Top Tips for Creating a Polished Zoom Room

 Ask any realtor and they’ll tell you about the kind of features that buyers are looking for: a modern kitchen, impeccable landscaping and elegant ensuite bathrooms. These days, you can add one more feature: zoom rooms.

For all the people working or going to school at home, designing a work space that is well appointed and looks gorgeous suddenly matters since colleagues, clients and students can now peer into your home (and quietly pass judgment on your bobblehead doll collection that sits on a shelf behind you!)

A professional image, no matter who you are on video calls with, matters. It doesn’t have to be an entire room; it might just be a corner of your living room. But wherever it is, your zoom room needs to shine. Here are a few ways you can zhuzh up your zoom space:

Create A Dedicated Space

The first tip is to have a dedicated work space for zoom calls. It needs to be a space that doesn’t have to become something else half of the time, so the dining room table might not be ideal. What you want is to be able to set up your laptop, turn on the camera and link to a meeting without having to worry about what your background looks like.

It also needs to be a quiet space, so a hallway or area where others in your household are always passing through probably won’t work. Some ‘out of the box’ solutions include using the unused space under the stairs or building out a disused closet with some added shelving, so that you can set the right background, use the space, and then close the doors when you’re done.

Wherever that space is, make sure that you have great lighting—a ring light is a good investment for this—and a strong wifi signal. For lighting, it’s ideal if there is natural light, with a window in front of you, or beside you. And as far as the wifi goes, a booster can help, particularly if your zoom room ends up being in the basement and a long way from the internet router.

Avoid Clutter 

Both in the camera’s visual range, and outside of it, keeping clutter to a minimum will help you find the work space more usable and will certainly give a more polished look, on camera.

Ideally, your workspace will include storage so that you have a place to put all your files or other materials, to keep things tidy. It’s hard enough working virtually without having to bob and weave off camera, rifling through documents or notebooks, to come up with what you’re looking for. Having everything you might need at hand, yet tidy, is the goal.

It’s also important to make sure there’s nothing in the camera’s range that you wouldn’t want strangers seeing, like a pile of unfolded laundry. Turn on your camera at the beginning of each day, before any meetings or classes start, to check. 

Create a Background As if Everyone is Watching. Because They Are.

If you have shelves behind you, you can be sure that people in your meetings are checking out what’s on them. So make selections that you are comfortable with others seeing and limit the mementos and tchotchkes that only resonate with you and your family. It doesn’t have to be impersonal, but you want it to be professional. 

What you don’t want is something that distracts other participants in your video calls. That can be anything from a vivid painting to your collection of Star Wars memorabilia. A figurine or two for personalization is one thing: the complete set is another.

Position Yourself For Comfort and Style

A desk at the right height so that zoom participants aren’t looking up your nose; a comfortable chair that doesn’t have you sitting too high and glowering down into the camera… These are important additions to your zoom room. 

You want to be able to look straight at the camera, which might involve raising your laptop on a platform on your desk, and using a wireless keyboard. Anything to avoid angles that are both unflattering and distracting to the other users. 

Comfort matters too: if you have to constantly tip your neck up or down to get the right angle when you’re looking into the camera, an hour long meeting is going to end up mighty uncomfortable by the end.

Play with your new zoom room setup before your first call, or have a zoom call with a friend, to get their opinion on how everything is looking, before you get on an important client call. You’ll be happy that you did!

Bio:

Marty Basher is the home improvement and organization expert with Modular Closets, https://www.modularclosets.com. Marty regularly contributes on topics of DIY renovations, home design, organization, improvement and more, helping home owners get the most out of the spaces in their home. Modular Closets are high-quality and easy-to-design closet systems made in the USA you can order, assemble and install yourself, in no time at all. Using closet modules (closet pieces you can mix & match to design your own modular closet), homeowners everywhere are empowered to achieve a true custom closet look- for nearly 40% less than standard custom closets.