Outfitting Your Home Office

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In 2020, a record-breaking number of employed workers transitioned from their in-person office to working from home. And even as many workers have started to return to their usual office, there is still a massive percentage of workers who will continue to work remotely from their homes. As a result, it’s now more important than ever to have a great home office; from one’s desk, computer, printer, and (perhaps most importantly) chair, having a reliable and ergonomic home office design is incredibly important. Today we’ll be going over the most important elements of a great home office, the steps you should take to get there, as well as some home office ideas.

What Makes a Good Home Office Good?

There are many factors that go into what exactly makes a good home office “good.” Usability, flexibility, and maximized productivity are typically the most important factors to look for in a good office. To further explain, let’s break these three down.

 ●    Usability - First and foremost, your home office should be easy to use. That means the less clutter the better. Get yourself equipment that can be easily organized and managed, and organize everything in the most logical manner.

●    Flexibility - Get yourself a home office that is flexible, and can suit whatever your needs you may have in any situation. A home office that lacks flexibility is bound to cause you issues later down the road, so you should always try to future-proof your home office.

●    Maximized Productivity - This is ultimately the biggest and most important factor that defines a good home office. Of course, the entire point of your home office equipment is to allow you to get your work done as efficiently as possible. So having good work equipment that can help to maximize your office space for peak efficiency level is key. Lacking any of your home office supplies or equipment might affect your productivity, so today we’re going to try to help you figure out how to reach that maximum level.

 

Home Office Essentials

There are many must-haves that make for a great work-from-home office. Some of these essentials include the obvious, like a reliable computer and a good desk chair, to the less obvious like a reliable printer and an ergonomic desk. These are your most important home office purchases, and you should make these items your top priority. While there are many other components that will need to be factored into making a great home office -- such as file storage, cabinets, as well as a microphone and webcam if your job involves video chatting with coworkers or clients, those aren’t going to be discussed today.

 

Best Home Office Setup

What is the ideal home office setup? Well, that entirely depends on your specific office needs and amount of space. If you’re working with a small space, then it may be a bit tougher to create a great home office. You'll have work to get the most out of your work area. A major small space home office design idea that we recommend is a corner desk, as it will save office space and make the most out of your room; corner desks combined with a great desk chair and compact printer makes for a great home office, albeit smaller than what is ideal.

But in the best-case scenario, you have an entire room dedicated to a home office and are able to purchase a larger desk, chair, and storage that will properly allow you to work as efficiently as possible. If you have the room for a large home office, working from home will be easier and hopefully more enjoyable. Let’s talk about what makes home office chairs, desks, and printers so great, as well as our recommendations for which items you may want to purchase for your own home office.

 

The Importance of Home Office Chairs

Of all the home office essentials, the office chair is perhaps the most important element of all. Because you’ll likely be sitting for many hours at a time, it’s an absolute necessity to have a chair that balances both comfort and ergonomics. Or in other words: whilst you should purchase a chair that you find comfortable and feels nice to sit in, it shouldn’t be too comfortable. Desk chairs should allow you to sit in an upright position (not slouched) with good back and neck support and should be adjustable so that you’re at eye level with your computer’s monitor.

 Users can easily develop back or neck pains by using chairs with poor support, so this is easily the most important purchase for your home office as it can negatively affect your health if not properly taken into account.

 

Best Home Office Chair - MAINGEAR FORMA R MK II Gaming Chair with Adjustable Lumbar

Before you form any sort of judgment, we know -- this chair has been branded as a “gaming” chair, not a home office chair. But don’t let this chair’s title and brand fool you. The Maingear Forma R MK II is a fantastic home office chair, for a variety of reasons. You see, gamers pick this chair and others like it for the same reason why you should: they will be sitting in it for long extended play sessions and want something that is ergonomic and will properly support themselves while gaming with it. For that reason, the Maingear Forma R MK II is a great pick for home office work as well.

