Do you get stressed easily when working in your home office? It must have something to do with the ambiance surrounding your home office. There are a number of studies that indicate the effects of having a conducive work place in your working attitude. That’s why you have to seriously consider how favorable your workstation is.

Your home office should be able to encourage you to work at your best. It must provide opportunities to work effectively and efficiently. If you think this would be hard to achieve, well, think again.

Image via: Brandon Barre 

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There are simple yet effective ways to turn your home office into a retreat. Check out these steps to a conducive work zone:

Wrap it up

If you think folders are just for labeling, you’re definitely wrong. Cover your folders and other paper organizers with art papers to match your interior theme. This should enhance the looks of your home office by adding colors and styles to your interior. With added beauty, you sure to have an inspiring work zone.

Keep everything in order

Organization is a vital key to achieve a conducive work area. An organized home office allows you to work effectively and efficiently. You can easily access the resources you need in style. A well-organized home office creates a great ambiance for you to stay focused with work. There will be no distractions like cluttered office supplies and messy table.

Image via: DKOR Interiors Inc.- Interior Designers 

Isolate your cords and cables

More often than not, cords and cables are overlooked and taken for granted. This isn’t intended only for neat home office looks but also for safety purposes. Cluttered cords and cables may cause short circuit electrical connections or even accidents. You can use a cord box to conceal your wirings and feel safe. This will also improve the neatness of your interior.

Make your move now and consider these simple yet effective ways to turn your home office into a retreat. Be productive and have fun working in your home office.

For more home office ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

]]> https://stagetecture.com/how-to-turn-your-home-office-into-a-productive-retreat/feed/ 0 48478 https://stagetecture.com/guest-blogger-5-diy-ways-to-update-your-home-office/ https://stagetecture.com/guest-blogger-5-diy-ways-to-update-your-home-office/#respond Mon, 10 Dec 2012 19:00:41 +0000 https://stagetecture.com/?p=39686

Home offices are a dream come true for many of us. The commute couldn’t be any easier, the boss can’t look over your shoulder, the dress code depends only on your whim and you have the freedom to customize your space any way you want. Make your home office the best work environment it can be by following some of these great DIY tips for updating your space.

Image via: Digs Digs

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Buy New Furniture

For most home office workers, the majority of time spent in the office is spent sitting down and typing. This can mean aches, tightness, carpal tunnel, and dozens of other problems for many of us. Buying some new furniture for your home office can help you be as comfortable as possible while you work. If you find your neck and back becoming strained, or your hands and wrists aching, it’s most likely a problem with your desk and chair. Don’t skimp on furniture–update your home office with the best.

Upgrade Your Hardware

Technology grows faster than we can run, but you’re going to need to keep up if you want your business on the cutting edge. Upgrading to a new computer is one of the best ways to breathe new life into your home office. You’ll be able to work faster and more efficiently without the annoyance of outdated technology. Even a larger monitor and an ergonomic keyboard can be great investments to make work easier on the eyes and hands.

Get Onto the Cloud

The development of cloud computing is truly a boon for home office workers. Your office is your headquarters, but you may often need to take your work on the road. When this need arises, you’re probably stuck lugging around extra pounds of equipment in an effort to make your office portable. This is no longer necessary. Cloud computing allows you to run applications from remote servers, so you can not only get rid of cluttering hardware in your office, you can also access your essentials from any computer in the world.

Image via: Design Tricks

Opt for Internet Fax

If you don’t yet know how to send an online fax, you’re really missing out. The need for bulky old-fashioned fax machines is finally starting to dissolve now that we have the power to send and receive faxes from our email accounts. Simply scan any documents you need to send, upload them to your online fax service of choice, and send them directly to any fax machine in the world. Your online fax service provider assigns you a fax number as well, so you can receive documents in your inbox any time as well.

