Home Office Options That Will Inspire You!

SPACES

The In-Home office trends of today are unlimited. You can create an office that you can commute to, but you sure don’t have to go far. Home offices are becoming so common now, that every day there are more options available to homeowners.  Second bedrooms and garages are being converted to wonderful workspaces.  Custom cabinets, home gyms, and mini kitchens are all contributing to the motivation to work from home.

As more and more people go to the office by way of their hallway, I think it’s time we give the home office the attention it deserves.  Working at home can be a tricky proposition. The challenge is not to get distracted by all the demands of maintaining a household, and stay focused and inspired. Whew, that’s a tough bill to fill!

One of the big challenges is where to set up shop? Where can you carve out a niche for yourself that can be efficient, and functional; yet not become the focal point of your home?

Second bedrooms and garages are being converted to wonderful workspaces.  Custom cabinets, home gyms, and mini kitchens are all contributing to the motivation to work from home.  The cabinets, shelves, drawers and interior storage systems originally made for kitchens work well in home offices.  The divisions in spice drawers, for example, can be used to sort pens, pencils and other supplies.

Stairs present some interesting over and under options for places you may not have considered. The space under the stairs has always made us scratch our head. Is it a closet? It’s too small for an extra bath. If you’re work consists of primarily phone or computer work, this area could work beautifully. Rollout shelving will bring your supplies right to your fingertips. This space will need careful measurements, and clever use of that precious commodity; “SPACE”.  With some creative built-ins, this area could create a very custom compact location. By utilizing some of the wonderful storage products on the market today at www.containerstore.com, that awkward space under the stairs can become a very organized profit center.

Once again, stairs create all kinds of dilemmas.  The landing on the second floor never seems to see it’s potential realized. By locating your workspace in the bridge between rooms, it offers you the best of both worlds. This is a space where maximizing the height, or vertical space can have big rewards.  These areas usually have odd cutouts, windows, and corners that are not being taken advantage of and are great areas for bookcases, open shelving, or stackable units.  On the other hand the depth, or width of the area is usually at a premium, so keep in mind this is probably not a space where a full size desk will work.  However depending on your needs, a work surface only needs to be approx. 18-20 inches to accommodate an adequate area to spread out. In addition, keyboard trays, and laptops have dramatically reduced the necessity for oversized work surfaces.  The use of lateral files that are approx. 19” deep can be great storage solutions, and will tuck in neatly below your desktop.  Frame it all in a lively color to keep you alert, hang your shingle, and some family photos and this could be compact, but profitable workspace.

With so much emphasis on work, many people struggle to find time for exercise.  Companies like www.iconfitness.com have created one solution for the home office: Their fitness furniture combines treadmill, desk, and weight bench in one.  To get those creative juices flowing, take a break, break a little sweat, and get back to work. Now that’s efficient!

Many of us who work from home realize how important it is to maintain an efficient and inspiring work environment.  As we wander aimlessly to our office down the hall with coffee in hand I encourage you to take a new look around, and consider the possibilities of a more efficient and profitable work place.  It could be right under your nose, or in some cases just at the top of the stairs.