Furniture designer Charles Eames said, “Design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose.” When it comes to your office space, that purpose is where function and beauty meet. Your goal is to create a space that inspires you to do your best work.
The spaces surrounding us impact our productivity. They either nurture us to be more successful or hold us back. A little effort can go a long way in creating a workspace you love. Every time you enter and sit down at your desk, you have an opportunity to feel renewed with purpose.
To that end, we have teamed up with designer Cynthia Rowley to bring you an exclusive and beautiful collection of office supplies that will add function and loveliness to any workspace you find yourself in.
I’ve got a theory: if you love your workspace, you’ll love your work a little more. A unique collection of office essentials in bold, vibrant hues and lush, elegant patterns. To inspire you. To delight you. And to give your day just a little more joy.
Cynthia Rowley
Who couldn’t use a little more joy in their work day?
The key is to strike a balance in your space. You need your workplace to be comfortable, but not lull you to sleep. Color and patterns should mix in a way that keep you alert and ready to work. To encourage your best work, focus on these elements:
Order and organization
Focus on putting your office in order by creating systems to keep your space clean and organized. To reduce clutter, pick up some large and small storage bins to keep items that you access only on occasion out of sight. Eliminating clutter will give you room to breathe more deeply and focus on the important tasks at hand as they occur.
Working in a clean, neat and organized environment will relieve stress and help you to think clearer. After all, a cluttered office results in a cluttered mind.
Once you’ve decided on a place for everything and have tidied up, develop a system to keep up with incoming supplies and documents. A document box is a great way to store papers on your desk that need to be filed. That way they’re contained and kept organized until you have time to deal with them. Create a weekly task of filing away various paperwork to a more permanent location.
The perfect desktop setup
Your desk is like New York City’s Grand Central Station: you will come and go, but it’s still a central hub of activity. If you find yourself frustrated with a cluttered desktop and have no room to work, it’s time to regroup. But feel free to keep your stuff and your personality — you don’t need to be a minimalist in order to be organized.
Researchers found that decorated workspaces improve workers’ well-being and boost productivity. When employees were allowed to decorate their offices with personal pictures and knick knacks, their work performance was positively affected.
Your goal is just to rework what you need on your desk, organizing it in a way that improves productivity and still looks great. You will be looking at your desktop accessories every day, so get creative: switch out that boring stapler for shiny gold one, or add a patterned pencil cup to hold your most important writing utensils and keep them from rolling all over your desk.
You might also consider a desktop organizer for all your stray necessities like paper clips and push pins.
Lights and greenery
Dark and dingy are not words you want to be used to describe your workspace. It’s time to brighten things up. You have already begun the process by adding lovely accessories. Now it’s time to make sure your lighting is up to par too.
Natural light is best, so make use of windows whenever possible. If your space does not offer a lot of natural light opportunities, you can use lamps to brighten things up. We adore this tripod-inspired one.
Aside from natural light, plants offer another way to bring the outside in. Greenery can refresh the air keeping it cleaner and healthier for you to breathe every day. Studies have even found that plants in offices increase happiness and productivity, and that minimalist offices aren’t necessarily better.
Green is a harmonious color that symbolizes growth, renewal and can bring peace and balance to any workspace. That means, by adding a plant or two, you can draw more positive energy into your surroundings.
Work on these three key aspects of improving your workspace and you’ll end up with an office you love spending time in. Watch your productivity soar when you create a space that inspires you to be your best self. Keep your space light and bright, but don’t be afraid to add your personality too. As Cynthia Rowley so elegantly put it, the right workspace can “delight you and give your day just a little more joy.”
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