 

MAINGEAR FORMA R MK II Gaming Chair with Adjustable Lumbar

Unlike many other gaming chairs similar to it, this model is arguably more comfortable and has a higher build quality with more adjustable options and features. After using it for many hours at a time, this chair remains comfortable and your back and neck will be thanking you after extended hours of usage. At $400, the Forma R MK II remains quite a bit cheaper than many other premium office chairs, which can be found at prices upwards of $800 USD. If you’re looking for the best home office chair, then look no further than the Maingear Forma R MK II.

 Factors to Consider When Buying a Home Office Desk

Home offices wouldn’t be complete without the desks themselves, as nearly every piece of your office sits on top of it. From your computer’s monitor, mouse, and keyboard to other smaller things like speakers or a microphone and webcam, everything sits on top of your desk; because of this, it’s important to have a home office desk that is sturdy, fits in your work space, and can suit all of your needs.

Many consumers will often choose desks based on their looks, which is a huge mistake; you should pick a desk that best fits your own personal work needs, ensuring that it contains all of the features that will allow you to be as productive as possible.

 Best Home Office Desk - Inland Motorized Height-Adjustable Gaming Desk

The Inland Motorized Height-Adjustable Gaming Desk is a perfect pick for most home offices, simply because it’s large, spacious, and is height-adjustable. Height-adjustable desks are excellent as they can either be used as traditional desks or as standing desks. Standing desks can offer relief from constant sitting and increase activity, as sitting for extended periods of time can cause many health issues, such as the aforementioned back and neck problems.

 

Inland Motorized Height-Adjustable Gaming Desk

Apart from being incredibly versatile, this desk also has excellent build quality and is incredibly sturdy. Though there aren’t any drawers featured alongside this desk, that only makes it more versatile; users can add their own side-drawers, and customize it as needed, maximizing your workspace. By not having any drawers or additional compartments, the Inland Motorized Height-Adjustable Gaming Desk is incredibly customizable and will fit almost any user’s specific needs.

 

Why You Need a Home Office Printer

If a lot of your home office work involves sending and receiving documents, then you’re likely going to want to have a reliable printer. Printing isn’t cheap, and all of those trips to Kinko’s are going to add up fast if your work requires you to print and scan documents frequently. Jobs that feature lots of contract work, the signing of legal documents, and more will all require you to have access to a printer, so if this line of work applies to you it just makes sense to purchase your own home office printer.

 The most important features that you should look for in a printer are level of reliability, efficiency, and ease of use. Your printer should be very easy to use, with quality-of-life features like easy computer connections, a fast printing and scanning speed, and is well-made and long-lasting. As an expensive piece of office equipment, you should purchase a printer that you know will stand the test of time and can remain efficient even after years of use.

 

Best Home Office Printer - HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e All-in-One Printer

Though there are many great printers to choose from, you can't go wrong with the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e. The OfficeJet Pro 9015e packs in all of the essential features needed for a great office printer. Not only does it print and have a standard scanner, but it also features double-sided scanning for maximum efficiency. It also supports printing in many different paper sizes and types both large and small.

 

HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e All-in-One Printer

The printer also prints quite fast; though the trade-off is that the printer is a bit loud. HP added a “quiet mode” which lowers the printing speed but makes it significantly quieter. Additionally, the 9015e features wireless connectivity via either wi-fi or Bluetooth and is incredibly easy to set up. While all printers can be a bit of a pain to initially set up, the 9015e is as simple as ever to connect. If you’re looking for the best home office printer, then look no further than the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e.

 

Find Your Perfect Home Office

These have been our recommendations for what makes for the best home office setup, and hopefully it has been some level of help to you. Building your own work-from-home office is a very important task, and can make or break your productivity, so taking the necessary steps of research is required before making the plunge. Good luck, and we hope you create a home office that best suits you and your work.

More from the Micro Center Community:

Looking for more information about home offices? We’ve got space in Consumer Tech for conversations and questions, guides for The Best Laptops for Working from Home, Work at Home Essentials, and Working and Learning at Home. And if you can’t find what you’re looking for, don’t hesitate to post a new discussion and the Community will be happy to help!