Set up home office workplace

How do you set up an at-home workstation correctly? Which furniture is best suited for this purpose? As office furniture planning professionals, we help you design your workstation in the best way possible.

Contents:

• Having an at-home workstation
• Ergonomic tables
• Mobile tables — work table during the day, dining table in the evening
• The ideal office chair
• Separating the workstation from the rest of the room
• Workstation storage space and organization
• Colors and decors

Yes, working from home can be challenging when it comes to time management and self-organization. But it also poses the risk of performing screen-based work at an inadequate—and thus less productive—workstation. Since sitting constantly is unhealthy for your muscles, organs, and blood circulation, it’s best to analyze in advance exactly how much work is done while sitting. If it’s less than 60% of the working time, experts estimate that a manual height-adjustable office desk is sufficient. If you spend more than 4.75 hours of an average eight (or more) hour workday seated, an automatic height-adjustable desk is the right choice.

While a great desk is important for your at-home workstation, so too is where it’s located. The desk should be in an area where there is enough daylight to work. But be careful: If your at-home office desk is placed directly in front of a window, there is a risk of experiencing screen glare. The workstation or the viewing direction should, therefore, always be parallel to the window, with the screen placed as far as possible into the room. This is easier on the eyes, prevents signs of fatigue, and protects against permanent damage such as vision problems.

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Constant sitting can severely affect physical well-being and lead to irreversible health damage. A helpful solution to counteract this problem comes in the form of automatic height-adjustable desks. OKA’s versions are equipped with electric motor drives or gas pressure springs. These desks conveniently allow the user to quickly change between sitting and standing while at work. This change should take place every 20–30 minutes: It promotes blood circulation, increases brain activity, prevents rigid postures (and thus back tension), and ultimately leads to greater efficiency. To keep moving and not forgetting to regularly stand up, free software which reminds the user to stand up is available for electric height-adjustable tables from OKA. It also records the time worked while standing and calories burned. Controlling these desks (up/­down adjustment) via an app is also an option. The adjustment ranges for electric motor height-adjustable OKA desks are between 65 and 130 cm. For height-adjustable gas lift desks, it’s between 68 and 118 cm.

In order to increase your well-being and ability to concentrate, the correct working height settings are also required. These are different for each person and depend on one’s body size or proportion. The working height is determined by assuming the correct basic postures (sitting and standing). In the basic seating position, the working height is measured at the top edge of the (correctly adjusted) armrest or under the bent elbow. When standing, the measurement is also taken under the bent elbows. These should be as they are in the most relaxed state of one’s shoulder and neck muscles, but should not be bent less than at a 90° angle. For both measurements, it is advisable not to perform them at the table, but in a free environment. This will prevent you from unconsciously orienting yourself toward the possibly incorrectly adjusted table.

For higher performance, lower fatigue, and healthier office work, automatic height-adjustable desks are a very good support option that no at-home workstation should be without. Nevertheless, everyone should know that a sit-stand table alone does not protect against constant loads that are too burdensome. Rather, it is the combination of sitting, standing, and active movement that, together with the appropriate products, their correct use, and frequent changes of position will yield the best results. Nevertheless, an ergonomic desk is essential for a movement-friendly, ergonomic workstation setup.

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As living space becomes increasingly expensive and sufficient space in one’s own four walls — especially for an office workstation — scarce, people are getting creative. Solutions range from hanging wall-mounted secretary desks to mini-offices that are integrated into the closet. OKA offers equally smart solutions that come in the form of the OKA FlipOn mobile folding table and the mobile — and also height-adjustable — OKA JumpFlex folding table. Especially in terms of flexibility, these two mobile folding tables are unbeatable. That’s because the tables can not only be easily moved to any location thanks to their brake-equipped swivel castors, but can also simply be folded up and stowed away in a space-saving manner after finishing work or a big meal.

Whether there’s little or plenty of space, with OKA’s mobile tables for at-home workstations—available in widths of 60–100 cm as well as lengths of 120–200 cm—you can quickly transform any room into a workplace that can be used as long as you need.

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Once the correct basic sitting posture has been adopted, the adjustment of the office chair’s mechanical system is a decisive factor to achieving a pleasantly comfortable sitting position. The mechanical system of an office chair, i.e. the adjustment for the counterpressure of the backrest, makes the seat and the back move. This, in turn, ensures the opening and closing of the angle between the thigh and the body, also known as the seat angle. This also makes it possible to switch between front, middle, and rear sitting postures. Since each of these postures has its advantages and disadvantages, the healthiest, most effective approach is to permanently alternate between a load-bearing and relieving posture.

