Office employees spend most of their days at a desk, working on time-sensitive projects, entering information into a database or answering email. A clean, aesthetically pleasing office desk makes work less cumbersome and more enjoyable. Here’s how to achieve this desirable end.

An ideal office desk is one that is inspiring—not drab. It should be clean and organized, allowing staff to find the supplies they need with a quick glance. A clutter-free office desk represents a clutter-free mind—which is what employees need to thrive in a professional environment.

The key to decorating an office desk is balance: the workspace should facilitate work projects and be personalized. An office desk should be primarily geared toward professional work, so it’s important to not go overboard with personal knickknacks and décor.

1. Hang Artwork

This leads to keeping the desk space professional. Work should be the priority; but feeling at home in the office is inspiring. Hang up artwork or place a framed quote on the desk—these décor items are appropriate as long as they serve to motivate the staff member.

2. Clear Clutter

As mentioned, clutter distracts an office employee from the tasks at hand. Clear the desk and floor of extraneous items, such as reference books and piles of paper. The space surrounding the desk is as important as the desk itself—and should be clean and clutter-free.

3. Bring in a Plant

Greenery offers numerous health benefits to a staff member. Having a plant on the desk comforts and sooths the employee, thereby reducing stress levels. A desk plant is known to boost productivity, making it the best cubicle buddy an office worker can have.

Plants improve the quality of the air, too. Office staff who desire a plant but have limited room on their desk should opt for a hanging plant. If drilling a hole into the ceiling is impractical, hang a small plant from hooks on a peg board.

Employees feel greater job satisfaction when a potted plant sits on their desk. They show more commitment compared to staff whose office environments lack natural elements. Aloe vera, fern, and aromatic lavender plants are excellent options for the office desk.

4. Install a Lamp

The fern on the office desk will benefit from ample lighting. Staff, too, feel energized when bright lights are added to the desk. Cool blue lights help employees concentrate. LED lights mimic natural lighting; their brightness can also be adjusted to gradually dim as the end of the workday approaches.

5. Enhance Comfort

A throw blanket or pillow for the office chair facilitates comfort throughout the workday. An oversized throw blanket in bold colors and wild patterns adds not only a touch of home but showcases the employee’s outgoing personality. Alternately, opt for a warm, solid color for a tranquil feel.

A throw blanket provides practical benefits, too. Offices get chilly when the air conditioner runs, but sitting at the desk with a colorful blanket over the legs adds warmth. A throw pillow also improves posture and gives the employee something to nap on during the day.

6. Add Photos

The choice of photos is key. Photos of the family or pet dog are appropriate for decorating an office desk. On the other hand, pictures of a significant other in swimwear is distasteful for a professional environment. Keep the number of photos to a minimum: 1 to 3 suffice.

7. Personalize

Every office desk needs functional items, like bowls and mugs. Add personality to the desk by choosing baskets, bowls, and antique boxes that show off individual personality. A vintage jar, for instance, might hold pens. Place the desk plant in a favorite-colored ceramic vase.

Rather than accept papers in the standard plastic office in-box, change it up by using a textured woven basket instead. A beautiful, hand-crafted bowl serves as a paperclip holder. Fresh flowers add pizzaz to an office desk, so bring an intricately designed vase for those occasions.

8. Install Shelves

Office desks are limited in surface area. But when it comes to decorating the desk, added shelving can expand an employee’s aesthetic horizons. Shelf space can be used to hold a potted plant or a framed quote, photo, or work of art. Plus, extra shelves eliminate desk clutter.

9. Explore a Color Scheme

Peel-off décor can beautify an office space. Use wallpaper or contact paper to create the preferred color scheme. Modern ones start with neutrals, like black, gray and white. Layer accent colors, like royal blue or emerald green, to create a high-energy look. Moss green offers a subdued feel.

10. Add Mirrors

A small desk space can be significantly opened up by installing decorative mirrors. Since they are reflective, mirrors have the ability to make a work area that is limited in size appear twice as big. Hang mirrors on the wall or even use one as a desktop.

Employees who work in the office sit at desks filled with important papers, supplies, and technology. When it’s time to relocate, packing up the large and small office goods can be time-consuming. Instead of wasting valuable work time, let the commercial movers at Chicago Office Movers handle the packing.

