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Designing a home office is no easy feat. Not only does your office space have to be comfortable enough that it keeps you focused as the day goes on but it also needs to reflect you, being stylish and help keep you motivated. Honestly I probably sat around for a month when I moved into my new place, unsure exactly how to design my office space but what got me through was asking myself the following questions.
Now the questions should cover all aspects from design to cost productivity to furniture. So let’s get stuck in
(Just a heads up a lot of people reading my blog are in the process of designing their own home office. If you want to save some of the painstaking time I did in designing my office, you can find my recommended products here)
Which room will your office be in?
So before we do anything else the first thing we need to decide on is what room will your home office be in. It might sound simple enough but there are a few key reasons for asking yourself this.
First of all if you’re just thinking of converting a spare bedroom you might find yourself actually losing value on your home by completely transforming a bedroom to an office.
One of the things that can actually increase the value is by adding a loft conversion or a home office garden Pod. I’ve actually written a blog post talking exactly about what the best room to put your office in here.
Don’t get me wrong both of these are on the pricey side but can definitely help with your house value.
One of the other things you need to consider is distractions. It’s important to note that if you live with family members or small kids, you need to have a clear distinction between your work life and personal life so keeping it as far as possible from your lounge/living room might be something you want to consider.
Finally you also need to look at room space. Unfortunately most rooms have shrunk over the past 30 years so you will need to work with what you’ve got. There’s no shame in converting a standing cupboard to a standing office desk if needs be, just whip out your tape measure and find out what works for you.
What is your budget?
Trust me, things are gonna be a lot more pricey than you might have anticipated when designing your home office. As such, what might have started off as a 1k project might have evolved into ripping down the walls or even building a brand new room.
It’s so important to have a clear idea of not only what you want your room to look like, but also the budget. By setting off the budget early on your going to be setting yourself up for success.
So what do you do if you don’t have a huge budget to play around with?
One of my favorite places to get office gear from is from sites like freecycle or craigslist. People are usually giving things away for free or next to nothing and you’ll be surprised at the quality of stuff on there. Just make sure you ask loads of questions and inspect the items and you should be good to go.
How will you design your home office?
So you might have come up with a budget and a room but what about your design. Visualising exactly how your room will look, where your items will go is going to be super important. Now there are a few ways you could do this. To help I’ve put together a table below:
| Positive | Negative | |
| Draw it yourself | Easily the quickest method. Simply measured out your room, draw up the blueprints yourself and play around with how much space you have. Feel free to ass paper cut outs and move them around your drawings to position your furniture. | Simply drawing it yourself might not be the most accurate way of designing your room. You might end up finding that you have been mis – measured and your items might not fit. |
| Use an online interior design tool | A great way to visualise and accurately design your room. These usually have tons of option and have accurate measurement for things like furniture | They can be a little bit fiddly to use and take some practice.Also some of the better quality platforms charge a fee to use all the functionality. |
| Hire an interior designer | Easily the most professional way would be to hire a company to draw up the blueprints/mockup of your room. | This will be the most expensive option with a lot of your budget spend before you even start spending budget on your furniture. Only use if you need to. |
It’s worth mentioning that if you do go down the rupture of an online interior design platform I’ve written a post talking all about them but to cut to the chase my favourite has to be Space Designer 3d. You can read up more about it here.
What will be the theme of your home office?
So this is something I struggled with when designing a home office. At first I was like all I need is a space to just put my desk, make calls and record videos but not having a theme in your mind will keep pushing you in about 25 different directions. For example, let’s say you want all of your office furniture to be oak but you find a bookshelf that is perfect that doesn’t really go with anything, trust me when I say this will play on your mind for what direction to pursue with the design.
So how do you come up with a theme? Well websites like Pinterest and instagram are great places to start but my suggestion would be to create a mood board where you can visualise items and see what works with what.
Having something like a cork board is going to help massively, my favorite is the Amazon Basics Whiteboard. This board doubles as a corkboard/bulletin board, which is not only a good price but is super easy to fix up and put in place.
What will your home office be used for?
