Home Office Designing 101

Creating a home office is a mix between functional decor and fashionable interior design ideas. The home office should be a place that's designed for working and entertaining clients as well as a reflection of your design tastes and styles. Use this guide to design the perfect home office that you'll be sure to love for years to come.

Drawing a Blueprint

One of the best ways to begin any redecorating or design project is to draw a blueprint. Even if you don't have the skills to be an architect, creating a rough sketch can help you get the most out of your interior design ideas. Begin by drawing a rough sketch of the existing room. Once you have that down on paper, you can make a few copies of it. Then you can draw multiple designs over the existing blueprint to make sure you get the perfect design for your home office, even before you hammer the first nail.

Creating a Needs/Wants Cost Breakdown List

To get the most out of your home office design, it's a good idea to get a list going of your needs and wants. By asking yourself what your needs and wants are, you can better balance your budget when it comes down to brass tacks. A cost breakdown list can give you a detailed list of interior design ideas that you are going to employ in your home office design. By knowing exactly what materials and the labor costs are to install them, you can get a detailed budget that fits your wallet like a glove.

Lighting

A commonly overlooked home office decorating idea is lighting. Lighting plays an important role in defining space, highlighting work areas and keeping moods light and bright during the working hours. A good lighting source includes several layers of lighting options. Ambient and task lighting combinations employ the perfect lighting display for up and close locations as well as the dark corners and shadows. With the use of a dimmer switch, office lighting can be as bright as you need or dark and dim as you want for your presentation.

Storage

Storage can also be a great decorating idea as well. Built in bins, open-faced cubby holes and solid wood shelving are awesome ways to affordably and effectively decorate your home office space. Best of all, the DIY guru can create wood bins of any color, shape or style in just one weekend, making these quick and easy office design techniques a favorite choice among DIY aficionados. By incorporating your storage into your design, you help make a functional as well as fashionable design for any home office.