Spiffing Up an Office with a DIY Checklist
- Just like every other room in the house, you want the home office to be clean, neat, and clutter free. Here’s a do-it-yourself checklist to help you get started.
- Clean the floors. If the carpet is soiled from your chair running over it or has a traffic pattern where clients enter and leave the room, then have the carpet professionally cleaned. If it’s worn, replace it.
- Clean and freshen up the woodwork, baseboards, and trim moulding around the doorways. These areas must be sparkling clean or freshly painted.
- Clean or replace switch plates and outlet covers. If they’re decorative, replace them with new, plain covers in either white or cream.
- Wash the windows so they’re sparkling clean. Repair windows that don’t work smoothly.
- Oil door hinges if they squeak.
- Paint walls if they aren’t neutral and on trend. Repair any cracks in the ceiling.
- Clean or consider replacing light fixtures. Lighting is important in a home office, so make sure the overhead lighting works and that the fixture is on trend and clean. Put in the strongest light bulbs the fixture can handle and have a desk light that provides good task lighting.
- Toss out any window treatments that aren’t on trend and wash those that are. Privacy from your neighbours usually isn’t an issue in a home office, so if you’re tempted to replace the dated curtains in your home office, don’t — leaving them off lets more light in the room.
