Remote and hybrid work models are here to stay, with 58% of Americans reporting the opportunity to work from home at least one day a week, according to a 2022 McKinsey survey. This means setting up a home office that's conducive to your productivity and overall well-being is more important than ever.
And it's something Ali Budd, president and creative director of Ali Budd Interiors and star of Hulu's new design documentary series, House of Ali, knows all too well. “Obviously, COVID-19 has changed everything for us and how we think about working from home,” she told Entrepreneur. “The balance between form and function is always important, especially in areas where you're going to be sitting for long periods of time.”
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Budd is a veteran interior designer who has made a name for herself with multi-million dollar renovations (and $20,000-30,000 office makeovers). As the daughter of artistic parents who ran an advertising agency, Budd was interested in design from an early age. Her father traveled the world creating and photographing spaces, and Budd herself showed a talent for such work at an early age, from clearing out basements to redecorating her own rooms.
“Less clutter means you feel better mentally.”
Budd points out that while there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to designing your dream home office, paying attention to a few key details can go a long way in creating the right workspace for you.
First things first? Budd recommends making a plan to create a space you really love. Measure the room and decide what furniture you want and where to put it, and that will make things a lot easier. It'll also help you stick to your budget and maintain the overall feel, Budd says.
When it comes to designing a home office, Budd stresses that creating a separate space, even if it doesn't have a door, is the “most important” starting point, because it helps separate “your work mindset from your relaxation mindset.”
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Next, think about what you really need in your workspace, and avoid the trap of adding a ton of stuff you don't need. “Back in the day, desks needed a lot of filing cabinets and drawers,” Budd explains. “But now, you don't need any of that. I recently read an article about the evolution of the desktop, and it covered what people need on their desks from the '50s to now. It's amazing! We went from having 400 things on our desks to just one laptop. Less clutter is a lot easier on the mind.”
Workspace at Ali Budd Interiors headquarters in Toronto. Image by Valerie Wilcox.
“When it comes to interior design, we need to get rid of the word 'trend' because it's a very strange concept.”
Once you're clear on what you need, you can start to spruce up your space. Again, Budd stresses that there are no strict guidelines or must-dos, it's all about adding things that bring you joy. But what are some items worth considering? “A really comfortable chair,” an aesthetically pleasing Zoom background (“even if you just have a little sheet or something to put down”), fresh flowers, and a desk that faces the room rather than a wall. That way, the beautiful space you've designed will be visible and unsightly cords won't be in the way of attention.
While there may be no rules when it comes to creating the perfect space, Budd warns against a big mistake: taking inspiration from things that seem trendy. “We need to move away from the word 'trend' when it comes to interior design because it's such a weird idea,” Budd says. “Why on earth would we care what a trend is when we're investing in something that we're going to live with every day? Also, if you love pink, I don't think that's a trend. If you love black, I don't think that's a trend. Love what you love.”
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Budd's own office is a testament to that advice: Its centerpiece is a large desk that belonged to her late father. It was in “terrible condition,” having been stored until Budd could find a space big enough to accommodate it; luckily, a friend restored it for her.
“[The desk]gives me such an emotional connection to[the space],” Budd says, “because my dad was an entrepreneur too. He ran businesses for a long time and I grew up in it. So to think about me doing it now, it's so sentimental and it's so beautiful and it all just feels so right.”