Designing and building an effective home office is much more personal than designing a commercial office. You want your home office to be comfortable and personalized to your preferences and style, but you don’t want it to feel too much a part of your house because then it won’t be a productive workspace. This is your chance to take everything you like about your away office and combine those features with everything you like about being home.

Questions to ask yourself

The functionality of your home office all comes down to the design and build of the space itself, and what type of physical boundaries you’ll need. We recommend that you ask yourself these important questions before you begin:

• Who will be working in the space? Is this a place you and your partner will be working in together at the same time? 
• What type of work will you be doing in this space? Do you get distracted easily or can you stay laser-focused with any noise close by?
• Will clients or colleagues be stopping by? Maybe you need a detached office or a separate entrance to make the space more professional. 
• What kind of machinery or equipment do you need? This can be anything from monitors, chairs, to a standing desk. 

These are important questions to answer before delving into the designing and building process of a home office. 

Important things to consider before building your home office

It’s just as important to consider all the things you need, as it is all the things you don’t need. For instance, if you have that television in the room, will you be tempted to turn it on? Maybe it will be more distracting than you anticipated. How about plugs/outlets? A lot of people make the mistake of building a home office with as many outlets as other rooms in the house, forgetting how much electronic equipment (printers, laptops, desktops, routers, charging stations) an office requires. Here are some of the more important items to consider:

1.             Privacy: Depending on the setup of your house and the available space you have to turn into an office, privacy is paramount. Ideally, if possible, you want to design an office away from all the distractions. That could mean a room far from the kitchen and living space, or even a detached office that is completely separate from the house, much like an in-law unit. Alternatively, maybe your office space is in the loft or doesn’t have doors to close off from the dining room or living space. That may be fine most of the time, but you may consider placing the desk or workspace as far from distractions as possible or consider room dividers for when you need optimum privacy. 

2.             Lighting: Many people fail to realize the importance of good office lighting. While a lamp gets the job done, you don’t want to miss out on the opportunity for some great recessed lighting. Lighting can change the whole mood and dynamic of the home office. Especially if you can position the room for natural lighting, which could really boost your productivity. Considering members of your household mostly use their bedrooms to sleep at night, you might consider taking the room with the most sunlight as your workspace. 

3.             Layout: You know what they say, “location, location, location.” Selecting the right location for your home office comes down to the person using it. If you’re a busy mom, you might want your central command post in the kitchen where you can see everything going on in the house. Conversely, if you’re a busy professional, you’ll need a separate space away from daily distractions. 

Positioning your equipment, furniture, and storage makes a huge difference in how the room functions. You want to be able to move around easily, but you also need a desk that’s big enough for all your essentials. Finding the right-sized furniture and incorporating built-in shelving could help out tremendously.  

Make a floor plan

Now that you have the essentials, it’s time to design the floor plan before you start building your home office. You want to make sure you cover all your bases, and a floor plan is an excellent way to do that. Our team can help you with creating furniture layouts and floor plans to accommodate everything you need. By moving pieces around, figuring out where to put built-in shelving, and deciding where skylights and windows should go, you can have a functioning home office you can be proud of.

To sum up your home office 

Building your home office should be a rewarding experience. It should be a unique area in your home that you have a special connection with. Depending on how much you work from home, it could be the place you spend the most time, so it should be a space you want to spend time in. By working with Summit Edge Builders, we can help build you a home office that positively influences and enhances your workspace.

Are you looking to build a new home office with an experienced general contractor? Contact Summit Edge Builders at 303-481-2005 or fill out a contact form more information.