With more and more employees working from home at present, it is vital to establish a regular home office space that you can easily escape to during working hours. If you are lucky to have an extra room within your home that can be dedicated towards a home office, it can be a challenge deliberating ideas on how to design and furnish the space, especially if you are on a budget. This does not always need to be a costly project, even if you are starting from a blank canvas. We will give you a step-by-step guide on how to efficiently create your home office on a budget.
4 Easy Money Saving Tips to Create a Home Office on a Budget
Plan it out
Before you begin any type of refurbishment to a room, it is vital to plan and map out the design of your home office, and what you would like to include furniture-wise. We would very much advise sketching out a brief template of the room itself including rough sketches, to create a vague diagram of how you would prefer the room to look.
If you haven’t gotten that far ahead, however, simply create a list of what your home office will require, including items that you already possess alongside anything you are required to purchase and take the plan from there.
Designing the interior
With the assumption that this room is needing a revamp, we will first of all start by designing the inside, for example, the walls and floor. Although the type of flooring is not particularly important, we would most definitely advise avoiding carpet flooring strictly because this may make it more difficult to manoeuvre your office chair around, particularly if it remains on casters with wheels. The best flooring to opt for would most likely be wood, tile, or laminate flooring as this will not only be easier to keep clean, however, it will be much easier to move around on, as well as give your office a more open plan atmosphere.
Although your budget may not always expand to replacing the flooring when you need to create your home office, we believe that it is necessary to ensure that the walls portray neutral and calm tones. The reason we say this is because sometimes colours, particularly bright ones, can be extremely overwhelming within a workspace. Avoid any harsh or overpowering wallpaper or paints and stick to neutrals such as grey, beige, and white that can easily be purchased from a home improvement store for as little as £10 a bucket and can be an easy DIY project to complete.
Do not panic, these colours can be enhanced with accessories so there is no need to worry about your office looking boring or bland! Click here for TV aerial installation services.
Furniture on a budget
Furniture is potentially the most expensive part when you are required to create your home office, however, choosing to purchase furniture online from inexpensive retailers may potentially be your best option. A desk can be purchased for as low as £45 from retailers like Ikea, and we would always advise ensuring that your budget has some form of leeway when it comes to selecting your office chair.
An office chair should preferably be adjustable, and more importantly ergonomic to avoid any form of back pain or strain over time. With that being said, after having a browse online, office chairs meeting these requirements can be purchased for as low as £50, so be sure to shop around to find yourself the best bargain. Once your two main pieces of furniture have been secured, you can begin to think of other objects that can fill your space nicely dependent on your office size, for example filing cabinets or storage units, a coffee table, or an armchair.
Position electronic devices and appliances
Once your furniture is in place, it’s time to move in the electronics and appliances. The electronic devices within your home office space do not need to stretch as far as a computer or laptop, you can easily incorporate a few smart devices that are likely to benefit you within your work routine. For example, a small smart TV. Dependent on when or where you buy one and the size in which you prefer, they can be purchased for as low as £90 and can easily be placed on one of your office walls to utilise space.
Other than a smart TV, you could incorporate a smart speaker, a printer, a scanner, or a coffee machine, basically more or less anything in which you believe will contribute considerably towards your working day. Multifunctional printers, for instance, will replace printers scanners, and copiers and take smaller space than all the equipment separately. However, those who do not have tasks requiring the scanning or fax process can use small laser desktop printers. These will reduce the cost and increase productivity while being in corner of your working desk.
Top tip: attempt to purchase electronic devices or appliances during seasonal sale periods, for example, Black Friday! The price you pay for products will always work out extensively cheaper.
Once the main aspects of your home office are complete, it’s time to add in some personalisation and accessories. To brighten up the space, add objects such as plants, vases, desk picture frames, or even a large canvas or clock for the wall. Be sure to note that if you are on a tight budget, this is your last concern as accessories for the office can always be picked up over time and do not contribute immensely towards your working routine.
