10 Easy Ways to Refresh a Home Office or Study
Try these simple and affordable ways to improve your home workspace’s look, feel and functionality
Whether you’re working from home, studying for a test or just catching up on bills, your office or study space should feel both functional and inspiring. Luckily, major improvements don’t necessarily require big investments of time or money. Here are 10 easy, affordable ways to refresh any size workspace for comfort, productivity and style.
Don’t forget your monitor and keyboard, which also accumulate dust and grime. Power down your computer and unplug your keyboard from its port. Then gently wipe the monitor screen with a dry, clean microfiber cloth. Tilt and gently shake your keyboard (or use compressed air) to remove dust and particles, then wipe each key with a slightly damp microfiber cloth.
A cluttered digital inbox and desktop also hamper productivity, so set aside time to clear those out too.
How to Create a Joyful, Clutter-Free Home Office
A cluttered digital inbox and desktop also hamper productivity, so set aside time to clear those out too.
How to Create a Joyful, Clutter-Free Home Office
2. Get Organized
Stylish storage keeps clutter from creeping back. Framed corkboards and dry-erase boards can cut down on sticky-note overload. Drawer organizers and color-coded file folders will help keep the inside of your desk and file cabinet organized. For your desktop and open shelves, use woven baskets, lidded boxes, lacquer trays and pretty cups for supplies, and consider a desk organizer to corral mail and notepads.
Stylish storage keeps clutter from creeping back. Framed corkboards and dry-erase boards can cut down on sticky-note overload. Drawer organizers and color-coded file folders will help keep the inside of your desk and file cabinet organized. For your desktop and open shelves, use woven baskets, lidded boxes, lacquer trays and pretty cups for supplies, and consider a desk organizer to corral mail and notepads.
Don’t go overboard with desktop organizers though — you need enough space for actual work! Try to keep at least 30% to 40% of your physical desktop clear so you can work effectively and comfortably. Mounting shelving on the wall above your desk can help open up a crowded work surface. For customized storage, you can also consider hiring an interior designer or cabinetmaker, many of whom can be found on Houzz.
Find a home professional on Houzz
Find a home professional on Houzz
3. Upgrade Your Tech Accessories
You don’t need a brand-new computer to modernize your tech setup. A sleek docking hub and wireless accessories can streamline your desk and make everyday tasks feel smoother. Even small, analog upgrades like a cable management box, headphone hanger and tablet holder add polish while keeping your workspace organized.
See why you should hire a professional who uses Houzz Pro software
You don’t need a brand-new computer to modernize your tech setup. A sleek docking hub and wireless accessories can streamline your desk and make everyday tasks feel smoother. Even small, analog upgrades like a cable management box, headphone hanger and tablet holder add polish while keeping your workspace organized.
See why you should hire a professional who uses Houzz Pro software
4. Personalize Your Decor
Remind yourself why you’re working — and keep your home office from feeling too corporate — by displaying family photos, souvenirs, favorite paintings or other meaningful objects. A rug you love can add another layer of personality, bringing warmth, color and texture while also softening sound and protecting floors from rolling chairs.
If your office is open to the rest of the house, choose furniture, finishes and accents that echo your home’s existing style. In this case, a rug can also help define your work zone, making it feel intentional and integrated with the surrounding space.
8 Steps to Finding Your Design Style Using Ideabooks
Remind yourself why you’re working — and keep your home office from feeling too corporate — by displaying family photos, souvenirs, favorite paintings or other meaningful objects. A rug you love can add another layer of personality, bringing warmth, color and texture while also softening sound and protecting floors from rolling chairs.
If your office is open to the rest of the house, choose furniture, finishes and accents that echo your home’s existing style. In this case, a rug can also help define your work zone, making it feel intentional and integrated with the surrounding space.
8 Steps to Finding Your Design Style Using Ideabooks
5. Add Fragrance
Although fragrant candles and diffusers may be off-limits in shared workplaces, if you enjoy them, they’re a great addition to your home office. A beautiful candle or diffuser is not only a stylish accessory on your desk or shelf, but also a mood-shifter. Choose citrus or mint for energy and focus, lavender or eucalyptus for calm, or vanilla and sandalwood for a cozy, inviting vibe.
