Home Office Success Series Ep1 Megan Tong with Dolores Pian & Najeeb Khan

GUEST:

Megan Tong, Life Coach For High-Perfomers Starting A New Business - Toronto, Canada

Episode Title:

LIFE-COACh NEEDS A HOME OFFICE THAT IS CONDUCIVE TO FUN AND CREATIVITY

Dolores and Najeeb, the HOSS Success Team to the rescue

What you’ll learn from this episode:

How to tame the screaming clutter monster.
Office layouts for productivity and effectiveness
Lighting advice so that you can look powerful on Zoom calls.

Megan’s story:

Megan is a life coach who works with high-performers starting a new business.

What does Megan want to see in her home office & how can Dolores & Najeeb help?

Megan’s office is located in the basement. She wants a clean, clutter-free office. Wanting it to be more beautiful and more conducive to fun and creativity.

Budget?

Cheap and cheerful. Her husband is quite handy and can perform any task required.

How would this improve her life?

A refreshed office space would make her feel more at peace while she works. She would actually be excited about going to her office to do work.

What Did Dolores and Najeeb Do?

Before meeting up with Megan, Dolores and Najeeb reviewed her floor plans and carefully studied her needs and space requirements.

Later they connected with Megan through Zoom, all three of them involved in the design process. Dolores and Najeeb discussed and planned, in real-time, two different layouts to fulfill Megan’s ideal home office requirements.

Room Description:

Basement walk-out
Very little natural light
Wood laminate floors, gypsum drywall and ceiling
A hodgepodge variety of furniture
Open shelving on one side of the room with items not related to the business
An electrical panel needs to be accessible
Closet with mirrored doors
A sofa for overflow guests
TV is not used very often.

HOME OFFICE INTERIOR DESIGN PROCESS:

First Things First: Tame The Clutter Monster

Since Megan faces a wall of shelves, the first thing that Dolores and Najeeb discussed was how to manage this open shelving full of clutter. Mirrored closet doors were located at one end which magnified the mess and the clutter twice!

Sometimes the best solution is the simplest. Dolores proposed hiding the clutter with a curtain. Out of sight and out of mind. Megan now stares at a neutral curtain so that sports equipment clutter is not screaming at her.

Layout #1

Megan’s current set-up has an L-arrangement made up of two tables, one in front and one to the side. Dolores and Najeeb kept this set-up and fine-tuned the details to make it more flexible.

Dolores and Najeeb suggested that Megan raise her laptop and place the monitor on an arm clipped to the table. She can then raise and lower the monitor to perfect eye height and clear up the space below it. A separate ergonomic keyboard and a trackpad to the left would complete the set.

While the pot lights above provided general ambiance lighting, Megan needed proper lighting for her Zoom coaching calls. Lighting from above is not that attractive, eyebrows create a shadow under your eyes which always makes people look tired and haggard. Good lighting can make you look great on Zoom.

Locating a dominant light source to your left, located an arm’s length away, creates an accent. While a secondary light source acts as a filer. The dominant light source creates contour and a little drama creating depth and dimension. Also recommended, was a strong light pointing up, which would be located behind her. This creates a bit of a hallo and lights up the wall as well.

The wall in the background could be Megan’s branded colours. Here you can place an abstract painting. Nothing that’s representational or distracting while on a Zoom call. A plant adds a touch of life to the background as well.

Behind her, Megan can place a series of cabinets at table height that acts as storage for documents and other items required on a frequent basis. Above that, sound acoustic panels. All cabinets to be placed on casters for maximum flexibility. An area carpet would help with acoustics too.

Layout #2

In this layout, Dolores and Najeeb decided to place the table desk and side table on an angle facing out into the living space, using the corner as a backdrop for her Zoom meetings.

Behind her, she can put a series of low cabinets to house her documents. These can be placed on casters for maximum mobility.

A curtain can be hung around the corner covering the electrical panel and used as a Zoom backdrop. A curtain softens the back wall and absorbs sound. In the future, the curtains can also be a green screen.

The Chair Discussion:

Currently, Megan sits in a board room chair. It places her arm height at a weird angle. This aches her back and strains her wrists while using the keyboard.

Dolores and Najeeb reminded her that a majority of her time is spent sitting in this chair, which can be more than eight hours a day. Which is more than the average time a person spends in bed.

Investing in a proper ergonomic chair with proper arm height at the level of the table is a must. Dolores prefers mesh chairs that allow your body to breathe. One go-to favourite is Herman Miller’s Aeron chair which is available in different widths to accommodate any sized individual.

Non-Negotiables:

A great chair and great lighting.

Which office layout did Megan choose?

Megan found the session tremendously helpful, opening her eyes to many possibilities.

She didn’t choose a layout but did decide that her first priority was to buy a new ergonomic chair.

Next, she’ll ask her husband to put up a curtain to hide all the clutter.

Lastly, purchasing a few rolling file cabinets for low storage so that she could eliminate the tall cabinet that was starting to look like a tombstone.

WHAT DID WE LEARN FROM THESE COACHES COACHING THE COACHING EPISODE?

Tame The Clutter Monster

Dolores and Najeeb believe that a life coach should be experiencing an optimum life. All of Megan’s clutter not only produced stress it also cluttered up her mind. Clutter screams at you which definitely affected her ability to focus.

Proper Planning & Layout

Think through the functions that your space will perform. Spaces can be very versatile and multi-functional allowing you to have a proper setup with a variety of choices.
Storage On Casters For Maximum Flexibility
Low storage on casters allows you to move things for the best set-up to accommodate any situation and future growth.

Branding

Enhance your reputation and reveal your brand’s personality through a well-thought-out Zoom background.

Acoustics

All soft materials such as carpets, curtains can act as sound-absorbing materials to enhance a clean,natural sound.
Install sound panels on the back wall to produce a clean sound.

Lighting

Place LED ring lights to the side to help outline the features of your face.
Place a diffuser on an LED ring light to soften the output.

Equipment

A monitor with a swivel arm is your best friend. It allows you to pivot it, move up & down to accommodate your movements. Any articulating piece of equipment at your desk gives you freedom of movement.

Your Office Reflects Your Style

Ultimately, your home office is for you. You spend a lot of time there. Make it work for you. Would you like to have your very own home office reviewed by Dolores and Najeeb?

Dolores Pian is a Master Interior Designer who crafts luxury residences, penthouses and purse parking. Successful people seek her expertise to Design Reclaiming Time ©

Because time is their truest luxury.

Drop her an e-mail to say hello and let her know what you thought of this blog post.

Dolores Pian’s blog posts are meant to inform and entertain. Please consult Dolores Pian directly if you need any specific information for your specific spaces.

Megan Tong, Life Coach - Episode 1- Home Office Design for Success Series Video Recap