For many people, a home office made from supplies and furniture from companies such as office monster can seem like a luxury. After all, we need extra space, and certainly the capabilities to outfit such a workstation should we wish to design it. But as our children leave the nest, or as we extend our property, or as we look to more creative alternatives, we may realize that this isn’t such a huge ask in the first place.
After all, with so many people now working remotely and taking their skills online, home offices may become a kind of norm, just as utility rooms are used for convenience. We tend to work better when we have a properly allocated space to organize ourselves, and a private space to work in. Any parent that has tried to work with children at home knows the benefit of getting away for a couple of hours and really knuckling down – allowing their spouse to take care of the little ones for a while – or fitting in this work during a baby’s infant nap.
Regardless of your reasons – knowing how to design a wonderful home office from scratch is key. In this post, we’ll discuss how to achieve that and more:
Consider The Office Location
It’s important to consider where your office is going to be located in the first place. It might be that your late teenager has recently left to move out or start at university. This might give you free space in which to design an office. But what about moving your possessions from another room and designating the office there, instead?
As you can see, while we have limited rooms in our home, it could be that arranging the perfect one for us is key. For instance, if you find that a certain room has intensive natural light aimed directly at it all summer, then you may wish to set up your office atmosphere in a cooler area of the house. Perhaps it’s closest to the main road, meaning that leaving open your window to cool down will also invite plenty of sound with it.
Or – perhaps you’re interested in structuring the office outside your home to begin with. For instance, having excellent insulated garden buildings constructed could be the fantastic first step. This option may grant you even more wonderful privacy than you had expected, curating the office space from the ground up in the best way.
Electrical Outlets
Electrical outlets make a big difference when it comes to orienting the furniture within a space, and of course, in a home office you may have need for all of them. From plugging in multi-monitor displays, computers, laptops, tablets, and other charging devices upon your desk, to room additions such as air purifiers and fans, it’s essential to make sure the wiring is properly allocated. As per our prior suggestion of an exterior office, this may go double.
Working with your contractor to make sure the wiring is properly handled, and that extension cords can be safely placed if needing them is key. You may also wish for additional features, such as plug sockets that provide USB charging slots, too. This way, you can make sure that no matter what, you’ll never have to go without uptime when working on a range of projects.
Storage Space
Storage space is an essential element of designing an office, because while most working responsibilities for remote workers are online, paperwork can build up. From correspondence, printed documents and even faxes (yes, these are still around), it’s important to make sure you have the space to organize and properly store your working materials.
Even if this simply means storing spare keyboards and mice within a singular cupboard, as well as separating your home documents away from your actual working and professional materials, shelving units, cupboards, and cubbyholes can prevent you from spilling all of this recorded material upon the surface of your desk. Over time, that can make a tremendously positive difference.
Lighting
Without good lighting, you may find yourself suffering from headaches and even eyesight problems when working remotely. This is because staring at a bright screen as your only source of illuminated light can be a problem, for clear and obvious reasons. Eye strain is a real thing.
While natural lighting is often a fantastic benefit of a worthwhile room orientation, it’s also true that this won’t help you in the early morning or late in the evening. A worthwhile overhead light, some soft lighting lamps and lighting fixtures, perhaps over the head of your office desk can be very helpful. Desk lamps that can be angled comfortably can also help you when switching between writing and typing at your computer.
Furniture
Furniture is important to consider, and investing in high-quality implements often provides real value here. For instance, ergonomic chairs can grant you the chance to work comfortably in line with your natural body dimensions, sitting up properly with a supported back rather than slouching all day. Choosing luxury furniture for your office is a good investment as you want your office furniture to withstand what you do and be comfortable to use for long periods.
Some even opt for more advanced office furniture, such as standing desks that provide a perfect adjustment from standing up and sitting – further investing in our health over time. For some, special additions to the desks such as orthopedic wrist rets can also make a tremendous difference going forward.
Office Features
It’s important to remember that remote workers come in all shapes and sizes. Some might be office workers who focus on data entry, others may be online freelancers who require more specialized equipment. For some, combining a home studio with an office is essential. For others, having a space where they can fit in a whiteboard or corkboard helps with planning and materials gathering – such as how writers combine plenty of material in order to begin their tale.
A home office is only as good as its purposeful design. Keeping that in mind can help you structure your own needs from the ground up – even if that’s as simple as painting the wall behind you green for easier green screen chroma key access during video calls.
With this advice, you’re sure to develop a wonderful office home from scratch.