Check out our beginner’s guide to get started on your home project
Although fragrant candles and diffusers may be off-limits in shared workplaces, if you enjoy them, they’re a great addition to your home office. A beautiful candle or diffuser is not only a stylish accessory on your desk or shelf, but also a mood-shifter. Choose citrus or mint for energy and focus, lavender or eucalyptus for calm, or vanilla and sandalwood for a cozy, inviting vibe.
Check out our beginner’s guide to get started on your home project
6. Bring in Greenery
Potted houseplants instantly soften a work zone and provide a natural break for your eyes, which can get fatigued by staring at a screen for long stretches. Some plants can even improve indoor air quality by absorbing toxins and adding humidity. Snake plant (Sansevieria) and pothos are two attractive, easy-care options.
10 Top Plants to Grow Indoors
Potted houseplants instantly soften a work zone and provide a natural break for your eyes, which can get fatigued by staring at a screen for long stretches. Some plants can even improve indoor air quality by absorbing toxins and adding humidity. Snake plant (Sansevieria) and pothos are two attractive, easy-care options.
10 Top Plants to Grow Indoors
A bouquet of cut flowers adds a splash of seasonal color to your desk and can also add a pleasant scent. And while cut flowers don’t have the same air-purifying benefits as live plants, studies show that even small connections to nature, like a few blooms in a vase, can lower stress, sharpen focus and boost creativity.
7. Reposition Your Furniture
If you’re uninspired by your office, you may just need to change your perspective — literally. Rearranging your furniture, and especially your desk, can make the whole space feel new while improving circulation and workflow.
Where possible, position your desk so you have a view of a favorite piece of artwork, the door, the outdoors or all three. Moving closer to a window will also increase your exposure to natural daylight, which can boost mood, alertness and energy. If glare is a problem, try orienting the desk perpendicular to the window, installing light-filtering window shades and adding antiglare film to your computer screen.
Key Measurements to Help You Design the Perfect Home Office
If you’re uninspired by your office, you may just need to change your perspective — literally. Rearranging your furniture, and especially your desk, can make the whole space feel new while improving circulation and workflow.
Where possible, position your desk so you have a view of a favorite piece of artwork, the door, the outdoors or all three. Moving closer to a window will also increase your exposure to natural daylight, which can boost mood, alertness and energy. If glare is a problem, try orienting the desk perpendicular to the window, installing light-filtering window shades and adding antiglare film to your computer screen.
Key Measurements to Help You Design the Perfect Home Office
Keep these measurements in mind when rearranging your furniture:
- For floating desks, leave at least 30 inches between the desk and wall or shelves behind it. On the other side of the desk, leave 48 to 60 inches of clearance for chairs or other furniture.
- Desks on opposite walls should have 54 to 66 inches between them.
- Desk chairs should have 42 square inches (give or take), plus knee space, to move around comfortably.
8. Boost Comfort and Safety
For both style and space reasons, we often set up our home offices to look good first and function well second. But poor posture, especially combined with a sedentary lifestyle and repetitive tasks like typing, can lead to aches and pains over time. An ergonomic setup helps reduce that strain by supporting proper alignment.
An adjustable chair, keyboard tray and monitor riser make it easier to achieve and maintain healthy posture, keeping long desk sessions more comfortable. To encourage movement, consider a sit-stand desk or a compact desk treadmill. Even something as simple as keeping a yoga mat in the corner can serve as a reminder to stretch and reset.
For both style and space reasons, we often set up our home offices to look good first and function well second. But poor posture, especially combined with a sedentary lifestyle and repetitive tasks like typing, can lead to aches and pains over time. An ergonomic setup helps reduce that strain by supporting proper alignment.
An adjustable chair, keyboard tray and monitor riser make it easier to achieve and maintain healthy posture, keeping long desk sessions more comfortable. To encourage movement, consider a sit-stand desk or a compact desk treadmill. Even something as simple as keeping a yoga mat in the corner can serve as a reminder to stretch and reset.
