Budget-friendly, pretty, and practical. These are three things I am looking for when I put together a home office. If something is gorgeous, but impractical and expensive—it’s not going in my home office! And, you get the idea with the others, too. It’s essential to have all three, and I can’t think of a better place to shop than IKEA to fulfill all my home office needs.
77 CAD – ikea.com
130 CAD – ikea.com
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195 CAD – ikea.com
91 CAD – ikea.com
What does a home office need? Taking your laptop to the sofa and typing away in front of your favourite TV show? All well and good for updating your social media accounts, but when you’re looking to get down to some serious work, nothing but a dedicated space will do!
1. A desk
This seems like an obvious one, doesn’t it? Except, maybe not. I often see people working on their dining table, with papers and things spread out and no specific area to keep everything together and organized. I sometimes take my laptop to my dining table, when I need the extra space, but when I’m finished with my task, I put it back on my desk (where it’s hooked up to my external monitor, keyboard, hard drive, and mouse).
IKEA has a huge variety of desks—standing desks, laptop desks, corner desks, ones with hutches attached, and my favourite kind—the type that has a bit of storage, lots of leg room, looks great from all angles, and can be free-standing or positioned against a wall.
The LISABO desk is sleek, made of wood (therefore long-lasting and customizable), under $200, and has a single drawer in the centre. There’s plenty of room to slide a filing cabinet (on castors) underneath, or a slim set of drawers (IKEA has some awesome metal ones), or you can leave the bottom free to allow you to slide from side to side in your chair.
2. A comfortable desk chair
Not the chair from your dining room or a stool from the kitchen. I’m talking about a dedicated, ergonomic desk chair. The kind that adjusts so that you’re at the right height for your desk, and eye-level for your monitor.
A good desk chair may seem like an unnecessary expense, but if you buy a quality chair, it’s sure to last you a long time. The one I bought from IKEA over 10 years ago, was about $200, but still works really well.
The ROBERGET swivel chair is cheery, made of metal (so it’ll pretty much last forever), and is adjustable. If the seat feels too firm, add a fun cushion to make it even more colourful!
3. Storage
You’ll want all your stationery, files and notebooks close at hand. IKEA has several models of filing cabinets on castors. I like the look of the MICKE, which has space for drop file storage on the bottom and several drawers above. That it looks a bit better than traditional filing cabinets is a nice bonus!
4. Lighting
There are three types of lighting: general, task, and ambient. If you’re able to include all three in your home office, that would be aces. But, if you can only manage general (usually overhead) lighting and task lighting (like a desk lamp), you’ll do fine. There are some floor lamps that have an added arm on them that is bendable, which allows you to position it over a desk or chair (to use as a reading lamp). A more typical option is a dedicated desk lamp, like the RIGGAD, which has a wireless charging spot on the base.
5. Desk Organization
You’ll want a place to put your pens, stapler, ruler and other things you often use. The KVISSLE is made of metal and cork, and has holes to put your writing instruments in.
There are plenty more items that I would recommend every home office have, like:
- a corkboard
- a white board
- a waste paper bin
- decorations or prints
- and all the electronic things you might need to keep a home office running
What do you need to add to your home office to make it more fun and productive?
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Like IKEA? Check out my other IKEA posts here: Best of IKEA: Home Organization Products, Top 10 IKEA Kitchen Design Tips, Refresh your Kitchen with IKEA Kitchen products.
