Tips For Designing A Home Office Space To Suit You

Working from home is becoming ever more popular, and for the majority of us a lot easier to attain. Gone are the days when you needed a large computer, printer, fax machine and landline telephone. Technology has revolutionised our lives in so many ways, and the opportunities for home working are just one example.

But while our working style has changed, our homes don’t always reflect that, although one US news provider highlighted a change that’s occurring stateside, and it’s likely a similar trend will follow in the UK.

Bloomberg analysed real estate listings on Zillow, and found that the number mentioning home office space fell by 20 per cent in a year.

It put this down to a change in preference among those who work from home – namely that they’re after flexibility and like to move around throughout the working day. That makes open-plan properties more appealing, and housebuilders in the US are catching on.

But what does this mean for your own home office designs? Of course, it will depend on how much space you have. For someone living in a one-bedroom flat, the option of having a dedicated office is off the cards. And it will also depend on how you work best.

So, what should you be thinking about when you’re designing your home office space? We’ve put together a few tips.

Do you need peace and quiet?

One of the disadvantages to not having a dedicated office, where you can close a door and hideaway, can be noise from the rest of your household. If you have to take important calls while you’re at home, you will probably want a room free from children, pets and the general hubbub of daily life.

If you live alone, or you don’t have anyone else around to distract you during the working day, you might be content to set up an office space in a corner of your living room, for instance.

What’s your workspace?

If you need a desktop computer for your work, it goes without saying that you’ll need a desk. Think carefully about how you work though – do you need room around your computer to spread papers out, or can you keep things minimal and tidy?

Do you have more than one screen, and what position do you sit in when you’re working? A corner computer desk might be more comfortable if you’re using two screens, for example.

You also need to think carefully about the size of your desk in relation to where it’s going to go in your home. If you have a dedicated home office, you can easily have a large computer desk, but if you’re working from the corner of your living room, you’ll more than likely want something a little smaller and more subtle.

Any work space that’s part of your living room also needs to look good – you don’t want it to have a cheap-looking piece of office furniture that detracts from the decor of the rest of the room, so invest in quality and opt for wooden desks, or something sleek and modern that suits your interior design choices.

Make sure you’re comfortable

After your desk, the next most important thing to invest in is your office chair. The position you sit in to do your work can have an impact on your overall health and wellbeing, so it’s worth buying one that takes care of your back and encourages good posture.

As with your desk, if it’s going in your living room, you need to consider how it looks with the rest of the furniture, and the fact that it’s likely to get used as additional seating by guests when you have a larger number of people around.

If you have a separate office space, don’t just get a desk chair, buy a comfy chair where you can take a break too. We all need screen breaks throughout the day, and it can be nice to take yourself away from your desk – and the temptation of your emails – for five or ten minutes while you enjoy a cup of tea.

Think about additional storage

While a lot of us work remotely and use the internet and cloud storage for the majority of our work these days, there are still instances where you need physical papers, books and other equipment to do your job.

Make sure you account for these extras when you’re thinking about kitting out your home office. Office storage can look stylish – you can forget about the idea of having a clunky metal filing cabinet in a corner of the room.

Invest in a desk with shelves and use coloured storage boxes to help bring it to life and keep everything tidy. Or install some bookcase wall shelves so that you’re not taking up valuable floor space with a large piece of furniture.

And don’t forget, that while this storage might be functional, it can still look attractive, so don’t settle for the most basic shelving you can find simply because it’s going to be part of your home office – go for something that you love the look of and it will help you settle in and enjoy spending time in your workspace.

For home office storage, browse our website today