As waning sunlight and winter’s chill make us feel more like taking naps than conquering work, it’s harder than ever to keep focused and upbeat this season. One way to tackle the seasonal change is to incorporate some things to spruce up your office.

It is challenging for those who work remotely to balance self-care and productivity. Our energy may flag, but the stress keeps coming. Some cozy home office ideas can help bridge the gap between productivity and work/life balance.

We have some ideas for making your workspace both energizing and relaxing. Simple changes can completely transform the feel of a room. Check out these design trends and home office layout ideas to update your home office from dreary to cheery.

How Do I Spruce Up My Office?

Start literally with spruce, ivy, or other natural elements by bringing the outdoors inside. Biophilic design feels that humans thrive when connecting our living and working spaces to the natural world. Consider incorporating one or several natural features in your home office to invoke a connection to nature, such as:

• Plants (real or faux)
• Water features such as fountains and aquariums


• Natural light such as skylights and large windows


• Art depicting botanicals, animals, and/or animal prints

How Do I Make My Home Office Cozier?

Just adding a few plants may not be enough to help you get through the winter months or create the cozy home office you want. Consider the Scandicraft design style that emphasizes minimalism and light, neutral colors.

Got an old desk or side table that could use some TLC? Rather than buying brand new, Scandicrafters prefer to renovate and repurpose. Consider adding nature-inspired textures such as rattan, seagrass, wicker, or straw to one or more surfaces. Refinish with warm, pale colors such as white tinted blue, green, brown, or yellow.

How Do I Soften an Office to Make It More Relaxing?

The Japandi Design concept marries Japanese minimalism with the Scandinavian form that focuses on function. According to designer Shanty Wijaya, the Japandi style influences seek to “support a healthy, meaningful lifestyle and reinforce a connectedness to nature.”

The focus of Japandi is to create clean lines that allow the mind to rest and a neutral palette that invokes nature, such as alabaster, light gray, or creamy beige. Think minimal and cozy featuring natural materials and textures.

A connection to nature and minimalist design that functions are vital to creating a restful, productive workspace that can keep you energized, even in winter. If your space is cluttered, consider storing things you rarely need out of sight or off-site. Don’t let drifts of paper interrupt your zen.

Create a Cozy Space by Decluttering and Minimizing

Redesign your space and enjoy the improved mental and physical comfort of an organized work and living area. Storage Quarters can scan and convert your essential papers to digital, securely shred sensitive documents, and will even come to your location on a regular schedule, so you never fall behind. Contact the organization specialists at Storage Quarters for a free quote today by email or call us at (516) 794-7300.