Used Office Furniture Saves You Money Without Sacrificing Durability and Comfort
If you’re one of many people still working from home and you aren’t sure when you’ll head back to the office – if at all – it’s time that you think about creating an ideal home office so that you’re more productive and comfortable in your space.
At Santa Fe Office Interiors, our pros put together this list of our favorite tips for creating a home office. When you’re ready to purchase your office furniture, be sure you visit us; we’ll get you outfitted with everything you need at an affordable price.
1. Consider how you’ll use your office before making any purchases or decisions.
Before you dive into the office furniture shopping or decorating process, think about what exactly you want to get from your new workspace at home. Your determination here will guide the assembly of your home office.
Do you work from home every day, and need a full set-up? Or do you intend to head back to the office in person in a few months and just need something that will work for you until then? Will you ever be sharing your space with your spouse, partner, or child? These are considerations that can guide your decisions about how you’ll outfit your office.
2. Determine your desk needs.
What type of computer do you use for your job? Do you need a large desk space for your multi-monitor set-up, or do you work solely from a small laptop? Layout your computer equipment and any other desk necessities. Then, measure the width and length of them. This will give you an idea of what size desk you need. Make sure it will fit in the space you are dedicating to your office.
3. Choose a good quality office chair.
It’s tempting to purchase an adorable accent chair to serve as your seat, but remember that you might be spending upwards of eight hours a day in it. Your best bet for comfort and support is to spring for an ergonomic office chair for sale near you. Although these can be expensive when purchased new, you can find high-end second-hand desk chairs in the Kansas City area.
A chair that properly supports your body can prevent back pain, hip tightness, and overall stiffness. This type of chair has multiple points of adjustment for height, depth, recline, and lumbar support. Don’t be tempted by the $50 big box store special; it can’t do what a really good chair can! If your budget is tight, it’s worth spending the majority of it on a good place to sit.
4. Choose an office space in your home with a door or some other visual divider.
When you work from home, you feel constantly connected to your workspace. It might be tempting to head back into your office even after your regular working hours have concluded to continue progress on your projects. In fact, the Washington Post reported that people who work from home tend to put in longer hours. Why? Their work is easily accessible to them.
That’s why it’s important to close off your office space from the rest of your home, so you don’t end up devoting every waking hour to your job. We recommend choosing a spare bedroom, so you can close the door at the end of your workday, or dividing off workspace using office partitions, for example, if you work from an open area of your finished basement.
5. Keep clutter to a minimum on your work surface.
It’s tempting to go all-out decorating your work-from-home space; for some people, it’s the first time they’ve been able to customize their desk and area! Unfortunately, working in a cluttered space actually makes you more tired because your brain has to consciously work to block out these distractions.
6. Decorate to your liking.
Although it seems in direct conflict with “keep clutter to a minimum,” it’s nice when your home office suits your tastes. For many people, their home office is one of their only chances to create a space in their home that is uniquely theirs without input from a spouse, partner, or roommate.
If you can, choose a soothing paint color you love, hang your favorite art pieces, and adorn your windows with pleasing window treatments. If you’re someone who prefers a more sparse space, opt for a neutral color palette and keep your decor to a minimum. Your office doesn’t have to please anyone else but you! Aren’t you lucky?
7. Perfect your lighting.
Depending on the location of your workspace in your home, it may be quite dark, or outrageously bright, if you’re blessed with lots of windows. For dark workspaces, purchase a desk lamp or floor lamp to brighten up your room. For too-bright spaces, hang blinds or shades to filter out some of the sunlight, mostly to prevent glare on your computer screens.
The perfect lighting for working tends to be those with blue or white hues – like daylight bulbs at your local hardware store. Cooler colors inspire concentration, whereas your warmer yellow bulbs are better for relaxation spaces. Consider lamps with LED bulbs, which will last up to 20 times longer than a traditional incandescent one; they’ll also use less electricity.
8. Add a secondary office seating area, if there’s room.
When you work from home, it’s not likely that you’ll host any coworkers for an in-person meeting, or have guests of any kind really. But it’s nice to include a small area of secondary seating in your space. This is useful for a couple different reasons. First, it makes your office space feel more inviting. Second, it gives you an alternate location to work in if you need a change of pace from your desk.
A simple upholstered accent chair is more than adequate for this purpose, although if you have a wingback arm chair elsewhere in your home, you might want to relocate it to your office for cost-neutral furnishing.
9. Add secondary storage furniture to your work-from-home office.
It’s likely that your office space will hold more than just your desk and some basic supplies. You might need more office storage than just your desk drawers provide. Consider adding a bookcase to hold your filled notebooks and industry manuals, plus some decorative items to add some interest to your space.
A credenza behind your desk is ideal for extra storage that you need easy access to, but don’t want to look at. A small filing cabinet can even hold your household paperwork and declutter some other storage drawers in the rest of your home. Set your printer atop it to get it out of the way.
10. Set a budget for used office furniture and stick to it.
Furnishing an office to transform it into a good workspace can get expensive, especially if you’re buying all of your pieces brand-new, straight out of the box. You can get creative to save money. One of the best ways to save money on purchasing furniture for your office – including desks, chairs, credenzas, filing cabinets, and more – is to buy them gently used from Santa Fe Office Interiors in Overland Park, Kansas. You can even find steep discounts on brand-new office chairs there, too!
Our inventory fills our 9,000 square-foot showroom, open to the public between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, and by appointment. Visit us at 8106 Santa Fe Drive in Overland Park, contact us online, or call us at 913-901-8800 for a personal appointment.