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Where is Your Desk?

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Services for Real Estate Pros

home officeWhere is Your Desk?

It is not just about what is on your desk, but it is about where your desk is in your home office. 

Move your desk next to or near your office window.  Natural light is the best light, make the most of it. Position your desk perpendicular to the window and your work surface will be bathed in sunlight.  Near a window your work space will feel expansive and energized. With a window to your side, you can glance up and enjoy a view of nature or city life and rest your eyes and your mind.

Do not move your desk so you face out the window as you work, looking into sunlight can be too distracting and fatiguing.

In addition to natural light, recent studies are confirming that contact with nature decreases stress-induced high blood pressure and the incidence of illness.

If you don't have a window then place a small potted plant on your desk and bring the best of nature indoors.

If moving your desk near your window exposes you to nosy neighbors or sun glare, then you need thecool home office right window treatment. A pull-down shade is the worst solution. Why move your desk to get closer to nature and light and then shut it out?

A bottom-up pleated shade is the answer, you can raise the shade just enough for privacy, while having views of the sky and natural light. A pleated shade will softly diffuse sunlight. If intense glare or sun-generated heat is an issue, then get pleated shades with a light-proof lining that can be partially or completely closed for part of the day.

It's all about the positve energy that inpsires us.

MJ Anton
Ormond Beach, FL

@ Jim...I agree it's hard to be glued to the same place, it took me a while to truly enjoy my home office...but now it's hard for me to get out of the office...I love my office

@ Robert...I couldn't imagine working in a dark room.  Excellent input on the cords

@ Bruce...I'm sure most of us need to clean our desk

Jul 16, 2010 04:51 AM
Mike Weber
Keller Williams Realty Northern Colorado - Fort Collins, CO
40+ years in Northern Colorado

My desk is perpendicular to the north-facing window and I have found that the direction I am looking out also makes a difference.  Turning my desk so I look east makes me more productive.  When my desk was facing west, I would see the winter afternoon shadows and feel the day was slipping away too quickly.  Now, looking east, I see the sunny side of the buildings and trees much later into the afternoon.

Jul 16, 2010 05:16 AM
Joetta Fort
The DiGiorgio Group - Arvada, CO
Independent Broker, Homes Denver to Boulder

Some good thoughts here! My desk is near a window, and I can see lots of sky and plants outside, still I always have at least two potted plants on my desk. I'm thinkong of installing shelves or hooks so I can have more!  

Jul 16, 2010 05:29 AM
Jan Green - Scottsdale, AZ
Value Added Service, 602-620-2699 - Scottsdale, AZ
HomeSmart Elite Group, REALTOR®, EcoBroker, GREEN

Great post.  Most folks don't think of how to position a desk to gain natural light from an angle.  As a green realtor I can tell you that using sunlight to your advantage carries lots of benefits.  Not only does it keep you from using electricity, but it reduces heat gain, and makes you feel energized.  Having the right window treatments is a boon as well since you don't want to block sunlight, but re-direct it.  Glad you brought this up!

Jul 16, 2010 05:56 AM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

The cord thing annoys me too. If I get them all well-hidden, then getting at them when I need to means crawling under desks, etc. to reach them.

My basement office has a window and sliding glass door that open out to the yard and medow beyond. Sometimes I can glance out and see wildlife, which I love. And... in summertime I can step outside for a break and snack on the cherry tomatoes that I plant just outside my door.

Jul 16, 2010 06:33 AM
Lyn Sims
Schaumburg, IL
Real Estate Broker Retired

Great examples MJ.  I find that I am like a potted plant that uses the computer LOL!  I am energized by light and as I was reading I was checking all my positions as you stated.  You have to make your work environment the best you can!

Jul 16, 2010 06:47 AM
Eric Boyd
Red Rooster Property Management, 904-469-6335 - Jacksonville, FL
FL Lic Real Estate Broker / Property Manager

MJ!  Congrats on making it to the email digest, brother!  Great post, too!  Hope you're getting plenty o' sun in PC and OB.

