Decoration Ideas for Modern Home Office on a Budget: Working From Home in Style

A lot of people are now working from home. One of the biggest trends is that more home owners are decorating their own home offices to make the life easier and more organized. If you have a home office, it is really fun to design your own work space.

Now with the demand for home office supplies increase, the price tags just rise. The home office supplies may add up to the cost of a fuel-efficient car. Actually, we can build a practical, stylish and ergonomic office on a budget. Here are some affordable home office decor options.

Decide the space for home office

We have first nail down the possible space that we will be utilizing for work. Most often, we have a room isolated from the rooms that we spend our leisurely time. But if the space for the room is not determined, we may even finally set up a home office with more than the space we actually need. There is no need to set up an executive suit at our home.

A home office on a budget is usually a place with limited space, necessary furniture and quiet environment where we can work productively. It can be set up anywhere available , such as closets, laundry rooms, kitchen nooks, unused areas at home. Choose the place with enough space and then add things we need to it.

Home Office Desk

For a practical home office, a desk is indispensable. We may perform a lot of tasks by the desk. Now desks come in various shapes, materials, prices, etc. Think about our need before making any choice. For an affordable desk, there are a few options. If you like, try to make a desk from a solid wooden door, just as the Amazon employees do.

Choose the surface of the desk and then paint it in a color that you like. Or buy the desk made from laminated materials. Get a desk of the darkest color. Even though it looks cheap, the dark colored desk will fade into the background and will not catch any attention. For a home office with very limited space, get a multi-functional desk that not only occupies less space, but also helps store more of your stuff. In this way, you may just save the dollars for an additional cabinet.

Ergonomic Office Chair

Working from home, we still have to spend hours by the desk. Prolonged sitting is always not comfortable. For maximum comfort, we need to get an ergonomic chair. Those high end leather ergonomic chairs usually cost too much. Yet we can still get ergonomic chair, by either searching those affordable ergonomic chair from reliable office supplier, or getting a secondhand ergonomic chairs from flea markets or garage sales. If the used chairs do not look nice or are in poor shape, just do some change to it and make it look new.

Storage 

Good storage is necessary for home office for it helps better organize our stuff and keep our items at our fingertips. For good productivity, we need such clutter free storage place. For a budget home office, we can construct a cabinet by ourselves after getting necessary materials from local hardware store. Or we just buy used cabinets and then spruce them up with a coat of paint.

Decorating a home office doesn't have to be expensive, but it does require some imagination! Find a suitable space and make comfort as priority. With a little creativity, add the necessary furniture to make the office look stylish, practical and still, keep everything within our budget.

Contemporary Office Furniture Ideas: Simple, Elegant & Ergonomic

Among all the office decorations, modern office is the most favorite one. Office staff love to see new style, simple design of office space. Breathing new life into a work place of a modern style can actually do a lot of benefit in enhancing our productivity as well as offering us good mood while working in the office. We can create a new office space, whether we work for a company or just work from home, by adding some contemporary office furniture. For a fresh and modern office, take into consideration the colors, materials, versatility, features, etc.

Right Pieces for Covering Clutter 

The modern furniture, whatever style they are, have to cover any clutter to make the office space clean and well organized. For this purpose, we need to add some pieces of furniture to the office, such as drawers, cabinets or bin in the work place. Place proper office furniture in the office to make the desk surface clean and neat. The cabinets can hide pieces that we do not often use and the bins in the office area can better collect the rubbish.



Office Furniture for Executive

For the office space of executive, it is not proper to add too many pieces of furniture. Modern office for executive is often seen with high end desk, luxury leather ergonomic chair and some cabinets that gather important files or valued books. The office for executive is usually modern, simple and even majestic for this is a place where important persons often gather. The office furniture for executives or leaders takes materials as priority. For the best visual effect and best impression on other of the executive office, the furniture pieces have to be made of superior materials.

