If you want to be sure of creating the best impression you might decide to hire an interior designer. Alternatively, Laura Ashley charge £500 for a styling consultation for three rooms, refundable against purchases of £500 or more. At the most basic level:
- Rooms in one neutral colour, particularly white and cream look larger than their actual size.
- Blues and pastels are restful, soothing colours.
- Blacks and greys are traditionally ‘trendy’ — but could be depressing.
- Bright colours promote a feeling of energy — but can be distracting to work in.
- Blues, greens and greys are colours which will make a room look — and feel — cooler.
- If you want to warm up a room pinks, oranges and browns all add a feeling of heat.
- Neutral carpets hide stains, while vinyl floor covering offers easy maintenance. If you are asthmatic, you may find that vinyl is a better choice than carpet as it will cut down the number of house dust mites (and their excreta) which can trigger asthma.
It is essential to make your working area look as professional as possible, particularly if you intend seeing clients at home. A clinical air will make them feel that they are entering an office rather than your home.
Home offices differ from the standard office in that they tend to have less space and often have to blend into living rooms, dining rooms etc. There are very few firms specializing in home offices. IKEA has basic home-office furniture, while Selfridges have recently opened a whole home office department with fully trained staff. If you can afford to customize your furniture, or want to hide away the tools of your trade, Neville Johnson, Southway Interiors or Albert Plumb are also possibilities. But be warned — their furniture isn’t cheap. Some companies do office furniture that fits easily into the home. Mail-order suppliers Estia fall into this category. You can also pick up good quality office furniture at second hand shops and auctions, but do be a little wary of buying computers or office chairs second hand, unless you are very sure you won’t need after-sales service or the chair is extremely good. (See the section below on equipment.)
It is tempting, particularly if you are just setting up to make-doand-mend on a spare table with a few boxes for storage. This may be necessary if you have absolutely no spare cash, but research in the USA, where there are many more homeworkers, has shown that those working in carefully thought out home offices feel more positive, more efficient, and are even more willing to take planned risks than those trying to work in difficult conditions. In some ways this is common sense : if you walk into an airy, organized office, you assume the company is efficient and the workers happy. Walk into a badly lit, ill ventilated tip of papers, and you assume the organization is on the way down.
The minimum requirements for the home office are that it is :
- Comfortable — heated when cold, cooled when hot, well-lit and equipped with furniture which minimizes back and posture problems.
- Organized — important equipment is within easy reach, and files are stored neatly and in intelligible (at least to the user) order.
- Private — enough space to work undisturbed, with somewhere for confidential files to be stored. ‘Before I had my waiting room installed, I was frequently invaded by the children,’ says ‘Caroline Smith’, optician. ‘On one memorable occasion my youngest sat down and did a wee just under the patient’s chair — fortunately I had enough time to clear it away before they arrived. Having a waiting room has meant that clients don’t have to sit with the family and it gives a much more professional impression.’
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