Mastering the Home Office Design
Designing the home of your dreams.
Before the Spring of 2020, the idea of working from home was a luxury that most people would strive for, but not often achieve.
Mastering the Home Office Design
In fact, the idea of a professionally-designed home office was one that only the elite (and otherwise very important people) would (or could) have. We would call them “virtual” or “remote” offices. In fact, if a company did run it’s base out of a home office, it was assumed the company must not be doing well enough to afford a “real” office.
And then everything changed.
Overnight, we all became apart of the work-from-home generation.
In this new climate, companies struggled to securely establish their employees in home offices, investing in technology – both old and emerging – and making everything as remote-friendly as possible. Before you knew it, most of us were arriving to work each morning at corner of our kitchen table, Zoom-friendly from the waist up.
But it’s been a while now, and we’ve all settled into our new way of enjoying work. Most of us still working from home have even found ways to make corners of unused space in our homes into make-shift offices.
But now that you’re looking forward to your new custom home, it’s time to consider investing in your home office as an integral part of your home design.
Most Common Home Office Requests
With kids distance learning, multiple adults working from home, privacy has also been a key concern. We need to find a possible solution for a quiet place to take phone calls or Zoom meetings without disturbing (or distracting) the rest of the family.
Our clients want their home office to seamlessly blend into the rest of their home. We believe one of the most appealing benefits of working from home this year is the flexibility to make your workspace custom to your needs and tastes. A home office can have a much more luxe feeling than a standard corporate office, and we’re excited to help our clients create that.
One of the things we notice most quickly about clients’ home office space is their lack of proper lighting. We find great lighting solutions that can provide efficiency throughout the day, in changing light and even changing forecasts. Additionally, we make sure to have at least three lighting sources in a home office, to allow flexibility dependent on the task or energy level needed.
Somehow “work from home” means earlier and earlier meeting times and longer hours. Long hours require ergonomic solutions, so we’ve been receiving many more requests for standing desks (or adjustable desks) and comfortable, yet beautiful chairs.
Even with most business functioning entirely online for people these days, it seems every home office needs ample storage. Carefully editing what you have in your home office is the first step. Then, creating clear, designated for storage is key. One of our favorite tricks-of-the-trade is to capitalize on vertical space. In our #RDHbungalowreno project, we ran custom bookcases all the way to the ceiling to maximize storage space. The same could be done in even the tiniest of offices.
Our clients are often turning a small spare bedroom, or even a small closet into their home office space. The key is making that space the most functional it can be. With most work being done digitally, a desk’s footprint doesn’t need to be as large as it has in the past, but you’ll still need ample storage.
Source RedesignHome.co
5 Tips for Planning Your Perfect Home Office
And yes, your tastes may change (or if you’re like us, your pillows and throw accessories change with every season!), but every office will have stationary signature pieces that will be a pat of your every day, and you can design your office space around them. Perhaps it’s a specific piece of art to be recessed within wainscotting and underneath a directional art light on its own light switch. It may also be a small electric fireplace built into the wall with a bright tiled surround (a fabulous back drop for those virtual meetings!). The possibilities are endless!
This is very important in smaller spaces. And for home offices, even more important. You don’t want your home to feel like an office when you’re not actually working. But if you can tuck your work away at the end of the day, it’s suddenly transforms into just an extension of your beautiful new house.
Consider the type and style of desk you want and ensure that your electrical and data ports accommodate (for example, we designed a home office for a centre-room desk that had recessed power and data in the floor underneath the desk for hidden chords.
If the room is smaller, consider double French doors without mullions (the divider line accents) which will make them easier to clean from little fingers or puppy noses, and will create a glass wall effect – very timeless. This will give separation without closing off the space from the rest of the home or making the office feel super small inside.
When you visit with our personalized interior designer, be sure to bring with you photos of samples that you’ve see that moves you. Visit Pinterest, magazines, or designer websites to learn about more options that are available for you for a home office.