How to Decorate a Home Office in Minimalist Style

Find yourself distracted in your home office? Consider paring down to a minimalist aesthetic for greater productivity. Here are some tips for achieving the look.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Hardwood Flooring
• Carpets
• Desk Chairs
• Desk Lamps
• Desks
• File Cabinets
• Flowers
• Plants
• Tiles
• Vases
• Venetian Blinds

1. Use basic equipment with plain styling: a desk or armoire with spare lines, a simple bookcase, basic-issue file cabinets, a no-nonsense chair and a plain desk lamp.

2. Reduce accessories. Hang an academic degree or professional awards, but don't litter the walls and tabletops with family photos, botanical prints or other knickknacks.

3. Keep the floor covering simple. Options include a solid-color wall-to-wall carpet or plain hard-surface flooring such as unpatterned ceramic tile or hardwood strip flooring.

4. Leave windows bare if possible, or go with an ultrasimple treatment such as miniblinds or 2-inch-wide wood blinds.

5. Skip the bric-a-brac. A vase of flowers - containing a few tulips or calla lilies - or a potted plant in a plain container could be the only nonessentials in view.

6. Stow work gear in drawers and cabinets. Clutter is not on view in a minimalist home office.

7. Go with walls that aren't busy. Skip the patterned wallpaper, trompe l'oeil paintings, murals and such.