Tips for Designing a Home Office on a Budget

More and more people are working from home. Whether you're a lawyer, administrative assistant, teacher, or another professional, individuals are in need of comfortable and efficient spaces in their houses that can serve as temporary home offices.

How can you build a home office in your house? Look to these budget-friendly tips.

Find a Suitable Room In Your Home

First, you must choose a room that can serve as your home office. If you're a teacher or marketing professional, you may need a space that allows for a large board or projector to display presentations via online video chats and meetings. If you need plenty of wall space, be sure you choose a room that is suitable.

What rooms will work? It depends on your house. If you have a finished basement, that may be a great area to set up a home office. However, think about the appliances handy in your basement. If your furnace is on the last leg of its 15-20 year lifespan, you may think about designating space upstairs, such as in a spare bedroom, a living room, or an unused dining room, for your home office. You don't want heating issues to make work time uncomfortable or even unbearable in the basement if you can make a corner of your kitchen or guest room work instead.

Thrift Furniture

Once you have a cleared space in your home ready to be turned into a home office, you must think about furniture to fill it. A desk, chair, and couch may be all you'll need. Think about efficiency and comfort while choosing furniture.

Visit thrift stores and search second-hand online websites to find a desk and chair at a cheap price. You can repaint, refinish, and add touches of comfort, such as a cushion to a chair, yourself. Be sure to find a desk that offers plenty of space and storage for all of your work-related paperwork and materials.

Repurpose Materials

Aside from fixing up second-hand pieces of furniture, you can also repurpose supplies you have in your very own home to add to your office. Mason jars can be used as pen and pencil holders, clipboards can be hung to hold important paperwork, cubbies can be used to organize work materials, and extraneous fabric can be used to make DIY curtains. Old items you have laying around in your basement or in storage, such as storage bins or lamps, as well as pieces of decor you don't use anymore can also be useful and fun pieces to have in your home office.

Incorporate Exercise

If you work a strenuous job that keeps you on your laptop and phone all day, it may be a good idea to incorporate exercise into your workday. For example, if you work for a law firm, you may be in contact with bail bond agencies, as they pledge money as bail in exchange for the appearance of a defendant in court. Jobs that require plenty of phone calls and time spent on the computer can be mentally exhausting.

These kinds of jobs can also glue you to your desk all day. Add a yoga ball, some light weights, or other pieces of exercise equipment you may have in your house to your home office. You may be surprised what you can find second-hand, too. Take breaks to stretch your body, get some exercise, and get your eyes off of your computer screen.

Add Fun Wall Decorations

If your children love getting crafty, encourage them to create some fun pieces of wall decor to hang in your home office. Paintings, motivational quotes, and silly drawings will remind you of your kids and make you smile throughout the workday. You can also find cheap wall decorations at thrift stores and through second-hand websites.

Maintain Accessibility

Depending on your job, you may need to hold in-person meetings in your home office. Be sure to think about who will be visiting your home. Elderly people and individuals with disabilities may need to be accommodated. With 11.6 million people using canes, crutches, or walkers, you may have a house guest that can't climb stairs. If this is the case, keep your home office on the first floor of your house. Provide comfortable seating, and be sure there's plenty of space to easily walk from the entrance of your house to your home office.

You'll be spending plenty of time in your home office. Make it a decorative workspace in your home while sticking to a budget. It's easier than you think to find second-hand furniture and materials, decorate, add exercise materials, and make your home office accessible. Start working in a comfortable and efficient home office today!