The Do's & Don'ts Of Decorating An Office, According To HGTV Star Jeremiah Brent
Designing a home office can be a challenging task, but with the recent trend of hybrid and fully remote jobs, it has become necessary for many people to create an at-home workspace. Still, that doesn't mean it has to look like a traditional office. "Nobody wants to work in an office anymore," designer Jeremiah Brent previously told Elle Decor in an interview. "People want a soft place to land."
In 2024, the "Nate & Jeremiah By Design" star posted a video to Instagram to share his best tips for creating the perfect home office space that doesn't feel like an office. Brent's success tips include focusing on lighting, storage, and functional furniture that still looks great— all important elements to create the perfect office space no matter your budget. Not only did Brent offer stylish solutions for fixing some of the biggest office mistakes he has seen, but he also made a surprising admission about his own earlier home office designs. "I share these as someone who has learned from his own ways," he admitted. "So I'm not judging, more providing you a blueprint for success."
A little lighting can go a long way
Jeremiah Brent thinks the office is the perfect place to make a statement about lighting. But not by using statement lighting, exactly. Instead, the HGTV star suggested a mix of lighting styles to create different moods throughout the workday. "My first tip would be to invest in lighting," Brent said in his video. "I think especially with office spaces, historically, they've been really conventional, and a little institutional and ambient lighting, table lamps, sconces, overhead lighting, if you can do it, adds a lot of layers. It feels warm and the space can kind of transition through the day."
Brent then segued to his second tip, which was to create comfortable breakout areas. He explained that he always tries to make an office space like the rest of the home, complete with beautiful and comfortable seating areas for lounging. In the past, Brent said he approaches office design in the same way he does home design. "I always try to craft spaces around the moments that I imagine people or families having in them," he told Architectural Digest in 2019. Even if he's working alone, Brent is sure to have a beautiful place where he can take a break.
Incorporating beautiful but functional elements
For his third office tip, Jeremiah Brent suggested investing in a small collection of dishware for the home office. A cup, plate, and bowl that match the home office design will keep the theme cohesive. He also admitted his final two tips are inspired by things he used to get flak for. "I like everything to be beautiful and I like to just get rid of everything, but the truth is, you need things," Brent said. Thus, the need for his fourth tip, which was to create spaces for storage. Brent explained, "Invest in storage. And it can be smart storage, it doesn't necessarily have to be something you built in. It can be, you know, vintage pieces of furniture that are beautiful that you can house things in, just kind of retrofit. But invest in storage."
And finally, Brent advised purchasing functional chairs. The designer admitted he learned that the hard way when he bought gorgeous vintage, cubist chairs that were painful to sit in all day. "You've got to find a nice balance between beauty and ergonomic," he explained.