Photo: Caitlin Ciulla
Lindsey Putzier ECLECTIC INTERIORS – AKRON, OH
EclecticInteriors.biz What home office design trends are you seeing or predicting for 2022?
People no longer want to work from their cave-like basements. I’m seeing a trend toward moving home offices from the basement to the first floor, where clients have natural light and can see outside. As more and more people are permanently working from home, the need for two separate, private home offices keeps growing. Many people are turning their abandoned living and dining rooms into functional offices. The all-gray interiors of the last decade are being phased out and replaced with much more colorful, stimulating spaces. People now have the freedom to truly decorate their offices—something that most people who worked in cubicles in the last decade never had a chance to do. Now, offices can reflect an individual’s personality, instead of conforming to a boring corporate standard. Blues and greens are very popular for home offices, since these tend to be
calming, comfortable colors. I am also seeing a spike in blush pink as an accent color, particularly for my more feminine clients’ home offices.
How do you think geography affects these trends?
In the Midwest, we have a lot of cloudy days and long winters. People do not want to exacerbate the lack of light by working in their windowless basements!
What window coverings do you recommend for home office design?
With windows comes direct, blinding sunlight at some point in the day. For an office, it is important to be able to shut the window treatment so the client can see their computer screen. However, after the blinding light has passed, it’s also important to be able to easily open the window treatment again to allow sunlight to shine in. I recommend natural woven shades and roman shades for most offices. To increase the versatility, either of these options can be installed top down/bottom up.
How can eco-friendly, sustainable window products be incorporated into home office design in 2022? It is easy to incorporate eco-friendly
products by selecting a sustainable bamboo natural shade with a liner. The liner helps to block UV rays and keep energy consumption down. Roman shades can also be ecofriendly, so why not select a vintage fabric for your shades or reuse fabric from an old drapery panel? Romans don’t require much material, so it is easy to reuse existing fabric instead of sourcing new. As with natural shades, romans can also become more ecofriendly with the use of thicker or blackout liners to keep heat and cold out.
Do you have any tips for designers helping clients with small or unique office spaces? Make sure the desk fits the scale of the room! Most people’s jobs don’t require a huge desk surface to spread out tons of papers, since our work is mostly computerbased. Invest in a smaller desk that fits the space. Use the vertical space in the room wisely! Recommend tall shelving or storage units to keep office supplies neatly organized and within reach. External monitors can be mounted on the wall to increase desk space. Instead of draperies that take up valuable wall space, invest in roman shades or natural shades to keep more wall space open.
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