On The Job: Make Home Office a Productive Space

"Designing Eye"

By Toni Berry Contra Costa Times Correspondent

For many of us, home isn't just where the heart is; it's where the office is, too.

It's been said that productivity can be achieved when you are relaxed, organized and want to stay in the space. I have worked from a home office for 28 years. The first space was shared with the laundry room. I use to take calls between wash loads.

The second space was shared with the dining room; I used the dining table as a desk and the hutch for files, price lists and reference guides. Now my space is completely on its own. Nothing in this office is designated for anything else but my work, and that has kept me productive, happy and sane.

If you're not feeling good about your home-office space, here are four ways to make it -- and you -- more productive, happy and sane.

Find the order

Take an inventory of your home office. How much of the contents of your space are used frequently? How much of it has been sitting for weeks, months or maybe years? Before taking another step, declutter. Decide what office supplies you need; for everything else, carry it to the car and take it to a charity. This is a first step to a room redo, and you can't do a redo in a cluttered room.

Clean

When your environment is clean, your mind is free to be creative and productive. If you have old work, old newspapers or old magazines muddling your desk, clean them up.

This also is the time to put a fresh coat of paint on the walls. A favorite color and one piece of nondistracting art on the wall will do wonders for lifting the mood of your home office.

Set priorities

When your home office is devoted to other activities, it's hard to focus on work. You inevitably will be distracted by the other activity. So, figure out what items in your office are used for work and what items aren't. If you have a television in your office that is not used for work, remove it. I'm not saying that your home office shouldn't be personalized -- it should be, of course -- but if those personal items draw your attention away from your work, they have to go elsewhere. A few pictures and mementos can be used to personalize your space, but don't overdo it.

Organize

Now that you've successfully done the first steps, it's time to organize your remaining space. Divide your room into zones. Zone 1, storage, is for items that can go in a closet. This would include office supplies and rarely used reference materials. Zone 2, desk items, is for only the bare necessities -- pens and pencils, computer, stapler and tape. Everything else needs a home inside a desk drawer to prevent a cluttered desk. Zone 3, display, is for books and magazines. Use organizers that go on a bookshelf. These organizers can be grouped together and be reached in a moment. Zone 4 addresses light in your office. If it's too dark, open up windows, remove heavy curtains and replace with sheer shades, or bring in lighting fixtures. When you can see clearly you are more likely to stay in that space. Also make sure there is good ventilation and temperature control. If you are too hot or cold, you will quickly want to leave your office.

By Toni Berry
Contra Costa Times Correspondent

Home Office Challange

Imagine having one spare bedroom in your house that has to play four roles---storage room, media room, guest room, and home office! Up to the challenge, my clients and I  decided to tackle the job!

But first they called me in to give them guidance and sound advice "before" they began the process. A few decorator tricks-of-the-trade made this room go from a cluttered, disorganized mess to a beautiful, functional and productive room that anyone would love to have in their home!

BEFORE; Mismatched desks and chairs, no storage cabinets for papers or files, a tired futon, a red wall that made the space dark and dreary, a closet that was stuffed to the gills with old clothes, boxes of papers and everything else that couldn't find a home in the rest of the house!

Beefore...a mess!

Dark and dreary with bad seating!

Before, poor storage in the closet!

AFTER; new built in desks with lots of storage above and below. Matching desk chairs, and keeping the floor color and cabinets color gives the room a larger feel and a pulled together look.

Putting mirrors on the closet doors also enlarged the space.  A closet system was installed to meet the storage needs with a 3 sliding doors instead of 2 makes getting access easier.

A armless love seat was added to maximize space.  A wall light was added for reading.

Two small but useful  leather cubes that allow putting up your feet for comfort and storage.

Making full use of the window elevation with modern cabinets.  The center lower cabinet houses the printer. The window treatment allows for full control of the light for TV watching and for computer glare reduction.

A wall hung TV with a low, shallow console below housing media equipment. A cabinet over the door way was installed for even more storage.

I think you'll agree...mission accomplished beautifully!

