Tailoring Your Furniture to Suit Your Needs

The current media environment seems to ignore the reality of the average person when it comes to interior design: people want a comfortable place that suits their style, period. Doing this on a budget or knowing the best secondhand shops can certainly be factors, but consumers must bear in mind that the principle consideration must be to choose the furniture that you feel makes your house a home. An area of furnishing that is often ignored is, oddly enough, one of the most important; namely, creating a home work environment that lets you get things done. Many people take some work home with them at the end of the day, and an improperly designed workspace can compound the headache of corporate homework. Most visible in the home workplace environment are the pieces we commonly think of as your basic office furniture: chairs, desks, computer space, and so forth. In fact, so many people are accustomed to the dreary furniture at their actual office space; they opt for the same dull, depressing setup for when they’re working from home. This is where all the problems begin. When you’re setting up your home office, you aren’t bound by what your company thinks is the best trade off between comfort and cost, and you certainly aren’t going to be buying factory-direct bulk supplies. Use this opportunity to let your office furnishings complement your home décor and make you feel comfortable while you work. A comfortable chair is the most important purchase you can make for your home office. This is an area of home furnishing that you can truly call your purchase an investment. Always make sure to try a chair out before buying it – most office supply stores will have large areas dedicated to just this purpose. Even if it isn’t the exact style you’re after, it’s always good to have a point of reference when comparing a piece of furniture you’re going to be using so often. Productivity in the home chiefly differs from productivity in the office in this fundamental way: in your home office, it’s all about you. Shop around for deals, pick a chair and a desk that best fits your style of sitting and working, and customize your work environment to yourself, not the other way around. Because everyone’s style is different, there is little more advice to offer on this topic; suffice to say, shop with you in mind. Spend a little more for what you’re most comfortable with, and you won’t regret it. Even less glamorous than office furniture, if such a thing is possible, is storage furniture. Things like lock boxes, filing cabinets, and boxes for all manner of whatever storage you need. Thankfully, these tend to be easier to shop for. Since storage furniture is made to keep things out of sight until you need them, the pieces themselves may often be hidden away as well. For example, a small fireproof safe is an excellent way to protect small valuables or important documents. This is likely to be an item you’ll want to hide, so you can safely sacrifice style for other features that are important to you. If you have a great deal of files that you need organized or ready at a moment’s notice, a filing cabinet is an ideal solution. But here it’s important to bear in mind how you actually intend to use it. If your papers are more along the lines of tax returns, billing statements, and so forth, you may do well to consider a banker’s box to file them away in. Choices like this will help you save money, save floor space, and more closely customize your home to your needs and style. With so many people either working from home or taking work home with them, it is more essential than ever to create a comfortable work environment with your home furnishings. Keep yourself organized with storage tailored to your needs, and make sure that your home office is set up the way you like best. Certainly these pieces won’t become the centerpiece of your home, but they will contribute to your overall happiness and comfort, which is certain to impact how you and others see your home. Indoor furniture is often specialized to particular areas of a house, but knowing how these furnishings – and how you use them – work together with you and your family will reap dividends in making your house a home.

*Robert Crager