Effortless Minimalism: Transform Your Home Office with These Chic Tips

BY NAWAILAH MAHOMED
Sep 12, 2024
4 min read

Less is indeed more; short and sweet; plain and simple. There is a certain joy that accompanies the pleasure the most basic, and down-to-earth items or concepts provide us with. Even so, when it is carried through into the spaces we work in, and spend the majority of our daily lives.

The onset of minimalism has infiltrated into our lifestyles. Although its existence is something not entirely new, it has prevailed through current trends and the kitchens, nurseries, living rooms, and yes, even bathrooms, that we see online on social media. People choose to live minimally, dress plainly, yet elegantly, focus on the things that matter, where living a life of simplicity well and truly reflects into the spaces surrounding them.

Minimalist spaces have become a concept and ideal where less is more. Oftentimes it can be difficult to navigate a space when you cannot even navigate yourself! How are we supposed to focus and pay attention to specific details when we cannot even cook our dinner, or spend some time taking care of ourselves over the weekend.

Difficult, but not impossible. Here are 4 tips and tricks for transforming your home office space, or any space for that matter into a minimalist one. But first, let’s explore the concept of minimalism.

The Emergence of Minimalism

Minimalism starts off as a ‘lifestyle’ before it is implemented as an interior decorating trend to bandwagon off of. The irony here is that minimalist lifestyles are emphasised as something desirable to us. However, there is always a big chase of the next high; be it the next position in our careers, owning the new iPhone, or always possessing a luxury vehicle or house appliance.

No one will ever admit that they don’t not want something in life, making the idea of minimalism in itself therefore quite ironic, ‘you must live with less than 100 things, you can’t have a career, you must live in exotic hard-to-pronounce places all over the world, you must start a blog…’ the list goes on. Simply put, the ‘trend’ of being a minimalist actually goes against the crux of its entire being: possessing something; everything. Beyond the double standards of this concept, minimalism is said to provide freedom. Freedom from stress, excess, emotional attachments, and overcompensating for our material possessions every day.

Embracing Minimalism

Minimalism gives us clarity, space to think, and allowance to focus on what truly matters, what is actually within our line of sight. Examples include cutting down our possessions to what we use on a month-to-month basis, materially. It also means avoiding excessive consumption of social media, reducing our collective screen time, and cutting back on behaviours that are over-indulgent, exorbitant and objectively unreasonable. The minimalist office space therefore aims to stimulate productivity, and boost moods, attitudes and work ethics, rather than promote stress and never-ending anxieties on meeting deadlines timeously.

4 Tips for a Minimal Home Office

1. Clearing the Clutter

The first tip to ensuring a productive and worthwhile working space is to clear it out. Clean it. Polish it. Make it shine. It should smell good. It should be well-ventilated and a healthy, sanitary space to work in. Add a candle or reed diffuser to keep the place smelling good and comfortable to you.

A nice smelling-space that holds personal appeal can make you eager to spend time in it, and more likely to complete tasks in a space that surrounds, inspires and motivates you.
Remove everything that is unimportant. Keep only the materials and apparatus that you are guaranteed to reach for on a daily basis!
Place only items of furniture, ornaments and decorations that are tasteful and impactful. The more you possess, the less valuable the other items in that space become. The ‘statement’ wall may now be competing with many other ‘statement’ pieces.

2. Incorporate Natural Elements

Believe it or not, you don’t actually need five or six different pot plants or large plants, for that matter, for a ‘natural flow of oxygen’. One is sufficient. The more low-maintenance the plant, the better. Invest in a succulent or snake plant; you’ll have more time to focus on your work than the plants in your space. Whilst maintaining the minimalism of the space, you will be inspired and rejuvenated by the freshness its greenery provides. Killing two birds with one stone, in my opinion.

3. Lighting is Everything

Maximise on the natural light as much as possible within your work space. Design and model your furniture according to the closest source of natural light. Vitamin D, and daylight, ‘not only lifts the mood, but is better for the eyes and productivity’.

The natural light helps us to feel at ease, comfortable, and you can interpret information, look at colours and distinguish smaller details compared to artificial light. There is less of a strain on our bodies and on our eyes. Not only does this maximise your productivity, but also limits your choice of, and incorporation of lighting. When choosing your lighting, sleek and thin lamps can blend into the background, and assist in illuminating the room for additional assistance if needed. The natural daylight actually opens the room further, maximising on, and emphasising empty spaces in your now, close to minimalist space.

4. Implement a ‘One In, One Out’ Rule

For every new piece of furniture or ornamentation you choose to bring into your space, take something out. It can be very easy to fall into the trap of making a room or space ‘homey’ or ‘comfortable’, and as a result, you find yourself collecting clutter or items that you’ll likely never use again. Enforce the rule strictly, and implement it accordingly. Regular discipline in following this rule can filter into your work responsibilities, and meeting of deadlines. It also ensures that there are less elements in the space around you, preventing you from getting distracted easily, and stimulating your productivity.

Minimalism can be something difficult to implement, and even more, something difficult to maintain. Take it in small doses. Add it gradually to your list of daily systems, and whilst you discipline yourself to stay on top of it, you can, in turn, stay on top of everything else.