According to Merriam and Webster Dictionary, a home office is defined as a specific room in a person’s house that is designed to be used as a workspace, particularly for office works. Several factors such as small space living, open-plan interior, number of occupants, and personal preferences had led to the variations when it comes to setting up a home office. When it is true that a home office was once a closed space or a room, the modern home office can now be a corner, a recess on the wall, or the space under the loft bed. In this article, we will give some insights on home offices and how you should plan on designing your own.
Types of Home Office
A single search on the internet will give you a lot of home office ideas more than you could think of. Thus, we opted to list some of the most popular home office designs with an edge in functionality and aesthetics.
Old-fashioned Study room
If you are a fan of classic movies and novels, you’ll probably find study rooms as a good home office design. The style often needs a room that is usually soundproof. Most old-fashioned study rooms have a large wooden office desk that is placed near the windows or the grand bookshelves depending on the preference of the owner. The floor may be hardwood or covered with carpet.
An old-fashioned study room is believed to improve work precision and critical thinking. More often than not, those who preferred this type of home office design are systematic and organized.
Although having a secluded workspace is ideal for concentration, there are few disadvantages to this style. For instance, the style requires a room. Thus, it may not be advisable to small space living or open-plan interior. It can also be difficult to stay in your study room if you need to watch over your kids while working.
Loft Bed and Office Space
A workspace with a built-in loft bed atop is gaining popularity recently. Many modern office workers who are forced to work from home during the pandemic have converted their rooms to this style. It is easy to see why many people preferred the idea. First, it is a space-saver. It is a golden rule in small space living to design the furniture in such a way that the vertical dimension is being maximised. Thus, instead of placing your bed and home office area on the floor, why not arrange them vertically?
There are but little downsides to this style. The first one would be that it is not applicable to people who do not prefer to sleep on a loft bed or the upper bunk. If you have a fear of heights and is uncomfortable with sleeping in a loft, this style may compromise your sleep. Another thing is that you have to hire a good builder to ensure that the loft is built sturdy. You wouldn’t wish to accidentally smash your workstation should your loft bed fall off, right?
Nook or Corner Workspace
For small space living, functionality is often prioritized over aesthetics. This may or may not be the case when it comes to nook and corner office. It may be the case if you set up your work corner with the idea that you only needed to have a space for work around your house. Thus, a home office desk and some shelves will do the trick. However, having a corner for workspace doesn’t mean there’ll be no room for creativity. Some corner workspace is very well designed with built-in cabinets, statement lights, and even have mood boards or collection displays to boost motivation.
The only disadvantage of a nook workspace is that it is relatively smaller than other workspaces. Since it is also placed on a corner of the bedroom or anywhere in your studio type interior, you might not be free from distractions and background noise.
Planning a home office has a lot to do with the space your interior can provide. Therefore, it is important to consult a designer particularly the one working for retail interior design in Singapore to help you with what is feasible and what is not.
Which Home Office Design Suits You?
When it is true that a lot of considerations come from your home’s layout, it is also important to consider your preference, work ethics, and personality when designing your home office. Below are some of the types of workers and which style will most likely suit them.
The Organized Ones
These office workers prefer to work in a tidy office with no clutters and everything has its own space. Some are even going so far as to have the top of their desks empty, with only their laptop while they work. Clutter is the enemy of their productivity and they can’t work efficiently unless everything is in order.
Should you be the type of person that is highly organized, a study room is ideal for you. If you want an organized workspace but is living in a small condo, you can also have a nook workspace with built-in drawers to rid of clutters.
The Messy Worker
When most of us think that clutter is counterproductive, it is not the case for naturally messy workers. They cannot work well unless they are surrounded by all the tools they need for work. Sometimes too, this habit is developed through the nature of work. For instance, artists and writers often have this workspace preference as their line of work requires several tools or papers.
If you are this kind of worker, a single office desk in a corner of your room will do. The smaller your workspace, the closer your things will be from where you are.
The Working Mom/Dad
Working from home while taking care of your little ones can be a challenge. Should you find yourself in this situation, a corner office will work for you. Having a separate room for your workstation will hinder you from watching over your kids and going in and out of the room is time-consuming.
The “Can’t Stay” Worker
Some people need more room to move around while working. In some cases, their physical conditions call for it. For instance, people with scoliosis will have difficulty staying on a swivel chair for a couple of hours. They need to walk around or change positions often. For this type of workers, a corner workspace or a study room is ideal to facilitate movement. You can also ask a retail interiordesigner to design a space where the desk can be transformed into a counter so you can sit or stand while working. Now that you learned the types of workspaces and which one suits a type of worker, the next thing to consider is the furniture. The choice of furniture is important when designing a home office. Aside from setting the atmosphere, it also helps in terms of functionality. If you are looking for an office furniture retail shop that offers various designs and pieces, Okamura International might just be the place for you.
