Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Office Cubicle Decorating: Thrifty Ways to Make Your Cubicle Cozy

I'm no longer a cubicle dweller, I have my own little office where I keep the lights dim and the oolong tea plentiful (coworkers call it "the cave"). Yet if I go back to cubicle land, I know I can make it a cozy spot to work. Here are my thrifty tips for decorate your office cubicle:

Colorful Walls: That gray, it physically kills my psyche to look at it every day. I like to switch up the design. Be creative with the fabric or paper you add, mix and match to make it unique.


Office Plants: Most tropical houseplants will thrive, even in the sometimes dim cubicle environment. Make sure to water them at least 2-3 times and week.

Thrifted Lamp: A lamp in a cubicle just makes it a cozier space for to write and work.


Personal Items: You might be at the office 40 or more hours per week. I clock in an average of 50 hours per week myself! I want the space I work to feel as natural for me as possible, so I always have some original local artwork hanging. Add small personal things that makes your cubicle more homey. (I love it when people fill their cubicles with toys and comic book action figures, for instance!)

 [My cubicle about 3 years ago. They move me around the office a lot!]

How do you like to "decorate" your office or cubicle? 
What do you need to work efficiently?
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21 comments:

  1. My day job is a Facilities Manager of several commercial offices, and I design and plan all of the cube worlds that my employees live in. I can honestly say I see your point that a personalized work space could be better and more productive. I've seen my share of "strange" over the years...like the overhead storage bins filled to overflowing with trolls, magnets stuck to every square inch of steel and lace curtains strung-up like a shower curtain across the entry to a cube....and sorry the lace had to come down! Lighting is important, plants, photos and artwork are a must in my workstation....I think I should add a few retro accessories...thanks for the decorating ideas.

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  2. Nice post, Van! Creating a cool workspace can make the difference between dreading to sit down at your desk and feeling pepped up when you sit down at your desk. I like a lot of container gardens and vintage black and white framed photos of Johnny Cash =D At my last cubby, I had a lot of comic book action figures until they started disappearing and I had to take the unpilfered heroes home.

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  3. Jolene: That is hilarious! I agree, a lace curtain is too much. In my fantasy work world we work out of tents instead of cubicles. Or we make blanket forts...but then we'd all be playing instead of working. Maybe I'll pitch the blanket forts to my boss! Ha!

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  4. Flo: That sucks that people started snatching up your figurines! I keep my pen cup hidden now, the pens would continue to mysteriously disappear one by one until I had none left. Pen goblins? ;)

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  5. lighting is so important. i'm lucky that even though i share an office space with four others, i am right next to a window. even so, i had the maintenance guy unscrew the fluorescent tube above my desk so that when the room lights come on, they don't come on over my space. i have a nice cheap IKEA lamp and sometimes in winter i light candles. i work for a relief and development organization that employs some amazing photographers, so i have a set of 5 frames above my desk that i fill with photos of the people we serve all around the world. i change those regularly. i also have some framed art that my son did in school, photos of my best beloved and my son, and souvenirs that i've gathered from my world travels. what makes a huge difference for me too is what's on my computer screen - i always have some kind of photo of a lighthouse as my background. i used to live near the ocean but now live in the valley and totally miss the ocean. having an image on the screen when i'm not writing works when i'm feeling like i miss the salt air!

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  6. If my desk isn't clean? I can't get shit done. Clean desk=productive day.

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  7. Angelika: I've brazenly stood atop precariously balanced things to unscrew those intrusive florescent bulbs. They make me ill, I tells ya!

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  8. Holyoke Home: I realized I left that one out after I published the post. Same here! I will actively clear the desk of any stray papers and even clean it with a Clorox wipe (at work) or furniture polish (the wooden desk at home) about once a day to ensure the desk is clear and clean. Distractions other than a lamp and an item or two WILL NOT DO.

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  9. I love this post!! Lately I've been feeling that my cube is kind of boring (I don't have enough things in it, and what I do have has been there forever). I often walk by other people's cubes in the office and think how nice they look - mine is in need of some serious help! :/

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  10. Mandy: It's very easy to make the space nice :)

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  11. i love that you brightened up the blah grey. it looks inviting. it's got personal touches without being cluttered or distracting.

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  12. I just posted above. The space feels small to me already and I don't have a computer or phone on the desk yet. Egads! Fortunately, I am next to a long wall of windows. :-)

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  13. Which comic or company made that poster? Looks awesome.

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