As for the desk, the place where executives spend most of the working hours there have better to accommodate all of the working stuffs such as laptop, telephone, and other small things. The desk needs to have a drawer. As for the chair, the chair for executives is usually made of real leather and has ergonomic design which can offer the support for the back and neck. Executives need enough storage space to keep all the things without the messy look.

Modern Office Makes Best Use of Colors

Color is one of the most important aspects in the modern office decoration because color is supposed to influence the mood or productivity of the office staff. The right colored office furniture is said to inspire the enthusiasm and creativity of the office staff. But, usually white is the ideal color for modern office furniture. Most of the modern office desk is white, and white desk seems to add elegance to the office. We can add other colors of our office items to better match the white table, for example, place some green plants on white desk. Black is a little compulsory, and it is often used in the executive’s office.

Modern Office Furniture for Inspiring Creativity

As for the office for us staff, we do not expect it to be boring or dull. Every time we step into the office, we don’t want to be encompassed by those black or gray furniture. We love the furniture to be fresh in style and even creative. Office furniture for office staff may not have to be luxury, but have never to be out of style.




The furniture has to be vivid, multi-functional, space-saving, or even flexible. For example, a bed that can be turned into a sofa or a chair which can be used by the office staff for relaxation. But still, the office furniture has to be ergonomic, which can improve our health.



The last but not the least, never let the walls empty. Decorate the walls with modern and artistic item, and we can use painting, curtains or even photo of the employees.

Colored Office Supplies to Brighten up Your Workplace

What is the color of your office? Is it always monochrome and dull? Office supplies from desks, office chairs, file cabinets are no longer only available in those very boring black, gray or beige colors actually. Office supplies come in various colors, that can just brighten up our work place. More importantly, colored office can even incite creativity, self-confidence and alleviate anxiety of the office staff.

Colored Reception Furniture

A reception full of fresh colors can help create a personal and friendly atmosphere and leave a very good impression on the visitors to the office. For a reception in the workplace to be less impersonal, choose rich colored sofas or chairs in the reception. Though colors are usually a matter of personal preference, some colors affect us in different ways. For a welcoming atmosphere in the reception area, we can choose sofas or chairs of deep red or shades of yellow.

Add Green to Office 

Green is the color that most easily associate us with the natural world. It is a color of ecology and peace. Besides, most of us have to sit in the office for the whole day and have no opportunity to see green trees. Those without access to green park or a lunch time stroll could benefit a lot from the workplace enhanced by a touch of green.

Choose a green sofa or add some green fabric to the office supplies. Add some green plants to the office and choose the green office chairs or wall papers that can create a refreshing feel to the whole office environment.

Use Fabrics or Accent Pieces

The colored fabrics can make a big difference to the whole feel of an office room, especially in winter. We can choose some light vibrant colored curtains to replace those dark colored ones. We can add some accent pieces for better enhancing our office , such as hanging a wreath on the office door...

Let our workplace smile with the smell of spring. Bring in some spring color or inspiration to our office and this office environment can inspire us to be more creative.

Create a fresh work place by integrating the colorful office furniture with fresh decor.

Multicolored Clipboard notice boards instead of all black or all white

Add Soft Colored Bean Bag in Office

Bean bags are most often seen in private settings, in the corner of child’s room or near a swimming pool. Add soft colored bean bags in the office and that can offer office staff a relaxed and comfortable relaxing place. There are a lot of companies that add bean bags to office and the bean bags are believed to improve productivity in the workplace, especially because they are the pieces that can keep workers engaged and inspired.

4 Ways for Improving Home Office Efficiency

More and more employees tend to work from home and this trend just shows improved productivity as well as better quality of life for the employees. Compared with working in the office, employees can be 12% more productive when they work at home. Besides, most employees just experience a 50% increase in satisfaction about such work status.

Because of the improvement in technology, working from home will be favored by more people in the future. We can benefit a lot from working from home actually, for example, much more flexible work hours, no long commutes, comfort of the home office, etc. Yet, when there seems no strict discipline or strong organization at the home office, how to be efficient at home?