Redecorate

Never underestimate the effect of your surroundings on your work. Redecorating your home office can boost productivity and really take you to the next level. Give your walls a fresh coat of paint, and don’t just go for boring white. Choose vibrant colors if you want to push yourself to new heights, or subdued cooler tones if you need to reduce stress. Hanging pictures on the walls is a great idea as well. This is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to update your home office, so get started today.

For more home office ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Perhaps your job allows you to work from home certain days of the week, or you run your own business from your house. Whatever the case, you want a home office that is beautiful and functional.

that’s not just aesthetically pleasing, but also functional and efficient. Even more vital than selecting the right furniture is the setting up of your technology, because without the internet, phone, or access to a network, your business won’t be able to operate.

4 Important Tips Before Setting up Your Home Office

Image via: Apartment Home Ideas

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Review this checklist from ConnectWise as you’re planning and designing your home office to ensure optimal functionality:

1. Assess the Space:

Identify where your computer, printer, copier, and other systems will be placed in your new home office. Do you need new outlets installed to accommodate your equipment? It’s important to remember if you have servers that they should not share outlets with other equipment.

2. Phone System:

Do you need to install a new phone line and system, separate from your home number? If you’re going to need to purchase a new telephone system for your home office, make sure it’s flexible. Consider features like call transfer, conference, or forwarding, pick-up groups, voicemail, auto-attendant, hold music, and call recording. You may also want to look at specialty internet options in addition to your traditional ones like fiber internet from Sonic, which may provide fast speeds.

3. Choose the Type of Data Connection:

Speak with a managed service provider and determine which connection type will best suit your needs. If you have a high level of data and voice throughout, choose a T1 line. Broadband service can come from your cable TV company, phone providers, and more, and can come in digital T1 or T3 lines, DSL, or fiber optic connections.

Image via: BHG

4. Plan Your Timing:

It can take up to two weeks for your new service provider to install and get your systems up and running. Time this properly when it comes to your work load, and make plans to work elsewhere if construction or equipment is being installed.

If you feel overwhelmed by the thought of routers and wires, and technology isn’t your cup of tea, utilize an IT services company to ensure your home office is properly set up and connected!

For more home office ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Tonight we are talking about getting organized at your home office now that you’ve decided to take the plunge into entrepreneurship. I will share how one person can look like they have an “army” of workers with the help of virtual assistants and how social media can help you make connections, network, and become an authority in your niche with a blog to target the right audience.

DID YOU MISS THE SHOW? LISTEN IN HERE!

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Sunday, August 12th – 6:30pm EST

Artistically Speaking: “Leaving your 9 to 5 to Pursue your Passion – Part 2”

Click Here —> LISTEN TO SHOW

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Topics I will cover – “Arming yourself with the right tools”:

• You’ve decided to make the switch to being an entrepreneur: Get organized!
• Tools to arm yourself for success & what I needed: Smart phone/Internet access, Social Media, Reliable resources for income
• Using virtual assistants to expand your resources and work like an army, even though you are a single person.
  

  DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST:

  Are you a podcast listener? Download the FREE iTunes podcast after the show on – Artistically Speaking Talk Show under “Podcasts”.

  

  iTunes link to download the podcast after the show –> iTunes podcastI hope you join me this Sunday, August 12th and hear inspiring information to help you, a coworker or a friend help create a life they truly enjoy!

Did you miss last week’s show? Listen in on iTunes or Blog Talk Radio

After the show, let me know your thoughts! Comment here on the blog post, Contact Me, or send me a message on Facebook or Twitter!

Thank you to everyone who listened in on the ‘Leaving your 9 to 5 to Pursue your Passion – Part 1‘ – on August 5th, on Artistically Speaking Blog Talk Radio Show.

Weren’t able to listen in? No worries – listen to the August 5th show here on iTunes or Blog Talk Radio

DID YOU MISS THE SHOW? LISTEN IN HERE!

This Sunday, August 12th we are talking about getting organized now that you’ve decided to take the plunge into entrepreneurship. I will share how one person can look like they have an “army” of workers with the help of virtual assistants and how social media can help you make connections, network, and become an authority in your niche with a blog to target the right audience.

