Your Home Office—Ace that Design!
Updated: Aug 17, 2020
This is indeed a strange time we're all living through with a global pandemic and general unrest upsetting life as "normal". We're all wondering what the "new normal" will be. The design & architecture community is too. Most of us, along with contractors and vendors are open for business and we've got several projects working right now, including a handsome corner office for an attorney.
Still, so many of us are working remotely from home. Have you had to reconsider how you use space at home for work? Does your space function well for you, given that we've mostly had to throw a workable arrangement together with little notice?
Prognosticators opine this work-at-home arrangement may be here to stay! So if we're in for the long haul—and I suspect we maybe—below is some inspiration to help you make your home office as awesome as it could be.
For homeowners looking to sell...that tastes have changed during the pandemic. Whereas buyers wanted open floor plans before, now they want his and her Zoom rooms for video-conference meetings.
DESIGN FOR YOUR HOME OFFICE
Finding the best spot and making it more than a rough-and-tumble cludge of miscellaneous furniture and equipment is crucial. Especially for the long-haul. The best designed office/work spaces ensure that everything you need has its proper spot so you can work with ease and it can all look neat and put away when you're done for the day. Good design and details matter.
WORK SPACE PLANNING
A few things to think about beforehand
Think beyond a desk and a chair with equipment and supplies stacked in a corner.
List your work essentials and the other things you'd like ideally. This is your wish list. An adjustable height desk? A laptop or multiple daisy-chained monitors? Video equipment?
Anything you'd like to have if it could be designed into the workspace?
Prioritize your list. Key things first, although a clever design can often fit in every wish...
GET THE FULL WORK-AT-HOME SPACE PLANNING GUIDE
HERE'S A BIT OF FUN — MY FANTASY OFFICE
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Recently, for a bit of fun, I put together a fantasy design for my elegant dream office. I was inspired by this Marzio Cecchi 1970s Italian marble desk and chandelier from Cosulich Interiors. Abstract art and guest chair from Amy Zook Modern. And a rug inspired by The New England Collection.
Clearly, this would be my "front" office.
(You don't want to see my back office).
COOL PRODUCTS AND IDEAS FOR YOUR HOME OFFICE
There are so many superb and inventive ideas, furnishings and materials available for designers to work with. Création Baumann, one of my favorite fabric resources, suggests contract grade drapery (some even with acoustical properties) to separate spaces — a flexible solution that could be adapted for a home office.
Perils of Outdated Papers by the Organizing Goddess
"Wink" dry-erase surface solution by Wolf-Gordon
What will your ideal office be like?