When you’re planning your next Outsite trip, you might be craving to work from some of your favorite nooks: whether they’re in your favorite coffee shop or coworking space. In the meantime, here's how to build out your home office in the style of Outsite - including where to buy furniture and how to create a cohesive style throughout the room.

Daniela Misleh, Outsite's Head of Design, has created 27 coliving spaces around the world to date. This has meant creating spaces with a consistent Outsite style, so she has plenty of experience with home office design. Here are her best tips for designing a space that feels clean and modern, wherever you are.

How do you start designing a home office?

The first thing you need to do is choose where.

When you work from home, everything happens in the same space - whether you're eating, chilling out or you're on a conference call. You'll need a place for work, even if it's a separate room, or just a quiet corner.

Choose a place that is separated from home flow so it's easier to focus on work and not getting distracted with home chores / activities.
Choose a place with windows for daylight and views, this will give your eyes a rest and something to focus on when you look up from your work.
‍

Desk & Chair

The second item on your list should be finding the perfect chair and desk, there is a variety of styles and prices, the important thing is that they are comfortable for working.

Personally, I prefer wooden desks as they have a warm look and feel. Trestles and table tops are the easiest way to go. There is much more to choose from though, there is a variety of desks with electrical outlets, adjustable standing desks and desks with drawers. If you’re working with a smaller space, a wall hanging desk would be great.

Whatever you choose, make sure it fits to the space selected, so always measure, don't buy based on images. Make sure the desk is not too high – look for heights between 28”-30” (70-75cm). Invest in a good chair. I'm not kidding, a chair that's comfortable and adjustable if possible will be key for you to enjoy your new office. For me, the secret of a cozy home office is to have the perfect balance between finding a comfortable ergonomic chair that still matches your house style.

Storage

Don't forget to find a place to save all your work related items, keeping things organized will certainly boost your productivity.

It also helps if you organize your cables, now you can find hundreds of stylish accessories that are a perfect solution and great design addition to your work spaces: like cable storage baskets, wireless phone chargers, iPad docks, cable clips, etc.

Lighting

You can create a nice atmosphere from 3 different lighting sources:

First, have an even and soothing, ambient light with the option to dim, if possible. You can add a floor lamp to that to set a different atmosphere, and then you should add task lighting with a desk lamp.

When you choose a lamp you are choosing your decoration, the lamp is absolutely one of the most important design elements of your space, but make sure you buy the right bulb - the LED Edison bulbs are great, warm but bright between 3000 Kelvin (k) and 4000K. Some would suggest brighter but anything above 5500K is just too cold or anything below 3500K will be too warm to work.

Having a special place to work doesn't mean you still won't go to the sofa or the terrace to work. That's the fun part - you can still move around, that's why laptop tables are always great accessories in every home. The important thing is that you can have your special work corner, this will make your work easier if you enjoy the place you are working from - even when you’re in lockdown.

Which furniture stores do you recommend?

Looking for how to create an office environment with your remote colleagues? Check out the following tips for creating an office environment from Outsite Members.