Article by Lucy Reed
If you work from home, you might consider the importance of staging and decorating your home-based office to provide a professional, welcoming environment for meetings, both in-person and virtual.
In this guide, Lucy Reid looks at some practical ways you can transform your space into one that meets both your needs and your clients’.
The Importance of Staging
One way to make your office more inviting is to stage it. Staging is the act of making a space look a certain way, in this case, a professional setting.
In addition to home office staging, this art is typically employed for the purpose of selling real estate. It’s important to note that staging doesn’t just apply to homes; offices can also benefit from this practice.
Staging your home-based office will help you create the perfect environment for in-person and virtual visits by:
- Creating an inviting atmosphere for clients, customers, and coworkers alike
- Giving clients a sense of privacy that is not present in other spaces
- Creating an area where people feel comfortable and at ease
- Making the space feel larger than its actual size
Safety Tips for In-Person Home Office Visits
Now more than ever, it’s important to provide a safe experience for your clients. When you host an in-person meeting, be sure to consider taking safety-conscious steps, such as opening windows, wearing/offering masks, and utilizing UV in your HVAC system.
Moreover, it’s good practice to take advantage of and implement contactless invoicing and payment software.
Lighting and Staging
Having a well-lit office space with ample natural light is conducive to productivity and creativity. In addition, be aware of the light sources in your home and make sure they are not shining directly onto your computer monitor.
If you don’t have any windows in your home office, you may want to invest in an artificial light source that can be controlled for brightness and direction.
Another consideration for staging is the furniture layout. Be mindful of what will work best for the type of meetings you’re hosting. You might want to place a few chairs out front and somewhere along the path, so visitors feel welcome when they arrive.
For virtual meetings, consider how much space you’ll need around your computer screen. This depends on how many people will be in attendance at once (usually one person).
If you have children or pets, it’s important that they stay away from the room where people will be meeting or staying for long periods of time. Pets may interrupt or shed hair—which can aggravate allergies or asthma while children might interrupt a meeting with their games or questions. This could cause a distraction for both parties involved in a conversation.
Adding Value through Functionality
Staging and decorating your home office will help add value to your home. This will be a great selling point if you ever decide to sell your home. Be sure to keep a log of your improvements with pictures so that you can qualify your home’s increased value.
This will make it easier to get your asking price since you can readily back up the value of your improved home office space.
Article by Lucy Reed, lucyr@gigmine.co https://gigmine.co/