Image via

[ad#co-1]

Sunday, August 12th – 6:30pm EST

Artistically Speaking: “Leaving your 9 to 5 to Pursue your Passion – Part 2”

Click Here —> LISTEN TO SHOW

Topics I will cover – “Arming yourself with the right tools”:

• You’ve decided to make the switch to being an entrepreneur: Get organized!
• Tools to arm yourself for success & what I needed: Smart phone/Internet access, Social Media, Reliable resources for income
• Using virtual assistants to expand your resources and work like an army, even though you are a single person.

Image via

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST:

Are you a podcast listener? Download the FREE iTunes podcast after the show on – Artistically Speaking Talk Show under “Podcasts”.

iTunes link to download the podcast after the show –> iTunes podcast

I hope you join me this Sunday, August 12th and hear inspiring information to help you, a coworker or a friend help create a life they truly enjoy!

Image via

After the show, let me know your thoughts! Comment here on the blog post, Contact Me, or send me a message on Facebook or Twitter!

Having a home comes with a responsibility to clean up and clear out the clutter. A clean and organized home provides pleasant surroundings and promotes healthy living. The time and efforts exerted in cleaning will definitely pay off. In addition, a clutter-free home prevents potential accidents to take place.

Cleaning can be very tiring and time-consuming. It requires keenness to do it efficiently and effectively. Cleaning and clearing your home can be planned so that you don’t waste your valuable time and energy. When cleaning your home consider writing down what rooms you will tackle on what day. Consider having a chore for each member of your family to take the stress off of one person and to share the responsibility of a clean home.

Here are some of the systematic procedures to clean up and clear out the clutter at home:

Image via: Bhg

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Decide what to keep and what to toss

This process involves assessment of personal belongings to keep and throw away. It can also be your home decorative items and accessories that are not functional or damage. Instead of throwing your stuff away, you may gather them all and have a garage sale. Also consider selling them online, donating to a charity, or repurposing into new items to use around your home.

Sort and assess

After deciding what to keep, sort out your things accordingly. This may take you some time but sorting your things will definitely provide better accessibility in the future.  Sorting will also ensure that a certain belonging is really something to keep or not. Try sorting out items by what you can use now, what is seasonal – for example holiday, special occasion or for unique events and what items are just taking up space. Sorting can also be a mental decluttering process. The more items you have around you, the more you feel you have to hold on. Assess what is important and what is just ‘there’ taking up valuable space.

Image via: Annesage

Organize your belongings

This procedure will avoid potential clutter. Organizing your personal belongings, home decors, tools, accessories and other things at home will help you regain the control of your time. You can do this by using storage boxes, cabinets and containers in placing your stuff. Take some time to put labels on your storage for easy access and retrieval.

This can be easier read than done. But bear in mind that knowing how to clean up and clear out the clutter at home is absolutely worthwhile.

For more home organization ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

More often than not the bathroom is one of the smallest rooms in the house and one of the most frequently used. With such a small space working so hard day-in and day-out, creating harmony between style and organization is the key to a well-functioning bathroom.

Image via: A Dreamy Home.Pinterest

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Getting Started

One of the easiest ways to get started organizing your bathroom is to set up an empty rubbish bin ready for all those out of date lotions, potions, cosmetics and medicines you’ve been meaning to throw away. Keep a box beside you for all the things you know you want to keep.

Once the room is cleared of all things undesirable it’s time for a spring clean. Go over all the surfaces you can see and all the ones behind closed doors and drawers too. With a sparkling clean bathroom it’s now easy to start placing items back in a way that will not only be tidy today but also that will remain organized over the long term. Products that you use frequently should be placed in cupboards that are the most accessible. Items that are only used every now and then should be positioned at the back of low or high shelves that are more difficult to reach.

