Whether you're working from home or just using your computer for some late night internet shopping, a good home office can make a big difference to any home. If you're able to custom design your joinery, we've put together a list of our top 5 must haves to create the most practical and functional space possible:
1 | Storage
It's important to include enough storage within your home office to ensure your space is free of clutter and distraction. We love including a combination of open shelves, drawers (including filing drawers) and cupboards to ensure clients have a space for everything they need to store. If you want to go a step further, you can take stock of the exact items you need to fit into your home office so that you can plan how much of each storage type you need. You can then also use this information to create the best layout for your particular workflow and keep what you need most closer to your workspace. If you use a printer, don't forget to add a space for this into your storage plan. If you don't want it to be visible, consider putting the printer into a cupboard on a slide out shelf. You can also add locks to drawers, filing drawers or cupboards for any sensitive documents.
2 | Ergonomics
When designing a home office, it is very important that you take ergonomics into consideration. We usually make the height at the top of a fixed desktop at around 720mm, as this is a comfortable height for most people. However, if you're particularly tall or short it may be best to adjust this to what works best for you (or even consider a standing desk!). The depth of the desk is also important so that the monitor isn't too close to you - if possible, 700-800mm deep is usually a great depth. You may also want to consider adding a foot rest to make the space even more comfortable.
3 | Charging Station
If you have a lot of devices, we recommend to add a charging station either in a drawer or cupboard. A charging station is a dedicated space with at least 4 power points for charging all your devices out of sight. This allows you to keep all your chargers plugged in without the cables creating clutter around your working space. As well as power points you can also have USB ports to make it even easier to charge your devices.
4 | Lighting
Lighting is a vital part of any well-designed space, but it is particularly important for working spaces. Unless your desk is in the middle of the room, a central ceiling light is likely to create shadow over your working space. We therefore recommend to add a task light right over the desk, either as a table lamp, wall lamp, an additional ceiling light or as an integrated LED strip to the underside of any cupboards/shelves right above the desk. It's also important to consider the location of a window in comparison to the desk space, so that it provides natural light without creating glare to your screens.
5 | Make it a multi-purpose room
If you're not working from home everyday or you're short on space, consider making your home office a multi-purpose space. If you're using a separate room as a home office, it's popular to add a daybed, sofa bed or Murphy bed in the room to create a spare bedroom when needed. Other options could be combining your home office with a gym space or games room. Alternatively, you can include a home office nook into your kitchen, dining, understairs storage or even within a wide hallway. If you'd like to hide your home office nook when not in use, you can also add pocket doors to the space.
I hope this has been helpful for you! If you are planning a renovation project and want to get in touch with us, you can contact us through the link below:
Hope you have a wonderful week!
Nina xx