How is your home office working for you? This question is more pertinent than ever right now, several months into the COVID-19 pandemic. But it’s a good question to ask ourselves periodically even in ‘normal’ times.
Ever since I was young, I’ve delighted in having a beautiful and orderly workspace. My ideas about what that means have evolved since the pseudo-French country desk of my childhood. But the satisfaction of an orderly workplace has never faded.
I have always loved the spatial challenge of finding a place for all things in a way that maximizes an effective workflow, and of course, has style. That may explain why I was drawn to commercial office design for my first job at an interior design firm. We would have these very complicated programs outlining all of the macro and micro requirements. I considered it a puzzle and found enormous satisfaction in solving it.
That skill set has served me well in the realm of residential interior design. The space that the home office occupies often must fill many functions. We’ve solved a range of home office design challenges for our clients, so keep reading if you need some inspiration!
Shared Home Office that Doubles as an Art Studio
When our Noe Valley clients expanded their home to include the previously unfinished basement, they got some extra-tall bonus space. In addition to designing side-by-side workspaces, we worked with AT6 Architects to create a cozy reading loft above. The concrete floors in this space are a practical and attractive choice for this space’s dual function as an art studio and yard access.
Home Office in the Bedroom
When the home office is in the bedroom, it’s especially important to make sure that everything has a place to be put away. No one wants to wake up in the morning and be reminded of a to-do list. For our clients in St Francis Wood, we added a storage bench at the end of the bed for office spillover. The reading chair and ottoman in the corner make a nice place to perch with a laptop.
Home Office in the Dining Room
Since formal dining rooms are generally not used frequently for entertaining, they make a great place to work. The key is to have a place to stash everything away when the work is done. For this purpose, I love low storage cabinets like the one we used for our West Clay Park Project below. I suggest keeping all of your office supplies in a bin that can be pulled out when it’s time to get to work. A wireless printer can even be hidden away. Then when you entertain, you can use the surface for serving space.
Home Office Doubles as the Guest Room
If you don’t have a steady stream of guests coming through your home, the guest room is an ideal place to set up a home office. We often specify a power outlet in the closet so that the printer can be hidden away.
In this guest room from our Berkeley Hills Residence project, the sofa bed is situated to face the window with a view of the bay so our client can catch the sunset while taking a break from work. Find out the story behind the turtle wallpaper here.
Home Office in a Hobby Space
For this project in North Beach, our clients had a long wish list of functions that they wanted their space to serve. In addition to a music studio, sewing and knitting workspace, and home library, the space also needed to work as a home office. To achieve this, we designed the custom wall of shelving with drawers in the bench below the window. Some of the drawers have file racks and the rest are used for bins of office supplies that get pulled out when it’s time to clear the craft projects and pay bills. Read more about this creative haven here.
If you are in need of assistance with your home office set-up, our remote design package is the perfect way to tackle a single room design. Click here to set up a complimentary introductory call with me.
We also design small commercial spaces, like the one above that we designed for the Brenner Group on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park. Get in touch with me if you want to rethink the design of your place of business.
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