consider a wall lamp: you’ll be able to move it and turn it in whichever direction you like, and the waste of space will equal zero.

If you like this lighting solution by Anna Lari, you're going to love all the others, too!

Use your walls

In general, when dealing with small spaces, we should try and develop our design vertically, which means, in three words: shelves, shelves, shelves!

These tiny trays by PIKKA are just adorable, aren't they?