5 Fabulous Decorating Solutions For Winter

When the days are short make your rooms long on comfort and style.  Look to create rooms that drive out the chill. And if you haven’t finished decorating your home for the Holidays yet, here’s a few of my warm and cozy ideas that you can implement right now.

·         I love white fabrics and sparkling accessories, they are natural choices for winter decor because they add much-needed light to a home's interior. Softer than the bright whites of summer, winter whites come in a variety of pale colors.  Winter whites will cover a bed's dark shapes the way snow blankets the landscape of the outdoors. Sink into the layers of winter with lavender, pale pink, mint green and white flannel linens, a fluffy featherbed, a winter-weight duvet, and a transparent bedcovering of icy voile.

·         Candles -- and lots of them -- cast a warming glow to every corner of a room, especially when company's coming for dinner. Keep a stock of white candles, mirrored, silver and sparkling accessories, and frosted glasses on hand to keep the look fresh and inviting; simply create new groupings from your stash every time you set the table.

·         And don’t forget the Hearth.  In the winter, rearrange the seating group in your living room so it faces the fireplace.  Winter white lampshades maximize the wattage of every bulb without creating glare.  Add a string of votives to the mantel and a group of pillars on the coffee table to multiply the warmth and power of the fire to ward off the chill.

·         The celebration of the season starts at the front door. Greet family and friends with a wreath that suits the whole season, greenery, sparkling ornaments (inside or out) and the ever-present candles on a console table in your entry/foyer are just as suitable all months as they are for December.

·         Greenery is always visually appreciated, but choose branches of leaves rather than pine boughs. Or, put pine boughs out for the holidays and switch to eucalyptus leaves in January for a fresh change of pace. A sprig of greenery, such as evergreens, on the nightstand is a gentle reminder of nature's cycles

If you keep colors light in winter, your spirit will maintain its lightness longer during the stretches of time that the sun takes its leave.  I know this first hand as I live in a canyon. In the winter months our sun sets here behind the hill at about 2:30 in the afternoon.  So I’m practicing what I preach.

Designing Eye: Understanding the misunderstood room! By Toni Berry Contra Costa Times Correspondent

Make no mistake -- Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah. This is dining room season.

However, many people don't appreciate how important the dining room -- what decorating professionals call the most misunderstood room in the house -- is all about.

I find the dining room to have the importance of the holiest room in the house. Some women in their 20s and 30s may not understand that, but women of my generation, as well as our mother's and grandmother's generations, know how this room really works.

It's the calm, quiet room with a table and chairs where we pay our bills, fill out tax returns, review report cards and conduct private conversations on important family matters. It's the place where we plan weddings, baby showers, baptisms and christenings. It's where we serve buffets, luncheons and dinners, celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, and gather for funeral receptions, graduations, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving and New Year's celebrations.

All the special events of our lives are all centered in this room.

A very good friend of mine, who is 92 years old, moved from her home of 45 years to a small condo. She was willing to give up everything -- even her mother's antique stove -- for this move; the only thing she would not budge or negotiate on was her dining room. The condo had to have a space large enough for her dining room furniture. All of it -- the table with two leaves, eight chairs, hutch and serving buffet.

She got it. She told me that the memories the dining room and the furniture in it held for her were priceless. When she looked at this furniture in its proper place, she could remember the details of raising her family. It meant so much more to her than just a room.

To some of us, the dining room is a symbol of a little class, manners and good taste. My mother adored her dining room. Whenever we ate in the dining room, I could see the unmistakable pride on her face, her sweet smile as she placed the fabulous Italian food in front of her family. This was the room she could serve us with grace and poise, and we would all be on our best behavior.

The manners she taught us in the kitchen were tested in the dining room. After my father died, she moved from our childhood home and gifted her dining room furniture to my sister. Now another generation is being served; when I sit at that table and in those chairs at my sister's house, the warm memories flood back.

Sometimes the problem with dining rooms that are not used is that you lose the opportunity to make memories and moments. Those are the only things that really make a house a home.

And perhaps that's what is not understood by so many.

Toni Berry is an interior designer at Marie Antoinette Interiors.

Contact her for a Dining Room you'll always remember!

925.862.9064 or  Toni@MarieAntoinetteInteriors.com.