As a highly experienced office mover, we help companies move from one office building to another, on-time, within budget and as seamlessly as possible. Our professional crews take care of the relocation planning, packing, transporting as well as unpacking at the destination.

Whether your company has plans to relocate precious antiques, fragile IT servers, bulky office furniture, or heavy equipment, the trained crews at Chicago Office Movers handle all goods carefully and securely. Our trucks feature air-ride suspensions and lift gates that protect items during transport.

Chicago Office Movers has successfully relocated prestigious universities and major corporations. We are committed to giving our customers an excellent relocation experience. When you plan to move your business locally, long-distance or internationally, call our Elk Grove Village, Illinois, office for a free estimate.

Related Blogs

11 Office and Cubicle Decoration Ideas

Bringing style to a cubicle is a DIY task. No hard and fast rules come into play when uplifting the mood of an office cubicle. The best part of designing the interior of a cubicle is that your personality takes center stage. Add a splash of color, throw in a few accessories, and end up with a comfortable, lively work space into which you can retreat for the entire workday.

1. Embellish a Cubicle Wall

You are surrounded by three walls when working inside a cubicle. As a first tip, these panels deserve the most attention. Decorating the walls is super easy, especially given the cushion-like texture of standard cubicle walls. Tack up calendars, favorite photos, and framed art in a cinch.

Feeling dramatic? Take the cubicle wall panels to new heights. Cover the entire expanse of the panels with colored fabric or wallpaper, like shimmery aqua blue for a tropical feel, bright yellow to evoke the cheeriest of temperaments or even camouflage for the occasions when you feel like hiding out.

When you fancy a new look, the existing wallpaper or fabric can be easily switched up. The temporary nature of hanging wallpaper onto cubicle panels makes altering the ambiance of your cubicle simple and quick. Change out the panel décor as often as you fancy!

2. Perk Up the Floor

The dull carpeting of the cubicle floor is no match for the vividness of a spectacular floor rug. Add a hefty dose of personality to your office cubicle by laying an eye-catching rug along the floor. If you kick off your shoes during the daily grind, the soft rug will keep your feet cozy.

3. Add Plants for Vibrancy

Nature may not thrive in the well-contained atmosphere of an office. But you don’t need trees to experience nature from nine to five. Several plants flourish in the bright, white lights and cool temperatures of an office environment. Just remember to water the plants so they stay hydrated.

Known for growing in limited natural light, the fern is an ideal plant for cubicles. If your cubicle features a window, set an Aloe Vera plant along the windowsill. The trellises of the English Ivy plant accentuate the desks of any cubicle. Little time for care? Bamboo plants are low-maintenance.

4. Add Some Light to Influence the Ambiance

Lamps come in all sorts of sizes and designs, from liquor bottle lamps to rustic design lamps to comical vintage lamps. Unique floor lamps, custom table lamps, bookend lamps and hanging lamps add massive flair. A mandala lamp shade, for instance, is a perfect conversation starter with colleagues.

Bring a lamp into your cubicle and plug it in for warm, subtle lighting. The golden light of a lamp boosts an officer worker’s mood and streams a cozy ambiance throughout the cubicle atmosphere. Say goodbye to harsh office ceiling lights with the placement of a desirable, functional lamp.

5. Add Little Furniture

While hauling in a sofa will not pass in a cubicle space, bringing in shelving might. Cubicle panels are ideal places to install shelving or vertical bins. Shelves can be painted to your preferred color. Supplemental shelves add a personal touch while serving the functional purpose of refining organization.

Office workers may also bring in their own chair to add vibrancy to the cubicle. Consider a brightly colored ergonomic chair to increase physical comfort, an upholstered chair that matches your preferred cubicle color scheme or a chair that features a no-nonsense, contemporary design.

6. Make it Your Own

Adding items that are personal to you like pictures, drawings and handcrafts are some of the best ways to really personalize your workspace. This can also improve productivity as you feel more comfortable being surrounded by memories that are unique to you.

In addition to adding pictures of family and friends, you can also add pictures of your favorite things, such as an animal, plant, flower, car, etc. This is your own space so you can personalize it according to your preference!

