It’s important to be productive in a home office. After all, this is your space where you work and it needs to be serene enough for concentration but also dynamic enough that you won’t fall asleep. In this context, painting your home office is a great idea and it can transform the whole feel of the place.
The Challenges of the Home Office
When you choose to paint your living space at home, the decisions can be pretty easy. Most people have some combination of paint colors in mind right from the beginning and those living areas lend themselves to experiments in design and feel.
Paint can transform any room or any home so it makes sense to choose the right colors for your home office too. But getting it right can be something of a challenge. The home office is different from all the other rooms in the home. It’s where you sit down to work and where you make important decisions that can affect your finances and your quality of life.
The Colors You Choose Are Vital
Intuitively and emotionally, we respond to colors. Study after study has found that different colors amplify different feelings. This can obviously affect productivity but things are never quite that simple.
For example, white might seem the most obvious choice for painting a home office but it’s also strongly associated with clinical places, such as hospitals. In this sense, it can feel intimidating. On the other hand, colors such as red are very dynamic but too much of them can create feelings of anxiety.
So what colors are best for a home office? Consider the following:
- Not Quite White: Given that pure whites can feel too clinical and not very engaging, it makes sense that off-white colors are great for the average home office. Try an eggshell white color, for example. This is crisp and clean without being too clinical.
- Gray: So if white is too clinical, what about using something in between? What about gray? In subtle use, gray can evoke professionalism and can strike a neutral mood. However, it’s important not to paint entire walls with gray. It may be best used as an accent color against an off-white dominant color.
- Blues and Greens: Blue has long been known as the color of business and productivity and studies tend to support this. The right shade of blue can make anyone feel productive and professional. However, it’s important to bear in mind that it can also become too much if used in large amounts. Teal is a great combination of green and blue. Green is the color of harmony and balance, and when combined with blue in the form of teal, it can make for an excellent accent color or feature wall.
- Brown: The great thing about brown is that it can make any space feel warm and inviting. When combined with largely wood office furniture, it can really deliver a warm feeling that feels comfortable. With this in mind, using maple browns and lighter brown colors on walls, perhaps combined with off-whites, can really create a homey office space.
Conclusion
Painting a home office can be a challenge. Color affects our moods and our productivity so it’s vital to choose the right colors. Your choice is also partly determined by what work you do. Do you need to focus quietly or does your work involve sales and some level of dynamism? In this context, choosing any of the browns, blues, reds, greens, grays, and off-whites can create the right space.