Leave a room only for work

When we work from home, we shall still develop strong discipline or have the organizational skills. Set up a room that is specially used for work and make it different from other rooms that are meant for enjoyment or entertainment. Try to make a good balance between work and life. When we have a special room for work, we may not that easily tempted by other distractions.

Decorate Home Office & Make it Ergonomic One

When we have a designated home office, try to do a bit of decoration to it and make it full of atmosphere that can inspires our creativity. Make sure the home office have enough natural light and still, place the computer desk in a corner where there is no glare on the computer screen. Always open the window for fresh air, which can even bring you fresh ideas. Bring some life to the home office by adding some plants or hanging some paintings. The most important decoration part for home office is to invest more in ergonomics. Get an ergonomic chair that can offer us proper support. Ergonomic chair is essential for modern home office and it can help lessen the pain in back or shoulder due to prolonged sitting. Besides, try to customize the home office with some gadgets such as keyboard, footrests or other home office supplies to make the home office environment best fit us. Ergonomic home office can keep us attentive and more focused on the job, and thus better productivity.

Get Appropriate Equipment

Though we work from home, we still need all the supplies that we may use in the office, especially the technology gadgets such as phone headset and webcam for video meeting, flash drives of enough space for storing data, USB gadgets, and other tools that can facilitate our work. Since we are working remotely, we need to get as more equipment as possible for keeping us efficiently connective with our colleagues as well as improving our productivity. Always keep the operating system up to date.

Set an Ideal Work Schedule

Working from home, though we may still need discipline, we will not feel that constrained as we are in the office. Working at home, we may easily get disturbed as errands or housework. Still, try to make up a schedule that can better deal with work and life. Try to allocate enough time for work-related goals. Of course, when we work from home, we are most often working alone, without any group activities or discussion that can ignite our imagination or motivation. To be stayed motivated, try to go to a coffee shop or work out for the afternoon.

Trendy Task Chairs for Ladies

Think about it: Men would probably quail at sitting in a chair that is marked as specially designed for ladies. Is there such a task chair exclusive to girls? Of course not very common till now. But from the different preference of the men and women, there are certain chairs trendy among girls, such as multi-colored chairs, cute and soft bean bag chairs. There are actually chairs that are specially designed for ladies and this is much due to the fact that women sit differently from men.

Generally, ladies are more pear-shaped than men. In this sense, women tend to sit with the elbows slightly more towards the backs, and less at the sides. Chair designer designed the chair with the armrests slightly sprouting from the backrest, rather than rising from the sides for ladies based on this difference. Besides, girls may sit more upright on front of the office chair when they're working. They tend to slump forward. To fit the sitting position of ladies, the chair has to be designed with more pronounced lumbar support and a more forward-leaning seat pan.

But in our daily life, ladies will not on purpose choose the chairs specially designed for women. The difference in sitting position or body shape among men and women may influence the future design concept of the chairs. In general, the task chairs that can be trendy among ladies are usually those boost themselves in design, color, softness. Girls may be more likely to sit on chairs with eye catching prints, patterns or bright colors. Here are some of the chairs trendy among girls.

Colored Ergonomic Mid-Back Office Chair

Most of the task chairs in the office are black ones. When most of the office furniture are black, that might be dull and monotonous. This orange and blue computer chair will bring a bit of change to the office environment. Though not specially designed for ladies, the chair is ergonomic mid-back mesh office chair, specially designed for sedentary office staff to lessen the possibility of pain in the back or shoulder after prolonged sitting in the chair. The chair can offer exceptional back support and ensure the maximum comfort. The adjustable seat height and tilt tension can allow extra relaxation of different users seated in it. Among all the black ergonomic chairs in the market, this colored ergonomic office chair is trendy among office ladies for it makes the office room vivid.

