WFH? Give Your Home Office An Uplift by Katherine Sorrell

When working from home there is no reason why your home office has to be dull. Add some personal touches and transform it into a space you enjoy.

A home office ‘glow up’

• Add colour if it makes you feel happy! To save time and money, just refresh the wall behind the desk with a small pot of emulsion.
• Add colour in the form of furniture and accessories, from an office chair to the essential adjustable desk lamp, as well as pen holders, clocks or paperweights.
• Personalise the walls with your favourite prints, posters, paintings and photographs. For a formal look, frame them identically and hang them symmetrically. Alternatively, peg small pictures to a string, stick postcards to a corkboard with coloured drawing pins or prop them on a narrow shelf.
• Make sure you’re at the right temperature with a small desk fan for summer and a heater for winter. For an even cosier feel, choose a soft and pretty woolly throw.
• A few plants make an office feel more homely. Increase the sensory experience with a vase of fresh flowers, scented candles or an aromatic diffuser.

1   Add some colour with well-chosen shades of paint. Shown here: Greek Blue, Louis Blue, Giverny, Napoleonic Blue and Athenian Black, all £5.95 per 120ml, Annie Sloan.

2   A peg board soon becomes indispensable. Choose one that suits your room – perhaps in a cool, mid-century modern colour. Large wooden peg board (includes 12 large pegs and 6 small pegs), £65, Block Design.

3   Add a spot of cheerful colour in the form of an adjustable desk lamp. Ginaz table lamp, £25, B&Q.

4   Add some abstract art, with prints featuring organic shapes and complementary monochrome colours. Selection of framed prints, all Desenio.

5   Start with a white background and add dashes of your favourite colour everywhere, from furniture to desk accessories. Milton white 120cm dining table, £149.99, Furniture And Choice.

6   This scented candle, appropriately enough, smells of cedarwood, patchouli, amber and… pencil sharpenings. Pencil Sharpenings scented candle, £40, Loaf.

7   Add a warm, soft throw in a colour that complements your room. Easy Knit throw in yellow, £135, Loaf.

8   Hold papers down or keep books upright with a glamorous, weighty chunk of glass. Arch amber glass bookend, £62, Rose & Grey.

9   Working from home at least gives you time for a plant collection. Terracotta plant pots, from £2 each, Scaramanga.

10   Combine support and style with an office chair that raises and lowers to a comfortable position, swivels easily and looks good enough to fit into your overall room scheme. Calgary office chair in faux leather, £164.99, Lakeland Furniture.

STOCKISTS

Annie Sloan: 01865 713 080; anniesloan.com

Block Design: 01503 230 003; blockdesign.co.uk

B&Q: 0333 014 3357; www.diy.com

Desenio: 046 840 880 902; desenio.com

Furniture And Choice; 0333 015 0000; furniturechoice.co.uk

Loaf: 020 3141 8300; loaf.com

Rose & Grey: 0161 926 8763; roseandgrey.co.uk

Scaramanga: 01334 657 642; scaramangashop.co.uk

Lakeland Furniture: 0161 694 2790; lakeland-furniture.co.uk