How to Personalize Your Office Space in a Professional Way

Whether you have a cubicle or an office with a door you can shut, this is the space where you spend most of your day. If your office is bare and spartan, it looks like you don't have much personality. If you decorate your office with cartoons and puppy pictures, you convey a childish image. Piles of papers around the office, even if you know where everything is, makes you look disorganized. Here's how to turn your office into a comfortable and inviting space while keeping your professional status.

First of all, be aware of company regulations about decorating. You already know not to bring sexually suggestive images to work. For the best overview of how to decorate in your workplace, have a look around the offices of managers and executives in the company.

The key is to personalize, not over-decorate. You don't need to fill every wall space and please don't leave the same jokes and memos on display for years. It's a good idea to clean the office thoroughly twice a year and rethink how you choose to decorate.

Decide what to hang on the office walls based on your personal interests and what is appropriate to display in the company atmosphere. Artwork that reflects your love of sailing can be tastefully reflected with a framed print or original painting. Hanging a fishnet and a life preserver on the wall should be saved for your home patio.

Family photos decorate your office with a warm touch, but keep them to a just a few frames on your desk or sideboard. The other option is a tasteful display board on one office wall where you can decorate with a collage of candid prints. Be sure to update the collage every year to remove curled photos and baby pics of kids who are now teens.

Lighting has a huge impact on the appearance of the office space. Even if you have the usual overhead fluorescent panels, personalize the lighting in your office space. A halogen desk lamp will provide task lighting for paperwork and a table lamp on a sideboard or credenza will soften the office atmosphere.

Plants add a healthy glow to the office if you carefully maintain them. Decorate with plants that will survive in low light and put them in a container that won't drip water on your office furniture. Trim off browning and dead leaves and replace them if the plant becomes leggy or wilted.

Nice accessories for your office can include storage containers for pens, pencils and paper clips. A small platform for your day planner to sit on at an angle, ready for you to write in, is a professional looking organizer. A couple of real coffee cups are a welcome detail and a small electric warmer on your office desk will keep the coffee hot. Stone coasters for cold drinks will keep water rings at bay. An attractive table clock will discreetly display the time.

Do decorate your office to make your work day more pleasant, but keep it tasteful and professional so that managers will see you as someone ready to advance.

source
"Office Lighting and Computer Workstations", UCLA Ergonomics