Soft Fur Bean Bag Chair

Just imagine if ladies are sitting in the fur bean bag. Wow, working all day long shall be much more different and comfortable experience, though prolonged sitting is not good. Most girls love the soft fur, especially in the winter. This bean bag, made with suede microfiber and filler, which is very eco-friendly and beneficial for health. The bean bag chair just looks stylish, and girls will be excited about lounging or working in front of a desk with low height in the home office. It is a absolutely trendy piece for the living room, bedroom and still meeting room, if allowed.

Funky Seating

The seats just boost a funky sense, inspired by natural forms with an ultra-modern edge. Girls will love the ups and downs of mountaintops with an abstract twist from the seats. When the pink meets the white, girls will choose the former. It is a chair with the look of tulips and irregular shapes of graceful petals as the back and arm rests. It is really nice piece of furniture for a funky office or a fun living room.

Are You Sitting Comfortably? Guidelines for Comfortable Seat

Is your office chair comfortable enough? Here is a formula for comfortable seating: create a right angle, open it up a tad, and tip it backward, so that our bottom can be placed in a position lower than that of knees. Our weight is thrown back into the angle and our thighs lock our back firmly into the backrest.

Is there such chair that can keep us comfortable for hours, even though we all know prolonged sitting in the chair is bad? Is there any such chair that can ensure the maximum comfort to each individual? Anyway, this is a question for the chair designer. For catering to each user, there is a need to adjust the dimensions and angles slightly based on each individual body shape or size. For such a chair that guarantees the comfort to the individual, there is a lot of factors in aspects of the dimensions and angles of the chair. Here are some essential guidelines for chair design, especially the must-have measures in the design of seat, back, armrest and angles, which especially apply to an average-size 5' 10" adult sitting in an upright position.

As for the seat, in order to allow those seated in the chair to rest the feet just flat on the floor with a knee angle between 90°and 100°, there is a need to locate the seat 16–18" above the floor. The chair designer also needs to take into consideration the thickness of any possibly used cushion on the chair. Just subtract half the cushion's thickness.

The seat has to be designed to be 15–18" deep so as to allow the clearance between the seat's front edge and the legs of the chair user.

Besides, the width of the chair needs to be around 16–20". Of course, we can adjust it based on our own need and the specific chair’s style by 2–3" from front to back. If the front of the seat can be wider, there will be more room for leg yet if the back of the seat is narrower, there will be little room for elbow.

If the chair we sit on has no cushion, we can slope it 5–8° from front to back. In this way, we can slide forward for extra comfort. If the chair is for office use, then just ignore this because a flat chair can help us lean forward.

As for the back of the chair, if we want the chair to offer us lower-back support yet not to interfere with our shoulders, the back height of the chair should be 12–16" above the seat or 20" which is very common for the chair we use. If the chair we use is office chair, just try to slant its back up to 5°and 15° for a casual chair. Anyway, when we increases the back angle, we need to keep the  seat-to-back angle between 90° and 100°so as to avoid forward sliding. Besides, we still need to lower the seat height to keep the front edge of the seat from contacting the back of the legs.

Finally, we need to position the armrest 7–9" above the seat so it can support our forearms and still will not interfere with our shoulders.

Add Fun to Office Areas With Cool & Practical Office Furniture

Sometimes, an office area, especially for home office, can be a blank canvas on which we can paint. For a portrait of fun, we need some furniture that is cool in design and practical. Office area spruced up by cool furniture can actually bring a lot of surprise. It's no coincidence that some of the most successful companies have the coolest office space designs. It's one thing to have the best people work together efficiently and anther to have the people work in a warm and creative space.

From office supplies to office furniture, anything can be creative in the office as long as we choose the ones that can bring a fresh look or practical. Now, let's have a look at some of the cool office furniture.  

Bean Bags in the Meeting Room

Soft bean bags can be very great office supplies. They look great when placed in a meeting room. They have been used in trendy office and home for a long time all over the world, for the super comfort, style, and most importantly, the bean bags can be used in a million different positions. They are definitely practical setting besides their trendy style or comfort. Choose a bean bag with high back support and we can work in front of the computer for a very long time.

