Zen Home Office Design Ideas

Adam Bender | Jul 16, 2021

Your home office is supposed to be a place where you can sit and work. You want to feel like you are in control and not overwhelmed. Unfortunately, making your office more zen-like is easier said than done. It’s easy for it to become a spot where things pile up.

There are a few things that you can do to bring a calming, zen-like feeling to your work area:

Declutter Your Space
Let in Natural Light
Reorganize Your Computer Desktop
Add a Wall of Greenery
Select Calming Colors

Ready to bring peace to your home office so you can be more productive? Continue reading for a deeper understanding.

Declutter Your Space

To find zen in your home office, start by decluttering. You want to take everything out of your office that has no use. You don’t want or need distractions when you are trying to work.

Start with your desk area. Remove any decorations or excess papers. Have an inbox set up where you can keep essential paper documents and phone messages. If you prefer to have a written daily to-do list, put it on top of the inbox each evening.

You want to keep essential work items within arms reach. For example, a cup filled with pens and a notebook makes it easy to jot down important ideas. Also, bring in a fresh carafe of water each morning so that you can refill your water glass throughout the day without the interruption of having to get up to get more.

Essentially, you want your desk to help you focus on work. By removing all non-essential items, your desktop will feel less busy.

Natural Lighting is Best

You’ve probably heard multiple times that natural light is better for you compared to artificial light. This statement is absolutely true in that natural lighting offers benefits that artificial lights can’t. According to healthline.com, some of these benefits include:

Additional Vitamin D: Sunlight is one of the best ways to get your daily dose of Vitamin D, which reduces the risk of developing cancer and bone loss.
Improves Sleep Cycle: Your body produces melatonin based on the amount of light you get during the day. As a result, melatonin helps you sleep better and is made more after the sun goes down.
Reduces Eye Strain: The use of fluorescent lights is safe. However, if that is your primary light source all day, it can lead to eye strain.

When choosing a space for your home office, make sure it's located next to a window if possible. Even if the window is small, being able to let the sunlight in will help you tremendously.

There are several tricks you can use to help boost the lighting. For example, use lighter shades of colors on the walls to help reflect the light. You can also hang a mirror to help reflect lighting around as well. Avoid light-blocking drapes on your windows.

Reorganize Your Computer

Like your physical desktop, your computer desktop can become a cluttered mess of files. When the screen becomes filled with different documents, you may begin to feel overwhelmed and find it difficult to focus on your work. In fact, you will spend more time looking for the files you need than actually working if you aren’t careful.

Thankfully, computer desktops are somewhat easier to clear off than the physical top of your desk. Start with the files and streamline them by using a folder system. You can organize them by day, month, or project. Choose a folder system that works best for you, even if it seems a little odd. Then, move files into the appropriate folder for a more accessible location and a cleaner screen.

Once all files are organized, take a moment to look at the applications you have littering your desktop. You may have some that are used on rare occasions and others that are accessed every day. Only keep the ones you use on a daily basis on your home screen and store the rest in an alternative location.

Create a Wall of Greenery

Greenery is another great way to bring in the peace and calming nature of a zen-like space. According to Psychologytoday.com, plants can improve your mood and sense of well-being. They have also been proven to decrease blood pressure and heightened levels of anxiety.

Dedicating part of a wall, or even an entire wall to plants is an excellent way to bring the outdoors inside and stimulate you while you work. There are a couple of different ways to accomplish this. One way is to add shelves to your office specifically for potted plants. Make sure the shelving is near a window, so they get plenty of natural light. You can also use hooks and baskets to display greenery.

If you are concerned about the stress of making sure all of your plants are watered regularly, choose ones that aren’t high maintenance. Air plants, Spider plants, and succulents don’t need a lot of attention. You can water them sparingly and they'll still continue to thrive.

Use Calming Colors

The colors in your office can significantly impact your mental well-being. Bold colors such as orange and red can help you feel energized and ready to face the day. However, according to Realsimple.com, if you are looking for a calming, zen-like space, you don’t want to go bold and loud.

Choose colors that make you feel calm and collected. Commonly, blues and greens work for most people. However, if they don’t soothe you, go with something different. A classic white or soft pink palette might be more to your liking. Earth tone colors are also another option.

Conclusion

A home office is a space that you can dedicate to working without distraction. It should be a comfortable area and not make you feel overwhelmed and unfocused. Decluttering the room and letting natural light in are the first steps to gaining control. Adding calming colors and a few plants will help to bring additional zen elements into your home office.