Home Office Remodeling. What Works for You?
Say this sentence to yourself: “I love going to work.” Does your home office inspire that thought? If not, then we need to talk. Bernhardt’s professional team can help outfit your home office for streamlined efficiency.
A home office can take any form depending upon available space and workspace requirements. It can be as simple as a wall with some storage space or an entire room, outfitted for some serious business. First, ask yourself some questions:
1) How do I need my office to function? Technology and its portability can transform any comfortable space into a work area, whether it’s an alcove, walk-in closet, or even a corner of a living or dining room. If you have a laptop and a phone, that may be enough. Do you need a printer or scanner? Make sure your internet hub is within an effective distance from your office for uninterrupted service.
2) What’s my business? Is the space conducive to the activities that need to happen there? Is the room quiet enough to take care of business? A glass-paneled door rather than a solid one can provide privacy while keeping an eye on the goings-on in the main household.
3) Will I have visitors in my office, or will meetings be conducted remotely or virtually? Will you need to wow a potential client with an in-person presentation? Or will you just email documents and share your computer’s desktop?
Good business. The basics.
Any office can benefit from a clean, uncluttered look. Keep decoration to a tasteful minimum. Papers and normal day-to-day desk clutter can be kept in ready-access storage nearby. Records and archive materials can be stored in other areas which are not as readily accessible, including another room or closet. Plenty of natural light can help too, so try to locate your office where there are some windows or a skylight. Bright colors and some natural materials can lighten and warm the space to help spur creativity and constructive work habits. Standard desk height is 30 inches, so decide on a desk that’s most efficient for you. Maybe you prefer to use a standing desk, especially if you’ll be moving around and working on a mobile device instead.
Let’s keep it clean
A home office, or any office for that matter, can be a challenging place to keep tidy. Basic storage guidelines, such as open cubbyholes and open shelving, plenty of drawers and closed cabinets can all be utilized to keep things out of the way.
Look Ma, no wires!
Office equipment such as your monitor, main computer, printer, scanner, phone, keyboard and mouse, as well as network cables, used to result in a rat’s nest under your desk. Nowadays, this has changed thankfully, and modern technology enables most devices to be accessed wirelessly. But cords for other equipment will still snake their way around your desk area, such as those for lamps, desk phones (if you still use one), phone chargers, etc. Consider a desk featuring grommets to feed cables through, or wrap them and run them down the leg of the desk, or conceal them behind a “false” wall. Nothing to see here, folks! A desk with a built-in power supply can also help, along with a centralized charging “hub.” You can also use a clip which attaches to the corner of the desk to keep regularly-used cables at hand.
Have some decorum
What style should your office be? Should it match the rest of the house or be its own thing? That’s up to you of course, since it should inspire you, be comfortable and inspiring, and above all, be a space you can spend time in to get your stuff done, quiet and uninterrupted.
Let Bernhardt help draw up a plan to create your office exactly as you need it. It’s our business. Because it’s your business. Contact us today for a consultation to get started.