Bookcase Chair

The bookcase chair is a very trendy interior item perfect for those who prefer reading books during break. There is no need to put book shelves in the office. We no longer need to get up to get a book once we sit in such chair. The chair just bring our handbooks and reference manuals at our fingertips. Close to where we sit and read them. Cool.

Chalkboard Accessories for Better Storage

The chalkboard storage accessories are really excellent pieces. They are the office supplies to the effect of killing two birds with one stone. We can keep our office stuff stored in the chalkboard accessories, on which we can make notes.

Ergonomic Office Chair

For the sake of health after prolonged sitting in the office, an ergonomic office chair in the office seems essential. Get an ergonomic chair with adjustable seat and excellent back support and that can ensure comfortable seat without worsening the back or shoulder issue. There are ergonomic chairs that can move around. This is a very practical choice for us to sit on the chair while do the fast frequent face-to-face contact with our colleagues.

Milk Desk

This desk is really a gorgeous furniture with new design to perfectly fit your Apple accessories. It comes with white sleek surface and rounded edges. There is still a lot to be obsessed with this desk, as it is much like a organizational savior, helping us clear the clutter and hide our cables. It is a really technological giant, which is electrically controlled to be lowered and raised.

What is a good mesh chair supposed to be?

Mesh chairs are common chairs used in office. The chairs are especially cool ones during the hottest summer, which ensures maximum breathe-ability. For its better air permeability, the mesh chairs are widely chosen chairs in office in winter. Then what is the ideal mesh chair?

Mesh chairs for office staff need to be at least adjustable. There are hardly one size chair that fit all. The chairs need to be sized to fit different people or even adjustable to fit different working style. Besides, mesh chairs need to be as comfortable as possible because office staff have to sit on the chairs for very long time each working day. They come in all price ranges. But price does not always guarantee more comfort or to ensure the chairs can satisfy our needs.

Traditionally, mesh chairs do not distribute our body weight as a well-contoured seat with pad does. For those who have to sit in the chairs for more than six hours per day, mesh seat might not be the better choice. For those who just sit very few hours a day, it is nice choice. But now mesh chairs also come with ergonomic design. We can choose the ergonomic mesh chair of which our body fit into the mesh and not have to rest on the hard frame. Another concern about the mesh chair is the weight it can support. After all, most of the mesh seat chairs are not designed for those over 250 lbs.

There are other considerations for a good ergonomic mesh chairs. For example, we need to know whether the front of the seat edge soft or flexible enough so that the chair will not dig into our thighs when we recline. Besides, there are mesh chairs with mesh abrasive to our clothing. It could be nuisance when we find our pricey clothes just get torn by the mesh. The mesh chairs need to have good mesh. Most of the mesh chairs are now designed with paneled backs that offer great support and move with us for continuous support. The good lumbar support of ergonomic mesh chair is important, since long time sitting can easily cause pressure to our back. The shoulder area of the chair back should support our shoulders.

Affordable Mesh Ergonomic Chairs

The VIVA OFFICE green mesh ergonomic office chair, yes, I am recommending this chair because I find it affordable and good. The chair has excellent back support and good quality mesh fabric, preventing our body heat and moisture. The adjustable tilt tension and height allows the chair to better suit our body. The mesh seat and premium fabric upholstery to eliminates leg fatigue. The mesh chair is so well-loved not only for its fresh color, but also for its flexible adjustment. More importantly, it comes with the price of $139.00 & FREE Shipping.

6 Different Materials of Office Chairs

Office chairs with design concept of ergonomics come in different materials, either as components or coverings. When we choose the chairs, besides the style, the material of the chair is also most people may consider. Here are the advantages of the most common materials used in office chairs.  

