Our home office ideas guide will help you to create the perfect placement of your office area, essential considerations, and gadgets required to inspire creativity working from home.
Many office workers since 2020 have had to adjust to working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic, in 2021 as we start to come out of lockdown, many people have found that with the right setup working from home can be more productive than in a busy office environment.
To set up an office at home that really inspires creativity can be achieved with a little pre-planning, utilising the space in your home to suit your needs.
The home office ideas in this guide will help you to achieve a great work space in your home.
Home Office Considerations
Before planning a home office it is a good idea to evaluate the necessary requirements that will be needed to allow you to work comfortably and efficiently.
Below is a list of bullet points that could be considered to help you determine the key requirements for your office area, and things to consider.
- Desk Space Needed (Determining what size desk is needed to carry out your work will help when looking for a suitable space in the home to set up your office).
- Storage Requirements (Will you require additional storage like filing cabinets, cupboards, printer stands for example).
- Device Connections (If your workday consists of working at a computer online, or taking telephone calls then a phone line socket for internet and telephone will be crucial to your home office location).
- Budget (Determine how much money is required to purchase the items for your home office, evaluate everything you need that will allow you to work comfortably and without distraction, if working from home for a company they may help with your set up costs).
- Decoration (Having a suitably decorated work area can help with creativity, soft colours and maybe a few plants will create a workspace that is pleasing to the eye and increase your ability to work and concentrate much more efficiently).
- Distraction (The location of a home office is important especially in a busy household, for example working at a kitchen table where other family members could be cooking lunch while you work would not be a good idea, try to find the quietest area of the house that is possible to meet your requirements).
- Family Commitment (Working from home has its challenges especially if you are working with family members in the house, it is a good idea to discuss with others in the household and make them aware that when you are in your office you are working and do not want to be interrupted, don’t feel guilty if you say no to taking the dog for a walk in work time, for example, if you were in the companies office this would not be possible so there is no reason it should be when working at home).
The Best Space for a Home Office
Every home is different but finding the best space in your home will allow you to work more creatively.
Not many people have a dedicated office or study area in their homes so it may be necessary to choose a room in your home or create space within a room to create your office area.
A good place to set up the office would be in a spare room of the house, maybe a guest bedroom, or box room.
If your home does not have a spare room, then try to find the quietest area in your home and adapt that room for your requirements.
An office area within another room can be achieved with some careful planning, think about sectioning off your office from the rest of the room with carefully placed office cabinets, bookshelves, or even a room dividing screen.
Home Office Ideas Outdoors
Outdoor spaces are often overlooked for a home office, but many homes have a garden, garage, shed, or outbuildings.
Creating an office outdoors is actually a really good idea although it can increase the setup costs.
One of my friends has set up their home office in a caravan that they have parked on the driveway but has not been used for holidays for some time.
An outdoor shed or summer house can very often be large enough to create a perfect home office space.
Outdoor options will allow you to get less distraction when working, the office space will not be in the way of your home life when it is the family time within your home.
Making a purchase of a shed or summerhouse can be costly, but very often an investment of one of these items can actually increase your property value so it is worth considering when looking for a perfect home office space.
Loft Conversion
Have you considered an office in your loft? some houses have a large roof space and many could be turned into a great office area with a loft conversion.
In a similar way to an office outdoors, a loft space office will separate an office area from the rest of the house helping you to plan your day when working from home, with some skylight windows the loft can actually be a very pleasant working environment for your home.
Loft conversions can be very expensive but in the same way as an outdoor garden building purchase, this can be an investment that will increase your property’s value.
Broadband In a Home Office
A reliable broadband connection will be needed to ensure a computer operates fast and efficiently if you already have broadband in your home it may need to be networked around your home to ensure you have a connection in your chosen office area.
A great gadget for achieving this is a broadband extender that makes routing broadband around your home easy and efficient.
- Bring the Internet to your devices. Link with other HomePlug AV powerline adaptors
- Easily extending your wired connection in your home (not Wi-Fi).Works with all broadband providers
Conclusion
In conclusion, taking the time to evaluate what all your requirements are for a home office, should inspire you to think of your own home office ideas that will work perfectly in the type of house you live in.
Indoor options include an office in a spare room, adapt an area in a room, and separate the area off with a screen or furniture, or a loft conversion in a house that has the correct style roof would work well.
Outdoor options include an office in a summerhouse, shed, or even a caravan would create a unique office area away from the main house.
A broadband connection will need to be achieved in a home office when working with a computer.
We hope you found this article “Home office ideas, tips to inspire creativity” useful for setting up a great office in your home. If you have an unusual home office set up leave a comment below and tell us your great home office ideas.
Last update on 2024-04-14 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
