“One of the most common mistakes that people make,” Alan said, “is that they buy office furniture based on price without seriously considering utility, comfort, and style.  People make do with something less than ideal even when they don’t have to.  A good designer can work with a client to find pieces that really work for them.”

According to Alan, a second mistake that people make is purchasing furniture that doesn’t fit the scale of the room.  People will buy a desk or a chair and once it’s installed they discover that the piece is either too big or too small for the space, or that it doesn’t marry well with the other pieces in the room.  “Mix and match is great, but if the pieces don’t work well together and make it easy for you to do your job, you’re going to feel uncomfortable spending time in the space.  That’s when you have people roaming the house with a laptop looking for a better place to perch.”

Not surprisingly, Alan said, a designer would prefer to be consulted before you design your home office, but a good designer would also be happy to design around your existing furnishings. 

According to Alan, Hekman http://www.hekman.com/ is a good company to check out for home office furniture with selections in a variety of price ranges.   Nathan mentioned Stanley http://www.stanleyfurniture.com/ as another option, especially for youth furnishings.
 
On Tuesday I’ll share some great ideas about how you can add a little whimsey and fun to your home decor.  Until then!

Deborah
A.k.a. Design Sleuth