Among all the popular materials, fabric comes first which assures durability and warm touch especially in colder environment. Fabric also allows for maximum comfort for it is a type of breathable material. Compared with chairs made of other materials, fabric chairs are less expensive and come in an infinite color palette and designs, flexible to match our interior design scheme, which are not usually found in other materials. Chairs made of fabrics may require frequent cleaning and maintenance because it is such a fabric that may easily get stained. Besides, it is susceptible to tears.

Mesh is another commonly used material in office chair. Mesh chair usually leaves us an impression of fashionable look. It is an excellent choice for meeting chair, office work chair or all day computer work chair. It is a type of breathable material and especially ideal material for chairs used in summer. It is much easier to clean the mesh chair. Mesh chair is cheaper than leather one, yet comparable in price for fabric one.

Leather is commonly used in high end office chairs lounge seating. Compared with fabric, leather is much stain proof and can be easily cleaned. Leather chair is very durable. As long as we give it proper care, it can last a lifetime. Most often, leather chair has a distinctive look, which may add a sense of luxuriousness, quality and elegance. This is why we can see leather executive office chair in the office room of boss. Leather ergonomic chairs are usually expensive and still, they come in limited color selection.

Wood probably is popular fifty years ago. But now there are very few solid wood chairs, though the wood is till commonly used as main component in a limited types of chairs, such as guest chairs. Wood chair has natural beauty and this is not seen in other materials. There are different wood that can be made into chair, from maple, oak, cherry. Wood chair are strong and long lasting. But solid wood chairs are not comfortable to sit in because they are not ergonomic ones.

Plastic chairs are lightweight and easy to move. They are less expensive ones, easy to clean and almost needs no maintenance. But, plastic chairs can be uncomfortable for they have no ergonomic support and even are poor in breathe-ability. The plastic chairs are usually seen in schools.

Memory foam is a new type of material applied in chairs. Memory foam chairs can react to our body weight and heat and then adjust themselves to fit our body curve. They are ergonomic chairs and can help reduce stress on pressure points. They are ideal chairs for comfortable and healthy seating over a long time. But the memory foam chair can compress over time.

Tips for Making Your Home Office to Comfy Level

One of the upsides of a home office is to work away from office with better work-office balance, and the freedom to design or decorate the office the way you love or make it a comfy well equipped place with distinct identity.

Home office is still a place for work. Whether you call it a blessing or a curse, one thing for sure is that you can do some work in it without any pressure from your boss and you can make it a comfy and cozy place. Once the home office is well decorated with necessary furniture or lighting, our productivity in the office will be improved and our mood becomes positive. Here are some tips for a comfy home office.

Follow Ergonomic Rules

We know however beautiful the home office decoration is, our health problems still can not be solved if there is nothing to do with ergonomics in the home office. For ergonomic office environment, we need to get adjustable ergonomic chair, which allows us to adjust the feet rest or armrest to make us seated in the chairs for long time without any discomfort. During the work, we need to make sure the computer screen top shall not be higher than our eye level, which will help reduce eye fatigue.

Proper Choice of Light

Usually we have very little chance to enjoy the natural light when we are working at the office. For a home office, if we still place the desk against the wall in dark corner of the room far away from natural light, it is really a big loss for us. We need some natural light. Of course, natural light is still not enough for darker hours of the day. We need to use lamps which give out soft glow advantageous to our eyes.

Create Some Comfy Space

Computer desk, ergonomic chairs, lighting are essential for work. But for a comfy office environment, we still need more. We need to add some nice comfy chair where we can curl up for reading books or thinking. We can add a table for enjoying coffee. Add some LED light for a warm glow. Plus, if there is a sofa in the home office, that will be a blessing to sleep in it when tired.

Keep Office Tech Updated

If you’re going to be working at home most of the time, there is a need to make the technology as the best accomplice. Update the tech gadgets that can help you better organize the office space as well as facilitate your work. For example, once there are too many USB gadgets in the home office, get a USB hub with more ports to make each of the USB supported devices work or in charge.