10 Home Office Design Ideas That Promote Flexibility + Creativity

Credit: Chris Loves Julia

Working from home can provide incredible freedom and flexibility, but if your home office isn’t designed for function and productivity, you’ll find it more hindering than productive. Between the layout of your home office and how you decorate it, you can boost your productivity and creativity while working from home. 

Keep reading to get our best home office design tips that promote flexibility and creativity. 

But first, why does flexible office design matter?

A home office is a true test of your workspace flexibility. Traditionally, the home hasn’t been a workplace for many until recently. It wasn’t designed to be a multi-use space, blending your family and work lives together. Even with a dedicated room in your home for your office, there are still boundary issues that can affect how productive and creative you can feel in this space. 

The colours in your home office decor can significantly affect your productivity. The wrong colour can drain the creativity and focus from your mind when you try to work, but the right one can boost your creative juices, even subconsciously. (We’ll talk more about the role of colour in your home office space below). 

Including nature in your home office design matters because it can directly affect your mood. Even small doses of natural elements and themes in your home office have been linked to higher task performance and increased creativity. (We’ll talk about this more below, too)

And finally, flexible home office design accounts for comfort and safety. This means being able to safely reach all your tools (such as the phone or a pin board) without straining. It’s also about having the right comfortable chair that is ergonomically designed for your work style. 

Now, let’s dive into our top 10 tips for designing your home office.

10 Office design ideas for flexibility and creativity 

1. Flexible working spaces

If you’re the kind of person who prefers working in different ways, consider the flexibility of your home office. For example, you’ll probably want a “traditional” desk and computer chair, but you may also enjoy doing creative work on a couch or recliner. If you don’t like being sedentary doing desk work, consider an adjustable sit-stand desk so you can change from sitting to standing throughout the day. Those can be a game-changer!

2. Make the desk (or main workstation) the focal point of the room

Make your desk the focal point of the room. You should have clear sight lines from your desk to all areas of your office, including the door. Avoid having your back to the door if possible (it’s just good feng shui to never have your back to the door). 

3. Have plants

Plants can fill your office with vibrancy and energy. Some plants can also remove toxins from the room, increase humidity and produce more oxygen (and more oxygen will help your creative juices flow easier).  

4. Hang a pinboard

As much as many of us love our online tools, sometimes a traditional pinboard in our offices can help us track tasks and have important information when needed. Consider adding a personal touch to your board with drawings from your kids or inspirational thoughts and images. 

We love these DIY pinboards from designer Athena Calderone from Eyeswoon.

5. Use a room divider if needed

If your home office doesn’t have a door, like working from the dining room table or a hallway alcove space, consider creating a physical divider between the space and the rest of your home. This could be a portable room divider or tall plants. This visual distinction adds privacy and hides your desk from your view when you’re not at work (so you don’t think about the work waiting for you when you return to your desk).

If you have a dedicated room in your home for an office, consider adding a touch of personality by replacing your traditional white swinging door with a sliding-style door. It creates a more casual flow as you walk through the spaces. 

6. Create “creative spaces”

What do you need to be creative? Is it a casual sitting space like a couch? Do you need a favourite blanket on your lap? Maybe you need to be sitting with a cup of tea. Make sure you have a dedicated space in your office where you can be most creative, separate from your focused task space. 

7. Add personality

A great benefit of a home office is you can usually make it more personal than your “corporate” office. Add personal touches like your favourite art pieces, gifts from your kids, or even your DIY art and decor. Add enough so the space feels like you without being overwhelming or distracting for you (or anyone you happen to be meeting in person or over a video call.  

8. Take advantage of natural lighting opportunities 

Ensure your home office has an external window to get natural light. Supplement this natural light with a desk lamp and overhead lighting. Not only does natural light give you a boost of energy, but it can minimize the artificial lighting you need indoors so you can save power. 

9. Consider the use of rugs to warm or “zone” a space

If you have wood floors, adding a rug can help soften the feel (and sound) of the floor under your feet when you walk. Rugs can also be used to separate spaces in your room. For example, a large rug under your couch can help separate your casual space from your desk-working space. 

10. Brighten the walls

Colour has a considerable impact on your creativity and productivity. The colours in your office should promote the feelings you’re trying to evoke in your office. 

For example, if you’re a personal trainer and your “home office” is a workout gym, you likely don’t want grey walls (which evoke calm and quiet). Instead, Orange (energy) might be more conducive. For a desk worker at home, yellows make many people feel creative and greens promote focus as it’s close to nature). While the “science” behind colour psychology isn’t always exact, but can act as a starting point to ensure the paint colours and decor colour palette are conducive to your type of work. 

What else should you have in your home office?

Ultimately, ensure that your home office space is comfortable and functional. It should have everything you need to do your job and inspire you to want to get up and “go to work” every day!

Check out these 10 Must-Have Items for Your Home Office for more home office tips.