While you may enjoy the freedom of working from home, you may find yourself faced with the hard reality of the situation: your space isn’t really working for YOU. Whether you were forced to work from home due to the pandemic or you’ve always worked from home and just need a change, there are a few home office upgrades and renovations that would make your life easier.
After all, it’s not really inspiring or productive to be crammed into a corner of your dining room, or have a small closet-sized room next to your son’s music room where he plays guitar during your remote meetings.
It can be difficult stepping into “work mode” at 9 a.m. and then switching back to “home mode” at 5 p.m. Here’s how you can create a home office that inspires creativity and efficiency. They don’t all require major construction or additions, but they’re all helpful in some way.
1. An Efficient Layout
First of all, you have to consider the whole room itself. Even if it’s a good size, it may not flow well. If it doesn’t flow well, it will hamper productivity. You have to feel comfortable in the space, which means it has to be easy to make a phone call at your desk while grabbing something off the printer or filing something away.
You need enough space to fit all the furniture without being over-stuffed, and the overall design of the room must accommodate your daily work flow. If your office is located near the street or near a busy area of the house, like the kitchen or playroom, you may want to add insulation or sound proof the room.
If the room is too small and cramped to be a workable office, consider bumping it out to add square footage – especially if you plan to work from home for the long haul.
2. The Right Lighting
Maintaining productivity at work translates to the need for plenty of natural light. Not only does this help you see better without getting eye strain, it can give your mood a boost and add energy to your day. Trying to be productive in a dimly lit room with tiny windows — or worse, no windows – is not easy when it comes to productivity and inspiration.
Consider adding windows to your home office – at least two large ones. This will help to flood the room with natural light as well as ventilation. Next, add a variety of lighting sources, such as task lighting for reading manuscripts, overhead lighting for general tasks, and accent lighting to highlight certain areas of the room. Digital eye strain is a real thing, so don’t give yourself more headaches by working in insufficient lighting.
3. Enough Wiring and Outlets
This is something your Boston contractor or electrician can help with. Sometimes your home office just doesn’t have enough outlets to accommodate your needs – especially if the room wasn’t designed to be an office in the first place. You need enough wiring and outlets to power your lights, electronics, chargers, phone systems, and more, not to mention your routers and broadband connections.
Placement of those outlets is important, so sketch out your work flow and come up with a plan to strategically place outlets throughout the room to accommodate your printer, scanner, and shredder.
4. Lots of Storage
If your home office lacks storage, you will need more of it. Consider having shelves and cubbies built into the wall for convenient storage of documents, equipment, receipts, supplies, manuals and books. More storage on the walls means less clutter on your floors and desk!
5. Consider Relocation
Particularly in cases where you just grabbed the first available space to work from home during the pandemic, sometimes the space just doesn’t work for you any longer. Perhaps it’s too close to noisy areas of the home, such as the game room or kitchen. This placement can be loud, distracting, and hardly conducive to privacy.
You need peace to concentrate on tasks, make phone calls, participate in remote meetings, or write meaningful content. Consider choosing another room that’s in a remote area so the demands of everyday life don’t infringe on your home/work life. If that’s not possible, consider finishing a basement, converting a loft, or putting a small addition on to the back or side of your home.
Contact AD Construction
Need help deciding on the best solution for your home office? Consult with one of our Boston contractors today at 1-877-345-BUILD.
