3 Things Joanna Gaines Uses To Create A Home Office You'll Actually Want To Work In

The biggest advantage of working from home is setting up your office space the way you want. Actually, the biggest pro is no traffic, but setting up your own office space is a close second. Instead of getting stuck with a windowless cubicle, a squeaky office chair, and an awkward desk set-up with bad Feng Shui, you can choose the perfect ingredients to minimize distractions and increase efficiency. And you can make it look nice, to boot. Joanna Gaines, co-owner of Magnolia and star of HGTV's "Fixer Upper" franchise, makes three notable suggestions for home offices: open shelving, natural light, and plants. 

Gaines knows a thing or two about home office setups. She and husband, Chip Gaines, have renovated over 250 homes – many with home offices — in their hometown of Waco, Texas. This hard-working mom of five has lived in 12 homes since 2005, which means she's perfected the home office layout from personal experience, not just for clients. Gaines posted a picture of one such home office on her Facebook page with the caption, "Open shelving and lots of natural light makes this quaint office a good place to get some work done." She ends with "#anddontforgettheplants." Open shelving, natural light, and plants are time and again Joanna Gaines' recipe for a productive and inviting home office space.

Open shelving is a great space-saving solution for home offices, which tend to be the smallest room (or part of a room) in the house. Open shelves can hold just as much as a bookcase or hutch but without the bulky furniture. While you can use them to store functional items, like office supplies and reference books, when styled properly, open shelves can also serve an aesthetic purpose. Joanna Gaines offers tips for decorating your open shelving, such as layering in books, art, plants, and meaningful objects, while balancing objects of different heights and sizes.

Gaines also uses open shelving in home offices for another purpose. She believes surrounding yourself with things you love will actually make you more productive. A blog on her Magnolia site states, "One of the most important parts of creating your own office is adding your personality and style into the space." This can include inspirational items from others in your field or simply things that make you happy. On the "Planting Roots in Waco" episode of "Fixer Upper: Welcome Home," Joanna purchases vintage records for a music-lover's home office space and remarks, "John's gonna be feeling good in that office, it's gonna make him more productive." 

In most corporate buildings, natural light is reserved for the people in the corner offices while the rest of the office is left with harsh, fluorescent lighting. As reported in the Harvard Business Review, a 2018 poll of 1,614 employees in North America found that natural light and views of the outdoors were the top workplace desire. Besides boosting happiness, natural light helps workers decrease eyestrain, headaches, and drowsiness, leading to better productivity. Joanna Gaines feels that lighting should be considered before furniture, organization, and decor in a home office. If you can't create home office space near a window or improve natural light in your home, Gaines recommends a layered lighting design with warm, soft light. 

Plants are last (but not least) in Joanna Gaines' list of home office necessities. Her impressive Magnolia headquarters in Waco, Texas is filled with indoor plants. Anyone who has watched her many renovations shows will know that Gaines finds plants aesthetically pleasing, but there is another, more scientific reason that houseplants are a good addition to your home office. Studies have proven that bringing plants into an office space can increase productivity. Indoor plants can also reduce stress and improve air quality, which can decrease headaches and general discomfort.