Want your work from home experience to actually be different from your stuffy cubicle or lower-level office? Take advantage of your personal space. You get some sunshine, you can customize your space, and you’ll actually know what time of day it is – even if you don’t leave the house. But with each joy comes responsibility (so my grandmother says) and the gorgeous sunshine could turn into too much of a good thing this summer if not thoughtfully worked around.
Now is also the perfect time to consider remodeling, not just your workspace, but the rest of your home to prepare for the hot summer months ahead. In the midst of rearranging and redesigning, check out this infographic – it has the skinny on everything from budget to design!
Because your workspace is your domain, you want optimal conditions to keep you in the zone and out of the heat. Below are 5 ways to prepare sunlit home workspaces for the summer.
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Plants
Plants not only clean the air and add a splash of feng shui, they provide a nice shade if you have a lot of windows. Place a tall plant between your desk and where the sun beams through for a subtle barrier. It will give the plant the nourishment it needs and you a nice, cool shade.
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Desk location
Spend a day or two observing where the light pours in. You want your desk to be the recipient of sunlight, you don’t want to feel like you’re working on the surface of the sun. Adjusting your desk’s location not only protects you, but also prevents your electronics from overheating. Advice to you is to find a spot where you are perpendicular to the sun, not facing it nor sitting in front of it due to UV radiations. Yes, it is dangerous even indoors and unless your windows are laminated, I suggest you protect yourself a little. If you did some spring cleaning, moving things around to find the ideal spot, shouldn’t be that hard. Decorating your space with some lightweight furniture such as table top bookshelves, small plants, canvas prints – things that easily move from A to B.
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Window Treatment
If you don’t have laminated windows to protect you from the sun, go the old school route: Blinds and curtains. They allow you to control the amount of natural sunlight coming through. Roller shades are especially popular due to their mesh material which filters light but never completely blocking the view. I prefer using curtains for long windows and blinds for short ones, but every space is different. My desk faces the window so I’ve paired blinds with a mini curtain to help control the sun pouring in from the edges of the window.
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Desk Lamp
For those scorching hot days, when the sun is not your friend, close those blinds. A good desk lamp, in addition to overhead lighting, will make sure your eyes don’t suffer. As the day progresses, you can control the amount of light you need to get the job done.
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White walls
If your office is naturally lit and has white walls, you could become blinded by the combination during the peak of the day (or feel like you’ve died and gone to heaven). Break things up by decorating the walls with some custom canvas artwork or just pictures of your family. By creating your own, you can control the color scheme and add a beautiful touch of inspiration to your workspace.
BIO
Shelley is a former Pottery Barn contributor and now writes for Macy’s Magic Style Shop and Canvas on the Cheap. Working from home has taught me all kinds of tricks to create spaces that not only look great, but feel right. I’m thrilled to share what I’ve learned and hope it makes your day a little brighter!
