Help needed for home office!
robertandrews
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Help! We moved in to our Victorian terraced, three-bedroom home in summer 2013. Since then, bedroom three (upstairs) has been a dumping ground when it should have been a home office.
I have pared back on boxes etc, painted the magnolia walls white, now everything is tidy. But I am sorely uninspired and confused about how to make this room brilliant and energising.
Dimensions are 2.21m x 4.25m. Not a huge space. The view out the window is not good - mostly of the neighbouring property.
There are gadget boxes, photo boxes and documents to store away.
I have floorboards, in fairly poor quality.
I have bought an Ikea Brakig desktop and Lerberg trestle legs for desk, if only temporary.
I have enjoyed looking at loads of Houzz home office pics ( http://www.houzz.co.uk/ideabooks/1863919/thumbs/loffice), and this week am mostly enjoying the really deep dark grey walls, or maybe a blackboard wall, though am not too sure how this would look in the space. Have toyed with idea of Eames dining chair for the desk.
Beside specific items, really haven't hit on even a layout that is inspiring me yet. Fear of getting the ball rolling at this point - hence the low-cost desk may end up being temporary. Perfect the enemy of good?
Stumped. Help!
I have pared back on boxes etc, painted the magnolia walls white, now everything is tidy. But I am sorely uninspired and confused about how to make this room brilliant and energising.
Dimensions are 2.21m x 4.25m. Not a huge space. The view out the window is not good - mostly of the neighbouring property.
There are gadget boxes, photo boxes and documents to store away.
I have floorboards, in fairly poor quality.
I have bought an Ikea Brakig desktop and Lerberg trestle legs for desk, if only temporary.
I have enjoyed looking at loads of Houzz home office pics ( http://www.houzz.co.uk/ideabooks/1863919/thumbs/loffice), and this week am mostly enjoying the really deep dark grey walls, or maybe a blackboard wall, though am not too sure how this would look in the space. Have toyed with idea of Eames dining chair for the desk.
Beside specific items, really haven't hit on even a layout that is inspiring me yet. Fear of getting the ball rolling at this point - hence the low-cost desk may end up being temporary. Perfect the enemy of good?
Stumped. Help!
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robertandrews
9 years ago
Suneiah
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Emergency home office help needed!! All hands on deck!
Comments (64)I too work from home. The change took some to adjust to. Early on it was novel and I was smug that my 'commute' was only 15 seconds - bedroom to office. Over time I found I was not working so well as I was in an 'at home' frame of mind. I combated that to some extent as follows: 1. Paint it to look and feel like an office - if not you gradually feel to much like you are at home and work suffers. 2. Layout has to be practical first, looks count second. I see your desk and I think you are like me. Filing can be an issue. It is easy to end up with a desk buried under a foot of papers and that impacts your work and your mind. Have plenty of filing space - cabinets and/or shelving and ensure a fair amount of it is within a pace of your desk. Working from home means you will need to do most of the taking out and putting away, even if you do have an occasional assistant. Being able to do that within a simple turn from your chair means you can keep doing it. Once it is a chore to do, then suddenly it all piles up. 3. Going to work in the morning - get up, walk out and then come back in to the office. It may sound strange but as a habit you then feel you are at work. I used to stumble down the stairs and into the office and then work didn't really happen properly - I wasn't in an 'at work' frame of mind. Commuting to work is a pain but it actually makes that distinction - I am now at work. For me, making sure I am dressed suitably to go to the gate and back helps with that frame of mind. 4. Lighting - again, make it like at office - bright enough and no shadows. 5. IT equipment. Make sure it has enough space. There is nothing as infuriating as fighting with a printer in a tight shelving unit when the inevitable paper jam/toner change crops up as you are rushing to complete something. Again, working from home means you will be in charge of all this too, so get it all installed correctly so that it all works without too much effort from you. Your time is better spent in your primary role, so IT needs to be there for you, not you for it. 6. Drinks etc. For me I keep all that in the kitchen. This saves space and also makes me get up and stretch my legs from time to time. I don't have any young children anymore so there is no problem going and getting a drink - no break in the 'at work' mode. If you have young children at home this point may not work for you. 7. Make sure family and friends understand that you are at work and not simply at home. There is a tendency for them to think you are at home and that they can thus disturb you any time. Working at home means flexibility but also lost time from distractions if not done carefully. Good luck with your new venture. Onwards and upwards!...See MoreNeed to tame my craft room/home office
Comments (3)Hi Karen, I have a space like that as well! But I have spread it all around my house, the only 'safe' place left is the bathroom. How is the lighting in your space? Do you have a window? Its important depending on this as you have to design with this in mind. You don't want to feel claustrophobic in your creative space. Do you need a permanent desk/craft table or are you expected to have items such as computer and phone on your desk. You can make a sturdy table that can be folded up to the wall and when in use can come back down. This same table can have smart storage solutions placed on them (mechanical addition) so it would be a rack storage when up or down. Houzz has some nice images for inspirations for small spaces and studios. Follow my below links of my idea books for inspiration: Small space office solutions: http://www.houzz.co.uk/ideabooks/57875941/thumbs/small-space-office-solution Studio workspaces: http://www.houzz.co.uk/ideabooks/57875674/thumbs/studio-workspaces Do update with the outcome of your project, Goodluck!...See MoreHome Office help with colour palette.
Comments (17)Hi, I have been playing around with the colour palettes to decide on cushions as well as the cover for the bench seat. I am leaning towards the one with the Orange. The blue cushion fabric would be the bench seat with the dark grey and orange as cushions. Do you think the blue will look ok against the blue of the feature wall? Thoughts/comments?...See MoreHome Office Help! 3 doors, one window, where can things go?
Comments (2)Sorry for taking so long to reply! I tried moving the desk in front of the window, but unfortunately it did not work - it had a very 'stuck in the middle of the room' feel, and also blocked most of the natural light. The only window is quite low, and the walls are over a foot thick (and I'm on the side of the valley so don't get direct sun in the room very often!). I just can't find a layout that 'works' without blocking something 😔...See Morerobertandrews
8 years agoSuneiah
8 years agoSuneiah
8 years agorobertandrews
8 years ago
curious4doors
8 years agocurious4doors
8 years ago
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