Divide and Conquer

When it comes to bathrooms and drawers it’s all too easy to throw a mix of clips, combs, rollers and other handy bits and pieces all into a drawer together. This can quickly make for a very disorganized and tangled mess. Instead, try placing dividers into your draws by using ready-made draw dividers, or something as simple as a cutlery tray can work wonders. Giving all your belongings a place of their own means the morning bathroom rush hour becomes less hectic and more pleasant for everyone in the home.

Image via: Pottery Barn

Creative Convenience

In most homes the cleaning goods are found in the laundry, the linen and towels are kept in the linen closet and so on. One way to be better organized is to place these items within the rooms they are regularly used for. By keeping your clean, fluffed and folded towels, foot mats and face-washers in the bathroom, they are always at the ready for the next person. Not only is it convenient to have towels at the ready they also add texture and warmth to the room, especially when extra towels are stored on open shelving.

Your bathroom is sure to sparkle more frequently when the cleaning products are close at hand for quick swishes and wipes as needed. Everyone loves a clean and organized bathroom whether it’s during the morning rush or at a time for simply soaking up the bath bubbles.

Indulge

Although the bathroom is a place often associated with hectic morning routines it should also be a place for luxurious indulgence. Avoid over-organizing your bathroom and stripping it of any decor, otherwise this sacred space can look and feel clinical. White bathrooms in particular can feel cold and uninviting, however, by adding an array of textures and colors, a sense of warmth, interest and peace will prevail. If black or other dark colors dominate the bathroom simply add large mirrors that will help reflect light around the room.

Image via: Houzz

No matter how big or small your bathroom is, you’re sure to have a sense of order and bathroom happiness every day when there’s a place for everything and everything is in its place.

Tuff Sain is an interior decorator and social media blogger for QS Supplies, the online shop for Bathrooms and home décor fixtures (for UK citizens).

For more kitchen & bath ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

The New Year is definitely an exciting time for all of us. It means new chances and new opportunities for us to be able to experience. But it’s also a great time for us to clear out the old stuff from our home offices. It’s a perfect chance to be able to review what you have done the past year in your office and perhaps begin to be able to start thinking about what you might want to do for the future in terms of organization. Allow me to provide you with some tips for being able to clear out the old stuff from that home office of yours.

Image via: BHG

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1.   Organize everything into piles

This will make it easier for you to determine what you will need for the New Year and what you can put away into storage. That will also make it easier to help you organize them better for yourself. That way, you can take the things that are most important for the coming year and leave them in a convenient location for you to use and the other stuff can be put away where you can find them later if you so need.

Image via: Tumblr

2.    Prioritize

Out of the things that you are organizing, can you determine which things are important for you to keep on hand? These can be things like new contacts to stay in touch with or financial records that you might need for the upcoming tax season. Additionally, you may want to look at the equipment you are using as well and perhaps get rid of that camera or floppy drive (or even something like that external DVD drive that you picked up cheap) that are no longer practical or haven’t been used as much as you thought you would use it.

3.    Computer clean-up

When you’ve completed the hard copy organization, its time to clear up the old clutter from your computer. This can include going through your documents, music, and photos. Take them and perhaps back them up so that you can get them off your hard drive. That may be a good thing for your computer’s speed and also being able to have more room for being able to write or do other work related tasks for the year as well.

Image via: Sweetspace.tumblr

4.    Purge to increase computer performance

Since you are working on your computer, perhaps it may be time to be able to clean off some of the old programs. This can be something that helps you to improve your computer’s performance and also is a great exercise in being able to choose exactly what you need to run that business or work from home venture.

5.    New organizational system

Consider devising a better organizational system when you’ve gotten rid of the things that are just taking up space. Once those things are gone, you may feel it is important to be able to have that system in place for being able to maximize the space that you have just freed up.

Mike Carroll is a programmer who enjoys writing about being able to enjoy life better and getting more out of the things that we are doing. His hobbies range from Cantonese and Korean to running and writing. Additionally, he’s getting ready to apply for graduate school in South Korea, where he plans to study International Relations. He has traveled to Central America and Korea.

For more home office ideas on Stagetecture, click here.