With so many people having worked from home in 2021 its no surprise many have found it hard to draw a line between their professional and personal spaces.
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In a pre-Christmas study of 1000 Australians, insurance provider Allianz found 37 per cent of respondents were unhappy that their office space was in a communal part of their home this year.
More than 30 per cent said they worked in a spare bedroom, 6 per cent at the kitchen table and 9 per cent worked in the lounge room.
Canberra stylist and founder of the Style Curator blog Gina Ciancio said it has never been more important to reclaim your home and set a boundary between work and personal life.
"A few small changes can make such a big difference to how we live and how we feel," she said.
Style with storage
Ms Ciancio's first tip is to rethink storage solutions to help remove "visual clutter and that feeling of chaos".
"One of my favorites is a bookshelf because it's a practical storage solution but it also blurs the line with decor," she said.
"You can make it beautiful by using baskets, boxes and magazine holders to keep all of your work items organized and out of sight and then sprinkle the rest of the bookshelf with beautiful indoor plants or candles.
"That's a good tip if you don't have a dedicated office and you're working from your kitchen table or dining area, where you don't want to constantly be visually reminded of work."
Less is more
For those who might be working throughout the Christmas and New Year period, Ms Ciancio said decluttering and digitising paperwork can help you switch quickly between work and home life.
"Only hold on to things that you need and use regularly," she said.
"When you're only managing the items used regularly, it's easy to create this flexible environment where you just pull out the necessities, get to work and then simply pack it away.
"It means that you can also then have your main surface areas clutter-free most of the time so that you can reclaim your dining table rather than [using it as] the home office, which just makes it so much easier to entertain."
Refresh your space
The holiday season is an ideal time to give your home office a refresh, Ms Ciancio said.
She said style trends are moving towards natural materials and bringing the outside into the home.
"Indoor plants have been popular for a long time but ... there could be other things that you could introduce such as large pieces of coral if you're into a coastal style or crystals are also really [popular]."
Ms Ciancio said the movement towards natural styling has led to a resurgence of the colour green.
"Certainly homeware stores are brimming with green home decor but you could also be bold and consider using green paint on your walls," she said.
She also expects people to become more mindful of their purchases in 2022.
"Fast fashion and fast homewares are on the way out as people are becoming a bit more environmentally conscious ... [and] mindful of the impact that their environment has on their well being and how they feel," she said.
"So they're happy to invest a bit more in beautiful pieces that are going to create spaces that they can really enjoy being in."