Jul 16, 2010 11:19 AM
Aaron Vaughn 830-358-0455
Conifer Builders LLC - Canyon Lake, TX

MJ: I am sitting here now, at my desk next to the bedroom window. The natural light does help mu disposition. Usually. =)

Jul 16, 2010 11:22 AM
Jennifer Fivelsdal
JFIVE Home Realty LLC | 845-758-6842|162 Deer Run Rd Red Hook NY 12571 - Rhinebeck, NY
Mid Hudson Valley real estate connection

MJ I found your post in the Daily Drop; and yes my  desk is in the right position and I am fortunate to have a lovely view. 

Jul 16, 2010 01:49 PM
Judy Colburn
ProStaged Homes - Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles Glendora, San Dimas Covina, Home Staging

Hi MJ,

Love your post. My desk is positioned near the window for those exact reasons. I'm one of those people that just has to have sunlight.

And Donna, I am soooo envious of your sunroom office!

Jul 16, 2010 03:32 PM
Mike Henderson
Your complete source for buying HUD homes - Littleton, CO
HUD Home Hub - 303-949-5848

Great post and interesting stuff.  I haven't seen stuff like this yet.  I had an office like you said, even the blinds.  It was huge too.  The room is supposed to be a formal dining room.  The room had the original windows from 1955 when the home was built.  I moved my office to the basement.  Much cooler in the summer and much warmer in the winter.

I have two great boxers that really help me out.  I also have a great porch swing on a covered deck.  I get out there fairly frequently.

Jul 16, 2010 07:52 PM
Manny Gonzalez
Negotiable Realty LLC - Chicago, IL

Agree! I've always wanted my desk next to a window...does make a big difference. When I decided to work from home my wife wanted my office in the basement!! at the end I won!!...now I get to enjoy our big greenish backyard with the birds chirping!! ;) 

Jul 17, 2010 01:44 AM
Jean-Paul Peron
eXp Realty - OBX - Corolla, NC
Carova Beach - Living & Working in 4-Wheel Drive

Pretty cool!

That is how I have my desk set up.

Jul 17, 2010 02:56 AM
Liane Thomas, Top Listing Agent
Professional Realty Services® - Corona, CA
Bringing you Home!

I wish I had Donnas sunroom as an office! My home office is the dining room, and there is no window. Dang, can I convince my husband it is time to move???

Jul 17, 2010 02:02 PM
Tom Waite
Thomas Waite Real Estate Broker - Cypress, CA
So Cal-Apartment Bldg Investments

MJ:  My desk left me years ago!  Great thoughts and blog.

Concise well delivered information and slant on the issues.

Jul 18, 2010 07:52 AM
Gene Riemenschneider
Home Point Real Estate - Brentwood, CA
Turning Houses into Homes

My office is in the coolest corner of the house and to the side of my desk I can look out on the covered patio.  I love it.

Jul 18, 2010 01:06 PM
Anonymous
Monica Hess

Natural light is great stuff.  Not only does it help us see better...it also helps us create Vitamin D.  The trick to finding the right office space, or right place for your desk, though...either use a feng shui consultant, or keep moving it til it works for you. 

Jul 18, 2010 05:14 PM
#32
Anonymous
Heather Rose
Thanks for the post. I do struggle with the heat of the sunlight and even with a ceiling fan gets quite hot in the summer (I live down south). I would love a suggestion that would help with my enormous Palladian window. I am thinking about some kind of curtain rod that moves according to the time of day. Btw.....I love my office!
Jul 19, 2010 02:00 AM
#33
Barb Fischer
Big Block Realty - La Mesa, CA
San Diego and La Mesa Real Estate

My desk is at Jamba Juice, or Starbucks, or wherever my clients are. Oh, then my home desk is outside in my gazebo. Very peaceful. I would wither away in an indoor office

Jul 23, 2010 04:13 AM
DEBORAH STONE
Balboa Real Estate San Diego, CA - San Diego, CA

Plantation Shutters shield me from my neighbors in my office at home.  They can be tilted up or down for light & privacy.I can't imagine working in a closed office space in a cubicle.

Jul 27, 2010 09:31 AM