Setting up a home office, especially when you have employees working in it requires careful planning, in such a way that the business operations don’t disrupt an important purpose of your home office, which is a place to live and raise a family. If you have kids, things are becoming more important.
For your children, everything about their home environment is important. If you walk through a Hollywood preschool, a New York City daycare, or a Toronto Montessori school, you’ll see that design is not an afterthought in these places. Fancy private schools and daycares higher experts in education, psychology, and design to help them lay out their spaces, choose their furniture, and decorate their walls in ways that help children and boost performance.
You are (probably) not going to hire a team of psychologists and designers to help you transform your child’s bedroom, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t do a few things to make sure that your child has the perfect space to call his or her own – while having a multi-million dollar business operations sharing the space.
Here are a few things to consider.
Comfort
Your child’s room is his or her safe space, so make it comfortable and secure. If your child is old enough, he or she should be able to close or even lock the door to the room. And once inside, your child should find him or herself in a soothing space.
That means a comfortable beds and great bedding – get a good comforter or, better yet, learn about duvet covers and duvets and then go buy a good one.
Functionality
Think about how your child will use his or her room, and design it accordingly. Walk the paths your child will walk every day: from the bed to the dresser, from the bed to the door, from the door to the desk. Are these paths direct and uncluttered? Does it feel natural to move around the room?
Remember that how you design the room will affect how your child uses it. If you want your child to read (and who doesn’t?) make the bookshelf easily accessible. It’s also important what you leave out: perhaps video games and TVs should not be in this room.
Beauty
Interior design is about beautiful rooms. And while your child may not express much an interest in interior design (few kids do!) he or she will nevertheless be affected by subtle things about the look of their room.
Take care to choose the color of paint you use in your child’s room wisely. Some psychologists believe green encourages tranquility and health, while blue can make us feel both soothed and productive. Which color is right for your child’s room? If your child is old enough to express an opinion, you could also have him or her choose from a few shades that you could live with.
Your child’s room has a window, of course, so consider it when you place your child’s furniture. A desk near the window can mean less productivity, but your child should be able to see the window from most spots in the room. A window lets in healthy natural light, and gazing out of it is great for the imagination.
Your child’s room matters – especially in a home office
Not everything about your child’s room needs to be perfect – you don’t have infinite time or money, after all. But it’s important that you do what you can to create a comfortable, functional, and beautiful space for your child. This is where your child will spend much of his or her time growing up, and that means it’s an important part of their development.
Takeaway
Running an effective home office is very important, as it involves both office management and house management. Some things can intertwine and tangle; such situations can cause unwanted frictions.
That said, you need to assess if a home office setting is right for you, since it impacts the wellbeing of your children.