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Pretty + Fun Home Office Design
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items A home office does not have to look like somebody rolled a conference chair into a spare bedroom and called it a day. đ I want mine comfortable enough to actually work in, but also pretty, fun and full of things I like looking at: a chair I can curl...
Sections
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Start With a Chair You Actually Want to Sit In
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Make the Desk Work Better
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Protect the Floor Without Covering Up the Pretty Rug
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Storage That Looks Like Furniture
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The Fun Stuff That Makes You Want to Be in There
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Set It Up Before Your Neck Starts Complaining
Start With a Chair You Actually Want to Sit In
No sad conference-room chairs here. I want a wide, upholstered seat, room to sit cross-legged and something that looks like it belongs in a pretty room.
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Wide seat, soft upholstery, wheels AND room to sit cross-legged. This is much closer to how I actually sit at my desk than a narrow corporate task chair.
Inbox Zero Cross Legged Chair With Flip-Up Armrests
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If you want the cross-legged-chair idea with a little more back and head support, this is the grown-up version. Still cozy, still upholstered, still not giving cubicle.
Mercer41 Upholstered Cross-Legged Office Chair With Adjustable Arms,Ergonomic Swivel Executive Chair With Headrest
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This is the splurge chair for the person who wants the desk chair to be part of the decorating. The print makes the office feel like a ROOM instead of a workstation.
Meryl Printed Desk Chair
Make the Desk Work Better
The desk itself matters, but so do the little changes that keep you from hunching over a laptop or losing half the surface to cords and clutter.
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That Wedgewood blue is exactly what I mean by pretty office furniture. Three drawers give you somewhere to put the ugly practical stuff without turning the whole room beige.
Hewitt Wood Desk
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This one can telescope way up instead of just giving the laptop a tiny lift. Good if you bounce between sitting and standing or want the camera closer to eye level.
Lifelong Laptop Stand For Desk, Adjustable 10-17 in, Ergonomic Riser for Laptop & Macbook - Gray, No phone stand
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For a simple little riser, why NOT make it pink? đ It folds down, has several angles and does not look like industrial office equipment.
Vivitar Aluminum Laptop Stand - Light Pink
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Clear acrylic plus a gold handle is my kind of desk organization. You can see what is in it, but it still looks light instead of adding another visual brick to the desktop.
Acrylic Round Desktop Organizer - Thresholdâ˘
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A laptop stand that raises, tilts AND swivels is useful when you are working, filming, Zooming or moving the screen around to show somebody something. The ocean blue and rose-gold options are a nice break from black tech everything.
Uncagedergonomics Adjustable Swivel Laptop Stand for Desk
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This uses that awkward strip of space over the keyboard instead of adding another giant organizer to the desk. The acacia makes it look more like decor than office storage.
Over the Keyboard Desk Organizer - Thresholdâ˘
Protect the Floor Without Covering Up the Pretty Rug
A pretty rug under the desk changes the whole room. A clear glass chair mat lets you keep seeing it AND gives the chair a smooth surface to roll on.
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Soft floral pattern, washable, and interesting without taking over the room. A rug is one of the easiest ways to make an office stop looking like an office.
Ruggable Washable Trellis Floral Olivia Rug
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The green and navy versions both have enough pattern to make the room fun, but they can still live with wood, brass, white furniture and plants.
Ruggable Washable Scandi-Floral Clove Rug
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This one leans a little more vintage and cozy. I like a rug that looks collected instead of like it came from the office-furniture aisle.
Ruggable Washable Folk Floral Ella Rug
Storage That Looks Like Furniture
Files, cords, printer paper and all the other glamorous parts of running a business still need somewhere to go. I would rather hide them inside something beautiful.
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This is high-end storage doing exactly what I want it to do: drawers for the mess, glass doors for the pretty things and a marble top that makes the whole office feel finished.
The Fern Marble Top Three-Drawer Storage Cabinet
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If your office leans modern, this is a statement piece that happens to hold a LOT. I would rather buy one beautiful cabinet than line a wall with cheap shelving.
Jimi Geometric Iron Storage Cabinet
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A lower credenza gives you hidden storage AND another surface for a lamp, framed photos, books or plants. Much nicer than staring at a metal filing cabinet.
Inbox Zero 43.3'' Wide 2 - Drawer Filing Credenza
The Fun Stuff That Makes You Want to Be in There
Once the big pieces work, this is where the office gets personality: good lighting, music and the little details that make a workday feel less blah.
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Pink desktop speakers with Bluetooth and lighting options? Yes. đ Useful tech is allowed to be fun, and these can do USB, AUX or Bluetooth instead of taking over the desk with adapters.
X9 Performance Pink Computer Speakers for Desktop PC with RGB Lighting, Bluetooth, USB, and AUX - Triple Mode Connection, Dual 2.25" Drivers for Work and Play, Desktop Speakers for PC - Pink
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Green with a gold-tone base is SO much more interesting than the standard black desk lamp. It gives you actual task light without making the room look corporate.
Teen Task Lamp - Threshold⢠designed with Studio McGee
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The glass shade and wood base keep this soft and homey, while the USB ports quietly handle the practical part. Exactly the balance I want in a home office.
Desk Lamp with USB Ports (Includes LED Light Bulb) - Thresholdâ˘
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The goal is not to own cute organizers. The goal is to open the drawer and actually find the charger, pen or SD card you were looking for. đ These keep the little stuff contained.
Set of Desk Drawer Organizers - Thresholdâ˘
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Three light levels plus a spot to prop a phone or tablet makes this especially handy if the desk also doubles as a filming or content-creation space.
Task Lamp "(Includes LED Light Bulb)" - Thresholdâ˘
Set It Up Before Your Neck Starts Complaining
Free resources worth reading before you decide where everything goes. Pretty matters, but I would also like to finish the day without feeling folded in half.
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UCLA breaks workstation setup into four straightforward steps. Useful when you want the pretty chair AND the pretty chair to actually work for your body.
4 Steps to Set Up Your Workstation
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Penn has a very practical guide for chair height, laptop placement, lighting and monitor position. Read this before you decide the laptop looks cutest six inches below eye level.
Home Office Ergonomics | PennEHRS