Making the most of home office spaces
Flexibility is always a good thing when it comes to interior design. And nowhere is this more important than in a home office. If you don’t want to dedicate a whole room to where you work (or can’t because of space restrictions) then it pays to make it as adaptable as possible.
A multifunctional home office space is easy to set up once you know how and we’re going to take you through all of the main points, beat by beat, so you can make your own super convenient design. Smarter home working, here we come!
1. Give a thought to your style
Before you start anything, it’s well worth thinking about the look and feel you want to create. Nobody wants that sterile, cubicle office look sitting in the corner of the room, reminding them of their daily grind.
Your multipurpose office should blend seamlessly into the rest of your decor as a reminder that you don’t always have to use it for work.
Bring in softer touches like homey seating, plants and photos to make it a welcome part of your interior layout, whether you’re using your desk space to catch up on emails or simply browsing the internet.
2. Consider unconventional spaces
You’d be surprised where you can fit a home office and one prime place to squeeze them in is corridors and landings. As these are just the transit areas of our home, they can often feel like wasted space, so what better way to expand their potential than adding a practical workstation.
By adding an understair home office or a desk to your landing, it suddenly becomes vibrant and dynamic, giving your interiors an interconnected feel.
So not only does it add a stunning new feature to your corridor, it also gives it extra purpose and meaning within the greater context of your home.
3. Blend in extra storage
One simple way to make your office a multipurpose space is by adding extra storage around your desk.
It doesn’t have to be just for storing your work - you can use it to keep other areas of your home clutter free.
Say you’re adding a home office to your dining room, you can bring in fitted cabinets that offer extra space for glassware and your fine china, as well as room for any folders and paperwork.
By blending the storage for two uses, it helps to blur the line between where your home office starts and other parts of your home begin, creating cohesive and streamlined layouts.
4. Double up your desk space use
Probably one of the most effective spaces to have a home office is in a bedroom where it can pull double duty as a dressing table.
This gives it a different personality from day to night. During your 9-5, your desk acts as a reliable place to concentrate, and then in the evening, a space to get glammed up for a night on the town.
Your home office could become a space to write or even a hobby table for a spot of crafts. Think about where in your house it could be most useful and who could use it at different periods of the day.
5. Invest in smarter furniture
An alternative to the bedroom desk is this clever little number - the cloffice.
What’s so great about cloffices is that they don’t take up any extra floor space because they’re nestled into your fitted wardrobes.
They let your bedroom transform into a temporary work area, then revert back to your calming sleep space just by closing the doors.
They’re designed to be super discreet because once your cloffice is shut away, it seamlessly integrates into the rest of your wardrobe. A fantastic, space-saving option.
6. Create a space for two
How do you make a home office extra functional? Design it for more than one person.
If you and your partner are both part of the working from home crew, creating a double desk space is an effective and efficient way to make good use of your space.
It’s a great way to feel more connected while you both keep busy, and as an added bonus, you can even use it as a homework space for the kids.
7. Make room for other activities
Multipurpose home offices work best when the space is fluid enough to be used for a wide range of other activities. Think less of a home office with added functionality and more of creating a generalised, multipurpose space that can be all things to all members of the house.
You might want to blend a workspace with a kid’s playroom to give your children a quiet place to play, as well as provide a handy desk for some occasional home working.
Or you could even make it a combination office-gym for a spot of yoga before you get started on your emails.
When you break away from the concept of a space needing to have a specific purpose, it’s much easier to find a spot for home working.
Just make sure that the times you work are unlikely to clash with its other intended uses! The last thing you want is to have to share the room when you’re trying to concentrate
Set up the perfect multifunctional space
Now that you’ve got some ideas on where to start, why not speak to our team at Sharps to get your dream home office off the ground? We’ll work with you to design a bespoke solution tailored to your home and your needs, so everything is exactly as you like. Whatever multifunctional space you’re looking to create, we can help you make it happen.