With these basic functions, excessive loads can already be reduced—and thus, something good can be achieved for one’s own health. However, many office chairs also have additional features that make it even more dynamic and comfortable. These functions and their settings are briefly explained below:

Lumbar support:

In order to adapt the backrest contour of an office chair to the back of the respective user, lumbar support comes into play. This doesn’t actually support the back, but prevents our double S-shaped spine from pressing into a straight shape. The “lower S” of the spine is better mapped or “supported” by the (often adjustable) lumbar support integrated into the backrest. Overall, this provides a more relaxed posture as well as relief for the spine.


Neck support:

Neck support is particularly important when sitting in the rear position. It helps to relieve the strain on the neck muscles. In addition, when the head is supported, the intervertebral discs can be relieved during these relaxation phases.


Modern office chairs offer a wide range of functions that ultimately aim to direct movement, promote healthy postures, and adapt the chair to the respective user’s anatomy in the best possible way. To find the right office chair for you, however, you should primarily do one thing: test sit. Preferably over a longer period of time (at least one day). Only then can you judge which office chair suits you best.

Choosing a suitable office chair for your at-home workstation also depends on the activity itself and its duration. Therefore, for example, a height-adjustable, movable stool can be a suitable addition to your at-home office chair.

Above all, however, one thing should always be taken into account: No matter how comfortable or ergonomic an office chair may be, only spontaneous, intuitive changes in posture and activity will keep your office work healthy over a longer period of time.

Whether in the office or at your at-home workstation, the ability to work quietly and disturbance-free is often essential. Since there is often no separate study available at home, work is usually done in the kitchen, bedroom, dining room, or living room. The noise pollution brought about by loud colleagues, telephone calls, or printers in the office is often replaced by children, the neighbor’s TV, or the dishwasher while at home. An effective and visually appealing solution to this problem comes in the form of our room dividers or partition walls. These partition walls are almost indispensable in offices when it comes to acoustic and visual zoning. And now they’re also finding their way into people’s homes. In addition to their acoustically effective surfaces, the major advantages offered by OKA partition walls are their flexibility and versatility. For example, they can also be used as bulletin boards or coat racks.

Our OKA SpaceLine partition walls are available in various sizes and designs, allowing them to be perfectly adapted to the particular conditions of a room. Separate your workspace from your private one and achieve harmony between your personal and work life.

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Although everyday office life is becoming increasingly digitalized and you have to be more flexible (especially at your at-home workstation) and therefore carry less with you, storage space is still indispensable. Depending on the field of activity, this is needed in varying degrees for files, documents, brochures, reference books, trade journals, chargers, and other items.

It’s often the case that there simply isn’t enough room available at home. Your at-home workstation’s storage space should, therefore, be both space-saving and flexible — characteristics that are perfectly reflected in the OKA ModulLine modular cabinet system. Whether sideboards with sliding doors, cabinets with hinged doors, shelves without doors, or drawer cabinets: OKA ModulLine can be combined however you like and creates the right storage space by means of different sizes and designs. Combined as a wall unit, OKA ModulLine can also be used as a room divider. This gives the opportunity to separate work and living areas without feeling that something’s off. The rear and side panels are available in all OKA decors and RAL colors of your choice.

Roll containers, or roll caddies, offer even more flexibility. These mobile storage solutions not only make it possible to move all your work items from the living room to the kitchen, but also encourage changes in posture. That’s because at the appropriate height, a roll caddy can also be used as a standing workstation for various activities, such as telephone calls.

Roll containers can also help with changing postures, as they can also be used as a seat. But more often than not, they are used next to the table as a space for the printer.

With FlexLine, OKA offers a wide range of this type of storage space. Configuration options such as drawers (opening and closing), front pull-outs, doors, retractable flaps, roller shutters (transverse and vertical), different handles, grip strips, cable pass-throughs, and much more allow each container to be customized and thus suitable for the user.

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Whether gray tones for shabby chic, light ones for a Scandinavian style, neutral shades for that country house style, or strong colors for urban furnishing approach: With a variety of colors and decors from OKA’s standard range as well as the OKA Trend Collection, the right furniture can be created for almost any furnishing style.

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