Home Office – Eco-Friendly Personalization

How To Personalize Your Home Office Space

So far in this blog series, we’ve looked at possible locations for your home office, what to look for in an office desk, and how to find eco-friendly and healthy office chairs.  Today we focus on some tips to make sure you are comfortable in your home office.

Make it a space you are happy to spend time in

If you work from home, either part- or full-time, you want a space where you will feel – well –  at home.  Even if you are working.  One way to get that ‘home’ feeling is to decorate it in a way that pleases you.

Walls

Paint your office walls (even if you only use a corner of a room) in colours that you like – if you are worried about future saleability, you can always over-paint afterwards – or some buyers appreciate being shown how a home office can fit into an existing space.

Choose VOC-free or Low-VOC paint (Volatile Organic Chemicals).  These paints are unfortunately more expensive than ‘normal’ paint, but unless your home office is huge, you will not need a lot.  They are much better for your health, and eco-friendly too.  When VOC paints were originally brought out, there was a very limited range, but now as they become more popular, the ranges have widened, and hopefully as more people buy them, the price will come down too.  Check also for lead-free paints.  Some paints are VOC-free, lead-free and organic.  However, be aware that “VOC-free” may simply mean VOC content below a certain percentage, and the same with lead.

Hang pictures, posters or artwork on any available wall space.  You need to have something different to look at, and perhaps gain inspiration from, in addition to ‘personalising’ your space.  Optometrist Barbara Caffery advises the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes look at something 20 yards away for 20 seconds.

Floors

If you’re looking to replace the flooring in your home office, consider bamboo or cork as sustainable alternatives to traditional hardwoods and carpet. Bamboo is a renewable resource that is recognized as a green material by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Bamboo is ready to be harvested in just three years, regenerates by itself and requires almost no pesticides or fertilization. Cork flooring can be sustainably harvested, it is naturally mould-resistant and extremely durable. Plus, it’s biodegradable after use.  Just check that any glues are toxin-free.

If your existing flooring is staying put, you can always get a rug made from recycled materials. There are beautiful rugs in many different styles and colours that are made from recycled materials such as old jeans, plastics and recovered scraps from the textile industry.  If your home office chair is on wheels, make sure it can glide over your rug.

Shelves

Most of us need space for stuff – disks, reference books and manuals, stationery……    Shelves keep stuff off the floor.  But be aware – less can be best!  The home office in my previous home had loads of shelves and cupboards.  And I filled them all!  Now I have down-sized, and keep only necessities.  It feels better.  Avoid buying new where possible, re-use older shelving or re-purpose old cupboards, containers or wood.

Plants

Leave room for plants.  (Or opt for an air filter).  Plants are eco-friendly.  As well as adding beauty to your work environment, they also benefit your air by sucking formaldehyde, benzene and carbon monoxide out of the air and storing them in their roots or breaking them down into less harmful gases. The two most effective are the peace lily and the areca palm.  I’ve got a type of yucca growing next to me (it sometimes tickles my ear as it grows) and various others on window ledges.  I like having plants (and dogs) around me while I work.

Supplies

In a perfectly green world, your desk needs would be minimal.  In the real world, you probably have loads of pens, pencils, and old notebooks.  Don’t buy new – re-use what you have in your home already.  If you need to buy, consider eco-friendly options: pencils made (astonishingly) from recycled denim or old US Dollar bills!  White-board markers are available in re-fillable models, and many items come in recycled and compostable packaging.  If you have to buy from a store, consider The Green Office, an online retailer of recycled, eco-friendly and sustainable business products.

In my next blog I’ll look at green options for electronic and electrical equipment, and of course paper.

You might also enjoy other Home Office articles:   Home Office – Location and Setup       Home Office – Desks      Home Office – Chairs and Chair Alternatives     World’s First Eco-Friendly Office Building     Save Money with Green Energy       Go Green with Paper

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