How to Design Your Home for Productivity

Whether it's a corner of our living room, a spare bedroom or a full office to ourselves, many of us are still working from home and spending hours each day in these spaces. It's such an important place for us in our day to day lives that we deserve to make the most of these areas so we can be productive, creative and happy workers.

So in today's blog I'm going to share with you three of my favourite ways to create a productive space in your home. 

Productive Colours

As we've discussed on our blog, colour can make or break a space. Not only do we need to think about the type of natural light that hits a room, we also need to consider the mood we're creating in a space. If we want to create a productive office space, for example, we'd look to add colours that encouraged creativity and/or focus. 

It will come as no surprise that grey or beige colour schemes can lead to gloomy feelings, therefore impacting our productivity in a space. It's also been reported that men also respond to purple and orange-dominated spaces in a similar way. So, what can we use instead?

We love to use blues and greens which have been proven in studies to be mentally stimulating. Yes, these colours aren't just about calm. This means they can be a great tool in living rooms with an office nook integrated in - by switching up the lighting (more on this below), you can have a multifunctional space with the same backdrop. 

Yellow encourages creativity and playfulness. It might feel a little overwhelming to splash the colour all over the walls so we like to opt for accents or pops of the colour to boost our mood. Accents we've loved before including yellow flowers, vases, books or wall art. 

Ready to test some colours to reinvigorate your space? Discover our range of Frenchic paint here.

Light Up Your Space

Being productive in a space requires a different type of lighting than a cosy relaxing room that you might use in the evening. Correct lighting is so important to interior design that we've even written a whole blog on it! Take a look at the blog here. 

Task lighting does exactly what it says on the tin, it lights up a space (or part of it) to help you carry out a specific task. In this case, it might be working at a desk, or over a chair to aid with reading. If you have a desk space in your living room, the light might be a little more direct, perhaps a bright table light over your workstation.

Often these lights are a little more functional in their looks such as adjustable arms - although that doesn't mean they can't be beautiful. Check out our range of gorgeous table and floor lamps here.

Top tip: if your space needs to function as both, don't forget to think about layering lighting in your design to effortlessly switch between work and pleasure!

Add in a Plant

You'll know that here at Grandad's Shed we love adding plants (both real and faux) into our own home and customer's designs. But did you know that a plant in an office significantly increases levels of concentration and satisfaction? In fact, some research even suggests it can increase productivity by 15%. Oh, and they clean the air too - amazing! 

This is perhaps our favourite tip for designing a space for productivity as it's the quickest and easiest to check off. For a low maintenance option, take a look at our range of faux plants, flowers and foliage here.