With 41% of UK workers working remotely at least some of the time in 2024, home offices will likely remain a permanent fixture in modern homes.

This increased demand for stylish and practical home office furniture means you can now create a space that is in keeping with your overall aesthetic, free from distractions and supports your overall well-being and physical health while also setting you up for a productive working environment.

If you are looking for some home office inspiration, you are in the right place. This blog includes a range of ideas for setting up a home office or workspace, along with key recommendations on everything from layout to lighting, desks to chairs, and much more.

Contents

• Why your home office matters
• Step-by-step guide on setting up your home office
• Furniture and layout tips
• Modern Home Office Setup Ideas
• Home Office Essentials: Top Picks for Your Workspace

Why Your Home Office Matters

Gone are the days of balancing a laptop on your ironing board for meetings and spending the rest of the day hunched over your screen on the sofa.

Having a dedicated home office setup can help boost your overall productivity and focus. It can also support your well-being after hours by allowing your mind to detach from work matters when you physically move from your designated workspace.

Investing in key home office essentials that prioritise ergonomic design can also support your physical health by providing support for your body while working from home.

Step By Step Guide to Setting Up Your Home Office

Basics of Home Office Setup

When setting up a home office, it’s important to consider lighting, layout, and internet accessibility, as well as minimising distractions, to create a space that promotes productivity.

Look at the light levels, both natural and artificial. This can help you determine the best layout for your space.

For darker spaces, try adding a table lamp on your desk to increase light and reduce eye strain. In rooms with lots of natural light, made to measure blinds can help you to avoid sun glare on your screen while allowing you to enjoy the natural light.

Perhaps most important when setting up a home office is to test the internet connection in the room or space where your computer will be located.

If you are using WiFi, check that it is working at the high speeds required for your job. If it isn’t performing well, try an internet booster to help expand the reach.

If you’re connecting via cables, ensure that your desk and computer position will allow you to be physically connected to the internet.

How to set up a home office?

Setting up your home office will depend mostly on the space you have available. Whether you can dedicate a whole room to it or integrate your workstation into another room to create a hybrid, multi-functional space, the first thing to consider is the space you have available.

Clear the space that will become your home office to understand what you’re working with. This will help to guide what home office essentials to incorporate into your space.

Creating an Ergonomic Workspace

One of the most important things to consider when setting up your home office is ensuring that it gives you ergonomic support.

This means balancing efficiency with comfort, and choosing furniture that is both fit for purpose and designed to support you while using it.

Investing in office furniture that follows ergonomic design principles is better for your physical health. Ergonomic furniture promotes correct posture, increased circulation, and reduced strain on your wrists or neck muscles.

Not only will this impact you in the long term, it’ll mean that you’ll avoid discomfort day-to-day, improving your overall well-being while working.

How to set up an ergonomic home office?

You can set up an ergonomic home office by choosing desks and chairs with adjustable heights. This allows you to position your office furniture in the perfect way for you and your body while adhering to best practices.

Other home office considerations that can support an ergonomic set-up include the placement of your monitor.

If you feel like your monitor is too low and you have to crane your neck to see your screen, consider raising it with books or a purpose-built monitor stand to reduce strain on your back posture and neck muscles.

How high should an office desk be?

As everyone is a different height, with different body proportions, it’s almost impossible to give a definitive measurement to raise your desk to. As a rule, your office desk should align with your inner elbow when seated. For most, that’s around 72–76 cm, or 28–30 in, from the ground.

It can be harder to find adjustable tables than it is to find adjustable chairs, so don’t panic if you find your dream table and it’s slightly too high or low. Be sure to counteract this with an ergonomic chair that can be adjusted to the perfect height to suit the desk.

Getting a desk that isn’t the right height or an uncomfortable chair can severely impact your long-term physical health and short-term performance at work.

Home Office Furniture and Layout Tips

Finding the best layout for your home office can depend on the amount of space available, the positioning of windows and doors, and the accessibility of plug sockets.

Ensuring that your essential home office furniture can fit while also allowing a natural flow and movement through the room will help to combat clutter and increase productivity.

Be mindful of furniture placement, especially if you have a door that opens into the space. Allow space for doors to open and for you to easily move around the room. Perhaps most important, ensure you can access plug sockets or add extension cords if needed.

What furniture goes in a home office?

While you can add any furniture you want to your home office, some essentials should be prioritised. You should invest in a sturdy desk and supportive chair, as these are the pieces you’ll use most frequently.

To avoid clutter, consider how much storage you might need. While most businesses use digital or cloud storage, reducing the amount of physical paperwork or documents needed, you may still need to store equipment like cables or reference books in your home office.

Having an enclosed, organised storage solution to keep work-related objects is also great if your home office is a shared space or has other functions, as it allows you to compartmentalise your work and personal life and reduce overall clutter in your home.

Where to position a desk in a home office?

Where you position your desk can depend on the shape and available space you have, as well as personal preference.

For example, some people like to have their desks pushed up against the wall so they are facing the wall. Others prefer to look out into a room, meaning their desk is away from the wall. For some, the position of their desk will be dictated by where a desk will fit in a space.

Where should the window be in a home office?

Another consideration for where to position your desk is reliant on the windows in your home office.

Finding the perfect balance of natural light exposure while avoiding screen glare can be tricky. Placing your desk and chair directly opposite a window will mean you’re likely to be backlit - not great for video calls!

In contrast, facing the window can cause glare on your computer screen, decreasing visibility and causing eye strain. While it can be nice to look outside occasionally when working, it can also cause unnecessary distractions.

Ideally, positioning your desk perpendicular to a window will mean you receive natural light without getting a glare directly on your screen. It’ll also allow you to soak up some vitamin D and see the world outside in a less distracting way.

Modern Home Office Setup Ideas

Now that you’ve figured out the perfect layout for your home office and know the furniture essentials you’ll need to add, it’s time to find the perfect pieces to create a setup that matches or compliments your home decor style.

Whether you want to create a minimalist and modern home office set-up or incorporate natural fabrics and plants for a more biophilic feel, you can really add a personal touch to your home office that doesn’t compromise your comfort and functionality of the space.

Home Office Essentials: Top Picks for Your Workspace

For the best home office set-up, we’ve put together our top picks for your workspace.

Finding the perfect desk

When looking for office desks, try to match metal colour and wood tone with other pieces in your space to create a harmonious feel that compliments your other decor perfectly.

Gillmore - Luxe - Desk

Chairs

Ergonomic swivel chairs don’t have to be boring! Office chairs are more commonly available in a range of colours now, not just black. So you can match your chair to your colour scheme. Be sure to look for a home office chair with lumbar support to support your back and also encourage good sitting posture.

Black and Luxurious Red Chelsea Armchair

Lighting

If you’re struggling with lower light levels, consider adding stylish desk lamps with adjustable brightness or temperature settings to allow you to adjust the coolness or warmth of the light.

Libra Furniture - Brown Geometric Porcelain Large Table Lamp

Plants

Adding greenery to your home office has been proven to improve well-being. Many plants can survive in low-light levels and are low-maintenance, so you should be able to find a plant for your home office regardless of light levels. Even if you add fake plants, this can still positively impact your wellness.

Tech-accessories

It’s worth investing in some good quality, noise-cancelling headphones to decrease distraction for you, and background noise for people you may have calls or video meetings with.

Create the perfect home office with Fusion Living

With hybrid and fully remote working set to continue in the UK, designing a home office that you can comfortably work in is key to creating a work-from-home routine that promotes productivity.

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