There’s no way around it; current events have conspired to denote the necessity of having a dedicated space at home for extended study and office hours. If you’re still struggling with finding the right area in your home or just don’t feel that motivated within a space you already have, you are not alone.
Generally, there were three basic scenarios created when the need arose to do more work and study from home: One, you already had a “home office” but basically it is was the “study” or spare bedroom that you never enjoyed working in when you could work from home; two, your home’s open plan living area needed to serve as the dedicated space, or three, you had no idea where a dedicated work space could go.
With this in mind, we thought we’d provide some solutions for these three scenarios and make them inspiring as well, so you’ll love the space you made well after the every-day need to use it has passed.
So Long Stuffy Study!
A clunky, dark desk and a bookcase stuffed with years-worth of outdated periodicals in it. How many of us are guilty of having this bland room tucked away somewhere in our homes? It’s time to ditch the chunky for the sleek, and the bland for the bold.
This room upgrade is so much more inspiring with its bright and cheery walls, the airy take on a work surface using a table instead of a standard desk, and the creative blending of the desk’s traditional look with its sleek modern chairs. Storage is handled unconventionally but conveniently behind the desk with some vintage piece of furniture playing a new role. Motivating pops of color are found in the decorative accents and texture is added in with a fluffy, not stuffy, area rug. Voila! A fresh place to work and a great space to be in anytime when work is done.
Hello Space for Productive Co-Habitation!
Recent market trends indicate, as more people are shopping for new homes over last year, that for some, requirements are changing; with a slight uptick in prospective homeowners asking to see homes with traditional floor plans again. If you’ve got little kiddos using your primary open plan living space for absolutely everything right now including increased study hours, you know why.
The key to making it all work in spaces like these now-a-days is flexibility. With real estate experts not expecting to see open plan living disappearing entirely from the residential wish list, they suggest that a reconfiguration of your space may be in order; one that provides for peaceful co-habitation, as well as productive work and school schedules going forward. (Now that we have been working from home for some time, the benefits are outweighing even these drawbacks and trend spotters predict many office jobs will remain at home even after the pandemic has abated.)
Ways to make these spaces work for everyone include some tweaks to open plan staples, like installing a drop-down-from-the-ceiling screen between the main kitchen work-space and the nearby kitchen island to help create a separate zone. Forward-thinking designers are already creating hidden panels capable of sliding in or folding out to help create a space buffer. Options to equip the panels with ports to charge your electronic devices are also on the design table, so creating smaller, transitional workspaces to use as needs arise are all possibilities for the future of the at-home worker.
Adjusting your thinking about what you consider a viable work-space to be can be helpful, as well. Consider your desk. Many of us work differently now and no longer require the large, standard desk that takes up a certain amount of space. We no longer have stacks of paper files that may need spreading out as we used to, as our files are now digital and our information is cloud-stored, not hard copy file cabinet-stored. With flexibility like this, the option to work outdoors in mild climates is another possibility worth exploring. Prior to the pandemic, it wasn’t uncommon to see gig workers at outdoor cafes doing their thing, so extending this practice to the at-home office is not at all far-fetched.
What’s Behind Door Number 2?
If you guessed a totally self-contained workstation for the modern, at-home worker, you could be right! When first pressed to work from home, setting up shop at the kitchen table probably seemed like a sensible interim solution, but it isn’t particularly practical for the new normal of working from home long-term.
While you may not have a whole room to spare, you might have a built-in space in a room that could suffice. Some of these, “I turned my closet into an office!” makeovers are the coolest solutions we’ve seen to the dedicated office space conundrum, and are having people boasting about the “cloffices” they created.
These clever little endeavors can range from simple, practical retro-fitting by crafting and attaching a solid work surface within the space and adding a small chair with wheels that hides away behind the original closet door. Or, you can get as creative as you wish with paint and materials, extending the space by removing the door entirely, and leaving it open to view or adding a rod and chic curtain to tie on one side when in use.
TIP: If your closet is not already equipped with a lighting fixture, have no fear! LED lighting technology offers battery-powered lighting options that burn brightly and can be easily installed with either a peel and stick backing, or by using a simple cordless drill to secure a mounted device. Shine on!
The possibilities are endless. If you’re not handy and don’t have access to a handy person in your household, there are now clever closet outfitters online in many areas that can help. However you approach it, have fun creating your own little world tucked away from the everyday!
