Working Well by Design

Home Office Fall 2021
photo courtesy of Benjamin Moore’s
Home Office Paint Colours - Ideas & Inspirations

New goals are said to be “dreams in a timeframe”. As we turn the page to a brand new season, it is time to renew our home office/study/studio to support Fall .21 work, from business tasks to creative pursuits. Take the following steps to achieve renewal as you consider the elements of of your home office redesign.

• Go for a walk for outdoors exercise long enough to get your circulation going

• Upon return, go directly to your dedicated home office space, take a chair or sit on a mat, close youre eyes and with erect posture do deep breathing with eyes closed for 2 minutes. (personallly, I practice sitting Qi-Gong)

• Experience the sounds & scents and assess the Indoor Air Quality of your working space

• Next, while eyes remain closed, answer the question - what is your favorite color? Record this and other details of your environment at the end of this exercise

• Record your goals for this new season in written, visual or audio format.

• Now it’s time to create a Vision for this living, working and creative space. I have included the above photo to give you a contemporary inspiration to work from. As the wall area is so influential to your mood and energy level, consider what color will address this issue
  - Will you function best with a wall in a warm neutral (wall above is painted in Benjamin Moore Simply White which contains a hint of creamy yellow that is subtley uplifting) or can you live with something more energizing?
  - How will your favorite color from the meditation exercise fit into your design scheme? So many options are available from feature wall, drapes, flooring, colorful desk and wall accessories etc. Be sure to consider your favorite textures chosen from sustainable sources.
  - Consider your light sources - assess if there is sufficient natural light in relationship to position of desk area

  - Will your space allow for more horizontal expansion to layout your most used items? Or will vertical options as seen above be more realistic? On that note, vertical flow brings energy and horizontal brings calm but clutter must be kept to a minimun.
  - Is your current chair ergonomic, will you work solo or with a partner?
  - With so many items such as computers, smart phones, printers and wireless devices crowded into a small area, will there be space for a plant protector (Boston Ivy, ferns, snake plant etc) to counteract electronic pollution and purify your environment?

• As you begin to work on this exercise consider if you are mostly a Left Brain who craves a tidy space in which to work methodically where it is necessary to meet deadlines. Or are you a Right Brain who is spontaneous, creative but must deal with more clutter. Emotional balance must support some bridging of these two tendencies.
  
  Tips on improving ease of access to your work tools and functionality in your space coming soon in Part II. Consider how your renewed physical setting can support the realisation of your goals on a daily, weekly or monthly basis in relation to the seasonal timeframe outlined in your Vision for your Fall ‘21 home office