Working from home is becoming ever more popular, and for the majority of us a lot easier to attain. Gone are the days when you needed a large computer, printer, fax machine and landline telephone. Technology has revolutionised our lives in so many ways, and the opportunities for home working are just one example.<\/p>\n
But while our working style has changed, our homes don\u2019t always reflect that, although one US news provider highlighted a change that\u2019s occurring stateside, and it\u2019s likely a similar trend will follow in the UK.<\/p>\n
Bloomberg analysed real estate listings on Zillow, and found that the number mentioning home office<\/a><\/strong> space fell by 20 per cent in a year.<\/p>\n It put this down to a change in preference among those who work from home – namely that they\u2019re after flexibility and like to move around throughout the working day. That makes open-plan properties more appealing, and housebuilders in the US are catching on.<\/p>\n But what does this mean for your own home office designs? Of course, it will depend on how much space you have. For someone living in a one-bedroom flat, the option of having a dedicated office is off the cards. And it will also depend on how you work best.<\/p>\n So, what should you be thinking about when you\u2019re designing your home office space? We\u2019ve put together a few tips.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One of the disadvantages to not having a dedicated office, where you can close a door and hideaway, can be noise from the rest of your household. If you have to take important calls while you\u2019re at home, you will probably want a room free from children, pets and the general hubbub of daily life.<\/p>\n If you live alone, or you don\u2019t have anyone else around to distract you during the working day, you might be content to set up an office space in a corner of your living room<\/a><\/strong>, for instance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you need a desktop computer for your work, it goes without saying that you\u2019ll need a desk. Think carefully about how you work though – do you need room around your computer to spread papers out, or can you keep things minimal and tidy?<\/p>\n Do you have more than one screen, and what position do you sit in when you\u2019re working? A corner computer desk<\/a><\/strong> might be more comfortable if you\u2019re using two screens, for example.<\/p>\n You also need to think carefully about the size of your desk in relation to where it\u2019s going to go in your home. If you have a dedicated home office, you can easily have a large computer desk, but if you\u2019re working from the corner of your living room, you\u2019ll more than likely want something a little smaller and more subtle.<\/p>\n Any work space that\u2019s part of your living room also needs to look good – you don\u2019t want it to have a cheap-looking piece of office furniture that detracts from the decor of the rest of the room, so invest in quality and opt for wooden desks, or something sleek and modern that suits your interior design choices.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nDo you need peace and quiet?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What\u2019s your workspace?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Make sure you\u2019re comfortable<\/strong><\/h3>\n