7. Incorporate Some Quotes

Adding some inspiring quotes can go a long way and even give you some motivation for those Mondays where you just don't want to be at work! We're also not talking about "Live Laugh Love", but something from celebrities or world figures like Walt Disney, Tony Robbins, Abraham Lincoln or Albert Einstein.

You can certainly achieve a lot if you adopt their strategies and views on life as they certainly did something in life to be successful! So why not surround yourself with your favorite quotes. Below are some of our favorites:

• "The best way to predict the future is to create it" - Abraham Lincoln
• "The best way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." -Walt Disney
• "The pessimist sees difficult in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficult." -Winston Churchill
• "Don't let yesterday take up too much of today" -Will Rogers

8. Keep It Organized

No cubicle or office will look good with a ton of decorations and no organization. With a few file organizers, mini desk shelves, pen holders and room to put your papers, you can keep things neat and organized. Outer order contributes to inner calm! Here are some more tips on office desk organization.

Some of these organization accessories can also be personalized. So if you want to paint or draw on them, or even add some stickers, go crazy! The sky's the limit.

9. Make it Seasonal

Of course you can never forget the holidays! what better way to decorate the office space than to incorporate some holiday pizzazz! Whether it be streamers and little party favors for the new year, a little Christmas tree or menora for December, or some colorful leaves in the fall, there are a ton of trinkets available on Amazon to scroll through.

Some people go as far as setting up a whole fireplace right beside their desk, complete with garland, plants and a holiday picture above. That's definitely going above an beyond!

Others have completely gift wrap their entire desk and everything on it! There's also those that set up an entire Christmas village, complete with little lights and cotton padding for snow.

Bonus tip: Think ahead of how these accessories will fit on your desk before purchasing. Many customers make the mistake of buying a ton of items and not having enough space to place them all. That's how things become cluttered.

10. Give It a Theme

Many cubicles have a whole theme incorporated into their working space. Some are straight blue, purple and pink while others will have a full football field mouse pad that covers their full desk space. Other ideas to consider are Disney, holidays, flowers, retro, beach, nature and patterns.

Just be sure that the theme is appropriate and doesn't contain anything offensive or too personal to make others uncomfortable as they will still be walking by.

11. Add Accessories for Gusto

Unless you have a tendency toward minimalist design, go all out with accessories. Even standard office supplies, like deep blue paperclips, markers and bright green pushpins, can be decoratively housed inside mason jars to simultaneously serve as office supplies and brilliant cubicle décor.

Play with washi tape. The variety of designs makes decorating with the tape fun and unique. Stick the colorfully designed tape around the edges of file cabinets or around table-top jars. The ornamental tape provides beautiful accents to any materials or objects upon which it is adhered.

Have fun with paint. Large rocks may be painted in metallic colors, like silver or gold, and strategically placed next to books. The rocks serve a dual purpose—as decoration and as bookends. Add metallic sheens to the tops of the mason jars or trays that house office supplies.

Toys are not just for kids. Mini action figures, stuffed animals, and building blocks line some cubicle shelves for a brilliant effect. A themed approach works best. Customize your work space with a sci-fi theme or an animated one. Avoid the mess of clutter or items considered inappropriate for work.

When your office cubicle is dull and dreary, take decorating your workspace into your own hands. The options for infusing your cubicle with humor, vibrancy or scintillating color are endless! Once you take to reinvigorating your space—just once or every few weeks—your colleagues are sure to ask who is your new office cubicle designer.

Moving Cubicle Decorations

Whether your office cubicle décor features attractive pastels or bold hues, you’ll require the services of a dependable mover, like Chicago Office Movers, during an office renovation or remodeling project. As Chicagoland’s premier office mover, Chicago Office Movers handles moving office goods from start to finish.

Included in the company’s comprehensive business moving services are disassembling cubicles and office equipment, packing and labeling boxes, unpacking and setting up in the new space. Moving specialists also are available to provide assistance with the installation of furniture or appliances.

Moving to another building during an office renovation demands the help of experienced professionals. Chicago Office Movers is equipped with the manpower and equipment to make moving an easy task.

Expect only quality service and exceptional work from our skilled movers. Chicago Office Movers is dedicated to serving Chicagoland’s large and small businesses.

Get a Free Estimate

Before the office renovation or remodeling is set to start, contact us at (312) 244-2246 to get a free estimate from Chicago Office Movers.