Check out these helpful tips and inspiration to create a dream home office you can’t wait to work in each day. No design skills or big budgets necessary.

A quick Google search for “dream home office ideas” can leave you feeling both inspired and overwhelmed.

On the one hand, you’ll see tons of incredible, envy-inducing examples. But you may also quickly find them out of your reach due to a lack of funds or space.

So how do create a dream home office you can proudly call your own (and maybe show off on your social media channels)?

We have a few ideas 😊 

Whether you’re working with a tight budget or zero design skills, our do’s and don’ts will help you carve out a special workspace that oozes happiness and boosts motivation.

Use these five tips for setting up your dream home office without stressing yourself out along the way:

As you browse dream home office ideas, especially the examples we’ll share later in this guide, it’s easy to forget that many of them come from professional portfolios.

Just like you probably have a remote job portfolio to help you stand out online, home designers, decorators, and Instagram influencers are also eager to show off their work.

These office spaces may be worthy of HGTV and design magazines of the same calibre. But they also cost a decent sum of money to create (we’re talking a few hundred to thousands of dollars here).

Most people don’t have the luxury to hire a professional, nor is it necessary. 

So save or pin a few of these ideas to use as inspiration, but don’t beat yourself up if you can’t match them 100%. 

You can and should build out your space over time by adding a few key pieces as you need them (or as you come across them at garage sales). 

Try not to expect an overnight transformation, and you’ll find that your space will transform into something special and meaningful that you’re proud to call your own soon enough.

Whether you have the budget or not, you don’t have to spend a fortune to create a dream home office. The reality is, you only need a few must-have ingredients to make your home office space work.

Sure, you could spend an entire paycheck on a fancy setup, but you can just as easily recreate your own version and have money left over for groceries and electricity bills.

The amount you spend on your dream home office isn’t going to directly translate into more or less productivity.

As long as you create a space that feels inspiring, motivating, and remains free of distractions, you’ll have a great time working there. So save your money and get creative. 

If your money’s really burning a hole in your digital wallet, consider donating it to a charity like The Community Desk Project, which makes and donates desks and chairs to students who need a place to study at home.

Okay, so what if you’re more of a developer or marketer and not a designer?

Rather than copying what someone else thinks is “cool” or trendy, take the time to figure out what resonates with your aesthetic and speaks to you.

Make the space your own, and you’ll be more likely to show up and be productive each day. So flex those creative muscles!

Have a funny cat photo that always makes you smile? Place it right where you can see it by your desk.

Love the comfort of a gamer’s chair, but you’re worried it may look out of place in your office? Who cares!

Take the Marie Kondo approach and only add things that bring you joy.

When you focus on finding stuff you love, you’ll care less about making the space so perfect that it becomes uncomfortable and unusable.

Add these items slowly over time until you find that your dream office is comfortable, functional, and entirely your own.

Don’t get hung up on having a massive office space. Again, the size of your home office doesn’t dictate how much work will get done. 

All you need is a small area where you can squeeze in the basics, such as a desk or workspace for your laptop/computer monitors and an ergonomic chair. 

Everything else you want to include -- like a filing cabinet, speaker system, indoor plants, etc. -- is just icing on the cake.

Try to get creative here if you can’t transform the shed in your backyard or have a spare bedroom. Look for a small, unused corner or even a closet space you can repurpose.

Natural light is always a plus, too, since it can spur creativity and heighten your mood. And if your potential workspace happens to be in a quiet corner rarely visited by pets, kids, or roommates, it’s even better for your productivity.

With remote work on the rise, you may be tempted to snatch up all the brand new office items hitting the market.

But you can find amazing bargains on secondhand furniture and office equipment on places like Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and OfferUp. You’ll not only score unique pieces to fall in love with but save these items from winding up in a landfill.

Don’t forget to check local garage and yard sales, neighborhood thrift stores, or charity shops that donate portions of their proceeds to good causes. You can extend the life of these once-cherished pieces and add vintage character to your home office simultaneously.

If you’re in love with a new piece from your fave store, make sure it’s an essential before dropping your hard-earned cash on it. Investing in items you’ll use more often, such as a comfortable chair or desk that’s just the right height, will pay for themselves if they boost your productivity and make you happy.

Now that you have those helpful tips for setting up your dream home office under your belt, it’s time to have some fun checking out dreamy design ideas up next.

Looking for home office inspo? These four home office trends are making waves for all the best reasons. Take some cues, and make them your own:

How cool would it be to have a tiny house in your backyard that doubles as a modern home office? The one pictured above boasts nothing but windows and a relaxing outdoor view on three sides.

If you have the room for a small outdoor shed, these two backyard offices (pictured above and below) may give you an idea of just how much you can fit into a tiny space.

And the four modern outdoor spaces (pictured below) are less shabby chic shed and more low-key superhero lair. 

Working outside gives you a mental and physical separation between your work and home life. It also allows you to take breaks in nature, which can lower stress and increase creativity.

According to Realtor.com, the closet office (aka “cloffice”) is the new cubicle. So if you have an unused closet just collecting dust or things you should really donate, it may be time to clear it out and get to work.

Consider adding some wallpaper and shelves to personalize your space and make it a fun, functional work nook.

Though you’ll probably want to show off your special work cubby, the cloffice pictured above has a curtain so you can easily separate your work and home life and close up shop at the end of the day.

Have a guest room that only gets used some of the time? Make it perform double-duty by adding a small home office.

If you don’t have the room for a full bed and desk setup, swap the sleep arrangements for a futon, daybed, trundle bed, or better yet, a hideaway Murphy Bed. 

When guests aren’t visiting, you can use those comfy spaces to take thinking or relaxing breaks away from your screen. And if guests stay too long, you can put them to work.

Like we mentioned earlier, you can still carve out your dream home office even if you only have a small space to work with. 

You’d be surprised by how many seemingly small, unused corners you have in your apartment or home that would make perfect work nooks.

You can even use a specific piece of furniture, such as the affordable corner desk pictured above, to designate your perfect space and tell your brain you’re entering the productive zone.

Though “the corner office” used to be a big status symbol on the career ladder, these small spaces prove it’s not the size of the office, but how you use it that matters most.

We hope this guide gave you plenty of great ideas to run with, and you’re excited and confident to build the home office of your dreams.

Remember, this should be a fun process; don’t let the picture-perfect ideas we shared today cloud your idea of what your home office should look like.

Make the space your own, enjoy creating it over time, and always add stuff that brings you joy. Then you’ll have no trouble curating a workspace you actually want to show up to each day.

We can’t wait to see what you come up with!