Take a good hard look at your home office, is it inspiring, uplifting, do you feel good about walking into this room to start work each day? If not, it might be good to do an audit. What things don’t you like about the office and how it makes you feel?  List those things down.

Next step is to set aside a good block of time and take everything out of the room and start over again. Only put back what you need on a regular basis and the other items can be stored away in another room or cupboard, given away or thrown out.

Can the furniture you are putting back in be re arranged in some way to make better use of the space? Can you position the desk in front of a window? Do you need to replace the tired old office chair or desk?

Now that you have the necessary items in your home office you can now add your own personality through colour and beautiful things.

One word though, use restraint with accent colours, keep these colours up to approx.  25% then the rest of the space can be neural tones.

Here are some ways to get inspiration for what to include in your home office interior design:


1. Use the design website www.houzz.com.au to get ideas. Simply type in the search window “home office” and you’ll get hundreds of images which you can then add to an idea book and make comments of what it is you like in these images. It is like your own little online scrapbook


2. Think of your favourite colour, colours that make you feel happy and motivated when you see them, make sure to include these


3. Areas where you can introduce a splash of colour – curtains, blinds, indoor plants, especially pot plants, desk lamp, wall art, wallpaper, desk accessories, office chair, desk top


4. Re purpose old things for use in your office, makes it more personal and a reflection of you. Eg an old heirloom side chair can be recovered and put in your office, with a gorgeous cushion which is a place for you to sit and contemplate for a while


5. It is not only about what you see in your home office, but the other sense of sound comes into play here too. Have some select music playing through the stereo or speakers on your PC, make it beautiful music that not only inspire you, but reflects you and brings out your inner creativity.


6. Smell is important too, burn some incense before you start work for the day to clear out old energy, open a window for some fresh air.


7. Place a bunch of fresh flowers on your desk each week, make them blooms with a sweet, subtle fragrance to uplift your day


8. Beauty can be incorporated not only in your home office, but look outside and what view do you have outside the window, it is an unsightly fence or a busy road? Why not place a colourful pot plant there, or plant a tree, even install a vertical garden on that ugly paling fence, all of this will excite your senses and will be a focal point while contemplating a business problem


9. Wallpaper one of the walls or all walls in your office, even a feature wall in the colour of your logo can really add your own little touch of uniqueness to your home office


10. Even if you are renting and can’t paint or wallpaper the walls, wall stickers are a fabulous temporary idea. Have them custom designed with some motivational sayings or a beautiful scene that reminds you of why you work so hard in the first place. These scenes can be changed on a regular basis to keep things fresh.


Now off you go and be creative lovely ones, inject some colour and beauty into your home office and see how your motivation and productivity soar!