10 Easy Tips for the Ultimate Home Office

Whether it’s your main digs or just a place to pay the bills, the home office is command central of most households. To make yours comfortable, beautiful, and as functional as possible, enlist these 10 easy tips -- we guarantee your job satisfaction will soar.

1. Let the Sun Shine

Place your desk by a window and work in natural light, which has been linked to improved mood, alertness, and even metabolism. No window? Use LED bulbs that mimic daylight, and take frequent outdoor breaks.

Room & Board Rowan desk, in Cherry, $1,499, roomandboard.com. CB2 Rouka office chair, $299, cb2.com. Gubi Bestlight table lamp, in Brass, $799, kaufmannmercantile.com.

To keep your desktop uncluttered, hang supplies and folders from hooks and clips on an easy access grid.

Urban Outfitters wire wall grids, in Copper (4 shown), $59 each, urbanoutfitters.com. Lostine copper cups, $30 for small and $45 for large, lostine.com. Basketville Upscale Mail basket, $17, basketville.com.

A neutral space may be least distracting, but other hues might up your game. A University of Texas at Austin study found that office workers liked settings with aqua walls, and other research connects the color green with innovation and suggests that blue helps with creative tasks.

Not ready to fully commit? Paint just one wall in a contrasting shade.

Farrow & Ball paint, in Blue Ground, farrow-ball.com. Sherwin-Williams paint, in Relish, sherwin-williams.com. Benjamin Moore paint, in Sea Mist Green, benjaminmoore.com.

To make this hanging folder, cut a 13 1/2-by- 18 3/4-inch piece of faux leather and fold it in half, leaving 1 inch extending on one side. Mark spots 5/8 inch from the top and side of the front flap, and punch holes through both flaps. Insert grommets into the holes.

Edison faux leather, in Toffee, $50 for 1 yd., calicocorners.com. Craftool Round Drive punch, 14 3/8", $20, tandyleather.com. 3/8-inch grommet kit, $10.50, homedepot.com. The Metal Peddler J hooks, in Copper, $19 for 10, themetalpeddler.com.

A huge perk of working at home? Listening to your tunes. Stream them through a Bluetooth speaker, like the UE Boom 2, which NYC interior designer Elizabeth Botero likes because it’s small, it produces rich sound, and it lasts up to 15 hours on a single charge ($200, ultimateears.com).

Human accents (a beloved painting, a beach-stone- turned-paperweight) take the 9-to-5 edge off by making you feel more com- fortable and therefore less anxious. “Add family photos and inspiring elements collected
on your most recent trip,” Botero suggests.

An ergonomically correct computer station protects your back, neck, shoulders, and wrists.

Follow these guidelines:

1. Adjust the chair so your feet are flat on the floor and your shoulders are relaxed when your arms are on the armrests.

2. Place the monitor an arm’s length in front of you, with the screen’s top at eye level.

3. Make sure your hands are at or slightly below your elbows when you type (you may need to raise your chair or install a pull-out keyboard tray).

4. For a standing desk, Botero suggests cushioning your feet with a yoga mat.

For a stylish departure from the usual store-bought labels, use stencils to organize file holders by number or letter. Better yet, coordinate the paint color with your office palette.

IKEA Knuff magazine files, $10 for 2, ikea.com. Americana Vintage Numbers stencils, $11, michaels.com.

Plants have been shown to decrease stress and enhance productivity. And like flowers, says Botero, they help bring the outdoors in: “Fresh-cut mint or rosemary has a wonderful scent that will wake up your olfactory senses.”