With summer right around the corner, a time of the year when folks traditionally take time off or work from home more frequently as the kids are out of school, we thought we would revisit this staple of modern living.
Earlier this spring, we did a post about the home office. When planning to remodel or design a home office, perhaps the best place to begin is addressing your needs. What type of work will you be doing in here? What are essential furnishings? What is extra? And what can you not live without? By listing these wants, needs and must haves – you’re able to avoid clutter and pave the way to proficiency.
Not every office requires a desk.
The office should reflect the type of work being done. If a computer isn’t required for a bulk of your work, consider a laptop or tablet to be more mobile and devote more of your home office space to somewhere that you can spread out with a series of charts, graphs or documents.
Just like any home remodel, lighting is important. Reducing eye strain, staying focused and seeing your work materials are all indicative of the lighting setup. Try incorporating windows into your home office. You can keep an eye on the kids and feel less “at work,” while also taking advantage of the natural lighting. Night owl? Configure a lamp above your workspace to send targeted soft lighting over your desk.
The ultimate goal in the design of of any home office is to feel comfortable, while being productive. After all, you are in there to work. This doesn’t necessarily mean you should have to feel the “9 to 5 blues.”