You don’t necessarily need to buy new furniture to improve ergonomics, however. A pillow or cushion can raise your seat so your elbows are close to 90 degrees while typing, and a shoebox or stack of books makes an easy footrest.
In a pinch, books also work as monitor risers. Put the screen directly in front of you, at least 20 inches away, with the top at or slightly below eye level to help prevent neck strain.
How to Set Up Your Home Office on Nearly Any Budget
In a pinch, books also work as monitor risers. Put the screen directly in front of you, at least 20 inches away, with the top at or slightly below eye level to help prevent neck strain.
How to Set Up Your Home Office on Nearly Any Budget
9. Upgrade Lighting
Lighting in a home office works best when it’s layered: a combination of natural light, ambient light, task lighting and accent lighting that can be adjusted throughout the day. Start by moving your desk near a window or skylight, or swapping heavy curtains for sheer shades to boost both brightness and mood. As already noted, to avoid glare you can position your desk perpendicular to the window rather than directly in front of it.
For a layered effect, pair a stylish task lamp that illuminates your desk with a warm overhead fixture, and add accent lighting on bookshelves or shelving with picture lights or LED strips to soften shadows. Since lighting needs change depending on the time of day and the task, consider using tunable white bulbs, which let you adjust color temperature outputs — cooler for technical tasks, neutral for general computer work and warmer for creative projects and winding down the day.
4 Steps to Getting Your Home Office Lighting Right
Lighting in a home office works best when it’s layered: a combination of natural light, ambient light, task lighting and accent lighting that can be adjusted throughout the day. Start by moving your desk near a window or skylight, or swapping heavy curtains for sheer shades to boost both brightness and mood. As already noted, to avoid glare you can position your desk perpendicular to the window rather than directly in front of it.
For a layered effect, pair a stylish task lamp that illuminates your desk with a warm overhead fixture, and add accent lighting on bookshelves or shelving with picture lights or LED strips to soften shadows. Since lighting needs change depending on the time of day and the task, consider using tunable white bulbs, which let you adjust color temperature outputs — cooler for technical tasks, neutral for general computer work and warmer for creative projects and winding down the day.
4 Steps to Getting Your Home Office Lighting Right
10. Create a Break Corner
Even if clients don’t visit, or your home office doubles as a multipurpose space, having an extra chair near your desk can encourage you to change your posture and point of view throughout the day — both of which boost creativity and alertness. Choose a lounge chair, chaise or window seat and you’ll also have a cozy spot for reading, taking calls or even sneaking a catnap. A pretty pillow that complements your decor adds a final personal touch.
You can easily create this corner — and make the other nine upgrades — on your own, but for a larger redesign, a design pro can help pull it all together.
Tell us: What small updates made a big difference in your home office? Share in the Comments.
More on Houzz
Read more decorating guides
Browse millions of photos for ideas
Find a home professional
Even if clients don’t visit, or your home office doubles as a multipurpose space, having an extra chair near your desk can encourage you to change your posture and point of view throughout the day — both of which boost creativity and alertness. Choose a lounge chair, chaise or window seat and you’ll also have a cozy spot for reading, taking calls or even sneaking a catnap. A pretty pillow that complements your decor adds a final personal touch.
You can easily create this corner — and make the other nine upgrades — on your own, but for a larger redesign, a design pro can help pull it all together.
Tell us: What small updates made a big difference in your home office? Share in the Comments.
More on Houzz
Read more decorating guides
Browse millions of photos for ideas
Find a home professional
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Clutter reduces focus, increases stress and leads to wasted time looking for lost items — none of which is conducive to a productive or satisfying workday.
For an instant office refresh that’s totally free, start by clearing out everything you don’t need or love, then make what’s left sparkle. Recycle or shred old papers, untangle and stash extra cords and donate or store decor items that you don’t want to look at every day. Then, use a hand vac to remove dust and crumbs from drawers and shelves and give all surfaces a wipe-down.
Find an interior designer on Houzz