Home Office Design

Although it takes time and effort, developing your own home office design will result in an office that's tailored to your specific needs. Done properly, a home office will enable you to work efficiently without having to leave home.

The first thing you have to do is choose the room or space for your office. Select a space that will give you some privacy and be away from the noise of the busiest part of the house. This will minimize the interruptions while you're working.

Choices include a portion of your basement, a portion of the attic space, or an under-used living room. Many people opt for the spare bedroom.

I have a friend who waited until his son went off to college, and converted the boy's room into an office. I asked: "What happens when he comes home?" The reply was (with sincerity on his face): "He can sleep on the couch."

The spare bedroom makes sense because you can close the room off from the rest of the house, giving you the privacy you need. Furthermore, the closet can double as a storage closet for office supplies and files.

Once the location has been determined, your home office design can begin. You have to decide how much file space you'll need, and how much work surface. In my business (construction) work space is very important when I have to examine large blueprints.

Then decide on the furniture. The size of the desk, the type of chair, etc. About the chair, if you're going to spend a lot of time in it, make sure it's ergonomic, light-weight, and of good quality. It's more important than the desk.

You should also consider a credenza that holds files, or a file cabinet. The number of drawers in this cabinet should be determined by how you want to organize your files, and how many files you expect to have.

Wall hung shelves should probably be included in your home office design. If you will be using reference books, shelves might be in order.

Shelves don't take up much room, and they are useful in many ways. You can probably figure on spending between $500 and $1500 (or more) on furniture items. And then there's the other equipment.

Your computer will be the most used piece of equipment. Decide on laptop or desktop. If you won't need to take it on the road with you, then go for the desktop. The other item you'll need is an all-in-one printer/copier/fax/scanner.

You can spend over $2000 on a really good one, but you can find something around $500 that will service you properly. Check it out at the computer store and get the opinion of the resident expert.

If you've heard recent commercials from Kodak, you know that printer ink is the most expensive fluid on earth. The Kodak unit rectifies that, but then you will need two pieces of equipment instead of one. Investigate the options before you decide.

Selecting a lamp that will give you ample light is a very important component of your home office design. Then think about the incidental necessities like a file holder for your desk or credenza so that you will have quick access to files you're currently working on. And don't forget about the supplies: copy paper, stapler (with staples), pens, pencils, folders, etc.

A telephone will be needed if you don't already have one in the room. Consider how much phone time you'll need in order to determine if you should get a separate line or use the existing house number. You should probably have a line for the fax as well.

Your home office design will probably cost between $1500 and $4000 for everything. Keep in mind that lots of useful stuff can be found at garage sales, secondhand stores, and sales at discount stores. In the event that you already have some of the items you'll need, then you're ahead of the game.

With the right set-up, you will be ready for that increased work load - hopefully the one right around the corner.

Any questions or comments about this page, contact me about home office design here. OR Feel free to ask about any remodeling issue that might be troubling you.

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