How to Choose the Best Colors for your DIY Backyard Office

Our work lives have certainly gone through a huge transformation in recent times. With hybrid work going mainstream in the past couple of years, the need for a dedicated workspace at home —even if it is a DIY backyard home office— has become a priority for many workers who now spend a lot more time working from home than in a cubicle at an office. 

Even as some industries return to partial in-office work, the need for a dedicated home office space is now undeniably part of our lives. 

While having the luxury of extra space is a blessing in itself that not everyone has access to, having a good space that is inspiring and conducive to producing great work is more than just setting a small desk in a corner of your kitchen. Thankfully building your own office doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive and picking the right colors can make the biggest and easiest impact overall.

Here are some ideas for decor, finishes, and our recommended home office paint colors for when you decide to embark on this project:

Natural and timeless finishes are a safe choice

When it comes to modern backyard offices, cedar cladding has been the go-to choice for some time now. This is certainly a beautiful office design option, especially if you have a DIY backyard office, but it’s not the right choice for everyone. If you want to refresh a tired and boring space, adding colorful paint is a cheaper option that makes a bigger statement while being easier to execute.

You can easily add drama with color on the outside

If you’re looking for a more contemporary or dramatic appeal, go with moody darks such as black or grey is a great choice for your exterior backyard office walls. If you still want impact, but in a calmer form, try with pastels or toned-down greens that play well with the other elements present in your backyard. 

Picking a statement color can easily turn any old backyard area into a modern backyard office.

Well-chosen home office paint colors can help with productivity

For the inside of the office, research says blue and green shades are generally calmer and help improve productivity. They are also supposed to inspire trust and be more inviting than other corals, so they can work well for spaces where your meetings (either in person or remote) take place.

If you’re looking for more energetic spaces that help with creativity, reds and yellows are usually the right call. They can be added to create pops of color, or you could choose to be bolder and paint entire walls or even rooms. Well executed, colorful home offices can be extremely beautiful and inspiring, so don’t be afraid to give them a chance.

For those who prefer a more minimal, calmer space, a good white or neutral is never out of style. This is the easiest option for most, but it also gives the illusion of adding extra light and is super versatile and timeless. If you have trouble committing to bolder choices, this can be a good option because you have the option of adding colors with furniture and art. This also makes it so colors are easier to switch up when you need a change. Just get some new pillows for an instant refresh.

It’s all in the personal details

When picking home office paint colors, it’s important to consider how they interact with the furniture and any other art pieces you already have, or plan to have, added to the space. You can choose a calm blue color scheme and bring a bit of the energy of red or yellow with books, artwork, or even a lovely chair. 

Green is also a great base color because it’s considered balanced. In a muted tone, greens can play along with lots of other bolder shades.

Remember to also have fun when choosing the “usual” furniture that goes in your office. Chairs and desks come in more interesting styles and colors these days, and there’s always the option of repurposing other types of tables and chairs for your home office needs.

Function can be fun and unexpected

Your office space should make you feel at ease, it should inspire your creativity, and keep you as productive as possible. While a lot of that ambiance and feelings are connected to colors and shapes, you usually need some functionality added to the space via accessories such as; special desks, bookshelves, and all types of boards.

Boards are an essential part of offices where you can plan lots of projects and do creative brainstorming. But they are usually ugly and make a sophisticated space look like a kid’s playground or a generic office meeting room.

To get a big whiteboard without the ugliness, a great addition to any office space —especially a multi-functional one— is the Benjamin Moore Notable Dry Erase Paint. It’s a minimalist and completely unobtrusive way to add a dry erase board that works in virtually any space by turning any wall into a surface that can be used for creativity and productivity.

Notable dry erase is also a less messy alternative to its more old-school and popular sibling, the blackboard paint. Blackboard walls have been a favorite for kitchens, breakfast nooks, and children’s rooms, and while they’re certainly fun, the dry erase paint offers a more sophisticated and cleaner option.

Add Notable Dry Erase Paint to your office space

No matter if you have a very colorful home office or a very minimal one, the Benjamin Moore Notable dry erase paint is a great option because you can choose between a white finish and a high gloss clear one that can be applied over any color on your walls. 

Notable Dry Erase can be applied to almost any surface and comes with a 10-year warranty so you can get as creative as you want while knowing your walls will look great for a long time.

Make sure you create a dynamic space you love

No matter what kind of work you do, you want the right balance between calmness, creativity and productiveness. This is a delicate composition accomplished best by using a combination of colors, shapes, materials, and styles that allow concentration to happen when you need it, but that will be interesting enough not to let you fall asleep on the job. Relaxing is great, but remember this is still a workspace afterall.

Ultimately, the goal is to create a dynamic workspace that matches your style and taste, be it a modern backyard home office or a more colorful home office. For this, you should always consider pro recommendations and best practices, but you should always incorporate your very own touch and taste.