4 Effective Tips on Turning Your Basement into a Chic Home Office

The basement has the potential to become the favorite room in your household, instead of forever being that odd damp place you visit occasionally to check the water heater and if the mold is under control. Particularly, your basement has the potential to become the home office you always dreamed of, and skyrocket your at-home career in the process.

The possibilities here are endless, as you will be working with a blank canvas of sorts, a space where you are yet to bring a unique, personal setting to life. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the four key tips that will help you transform your basement into an elegant home office you won’t want to leave.

Inspect the space and make a detailed plan

First things first, you need to establish a foundation for your project based on meticulous research. You will need to conduct a thorough inspection of the available space, and most importantly, determine if there are any hazardous materials or air particles residing here. Typically, this will be mold, but you could also encounter asbestos from cracked walls if your house is old, so be sure to bring in a professional inspector such as Wise Asbestos & Mold Removal.

Next, you will need to brainstorm the layout of your office. Keep in mind that this is not simply a space where you will work – this is a space where you will spend the majority of your day, so it needs to be functional, inspirational, and fully optimized for top productivity.

Make it functional first

When it comes to layouts, there are three key areas you need to consider: the main work and lounge area, the bathroom, and the kitchen. Consider this office space as you would any other, and remember that these auxiliary spaces will prove vital for your productivity throughout the day.

Particularly, you shouldn’t have to go upstairs every time you need to go to the bathroom, so focus on allocating enough space for a small restroom, making sure to introduce the necessary plumbing features. Additionally, consider adding a small kitchen area or even just a mini-fridge to avoid lengthy trips upstairs in the middle of your work.

Pay special attention to lighting

The basement is an inherently dark place, so one of your priorities should be to illuminate the entire area for top productivity and day-long zeal. The basement-office trend has grown widely popular with Australian homeowners, so take note.

In the Land Down Under, homeowners will plan their lighting scheme with the help of an experienced level 2 electrician in Sydney and other remote-work hubs around the country, in order to light the room for minimal eye and mental strain. In the absence of adequate natural lighting, nailing your artificial lighting scheme should be your no.1 priority as well, so be sure to let your electrician in on the project early on.

Introduce your personal flair and brand

Designing a home office is a wonderful opportunity to make the space an extension of your personality, and a setting where your brand’s colors and stories can come to life. To that end, you want to choose a color scheme that will influence your mindset in a positive way, and introduce various decor elements on your desk, the shelves, and the walls that will speak to your heart and mind.

However, refrain from cluttering the space too much, as physical clutter can quickly become emotional stress. Stick with a couple of personal belongings on your desk, add vibrant artwork on the walls to give the room a sense of class, and allocate the rest of the space to storage – you are going to need it.

Transforming a basement into a home office is a unique project that requires careful planning, as there is plenty that can go wrong along the way. With these tips in mind, though, you will have no problem designing a basement office that is clutter free, functional, elegant, and a natural extension of your true self.

Guest Contributor, Chloe Taylor