Another important question to ask yourself would be what will your home office be used for. If it’s purely for computer work then you might find you can spend more on the aesthetics of the room to keep you focused.
If you’re an artist however who needs a dedicated work room then the focus of it will be completely different. Think about what your day to day will look like and implement that in your mood board to ensure your getting the most out of your work space.
Who else will be using your home office?
Nothing else to consider will be who else will be using the home office? If it’s purely for you then go nuts, however if it is more of a home study for the house household to use then you’re going to bring them in on the decision making process.
For example if you have kids and they will be using your home office as a homework station then they are going to need their own space.Check their office chairs might be a lot smaller than yours.
Keep everyone else in mind to avoid a lot of unwanted arguments …. Trust me it’s not worth it!
How fast do you want the project completed?
Figuring out when your home office will be completed is important to ask yourself as it will give you something to work towards time wise.
Without having a goal to aim towards, you’re going to spend a week waiting around (like I was) for the perfect moment to start. Instead try to work backwards, set yourself a goal when you want the project completed by and run towards it.
It doesn’t matter if the project isn’t perfect, just aim for the date and keep going. One of the ways to help keep yourself on track is by journaling to keep yourself motivated.
Check out the video below which helped me:
What essential items do you need?
So to save yourself a bit of time check out my resource page here, which lists all the important items every home office needs.
By understanding what items are super essential for your home office, you’re going to limit yourself to only getting things you only really need.
Make a list of items that are essential to your role, for example, desk, chair laptop and items that would be nice to have like a globe, bookcase or corkboard.
You can always get the nice to haves later on but it is worth starting off with the essentials
What gadgets do you need for your home office?
One of the other things you will need to look at are the gadgets your home office might need.
Now I’m not talking about furniture here. More So the day to day gadgets you’re going to use, for example printers, scanners, keypads, lights , cameras , any of that jazz.
The best way to do this once again is just to make a list that works specifically for you.
If you’re really struggling a lot of the readers on my site have found my resource page super useful which covers all the office gadgets that are essential to a fully functioning home office
Will you be making calls from your home office?
Any long time readers of this blog know that I work in sales. As such, making calls regularly is part of the parcel of my role.
So why is this important to know when designing a home office? Well sound can be notoriously bad in a home office environment you’re going to want to consider soundproofing panels or some form of noise cancellation in order to hear the person on the end of the phone properly.
Getting rid of the excess sound is one of those things that once you’ve done it you won’t be able to realise how you went without it.
Are you giving presentations from your office?
So similar to the point above if you’re going to make presentations from your home office you might find that your existing wifi just won’t cut it.
Anyone who has been on a web conference before knows just how temperamental it can be so ensuring that you upgrade your data plan to the best one possible is super important.
So which data plans are the best?
Well in my opinion the UK the best plan so far is GifGaff which offers a £20 per month fee and for the US it is Verizon’s unlimited plan.
These should go a long way in stopping any nasty cut outs, ensuring you sound as professional as possible.
Also a lot of people who make calls from their home office, part of the reason why they suffer from poor service is because of voip calls. These are calls most people make through web systems.
The best way to get around this is investing in something like a Wifi booster to ensure you have ample coverage in your home office. You can find out my favorite here.
Will you be hosting in person meetings?
What if we take this one step further and you need to meet people face to face from your home office? In this scenario you’re going to have to consider a bunch of things such as where they are going to sit, how they can feel comfortable and even potentially where they can go to the bathroom.
Once again you can see my furniture selection on this resource page however it would be worth considering:
- Additional chairs
- Additional desks
- Screen so that they can present
- Bathroom/toilet facilities
- Enough power switches for them to charge their devices
- Ample room for them to feel comfortable in.
Do you have any employees?
Another massive consideration will be if you have any employees.
Why?
Simply put, if your employees work from your home office regularly, you might be breaking overcrowding rules. Luckily, I’ve already written a post about this here.
The general answer is that for every 70 square feet of office space you can fit one person.
On top of this if your employees hurt themselves in your home office and they decide to sue you, then you might want to consider things like business insurance to cover all your bases.
I know a lot of this might seem like doom and gloom however it;s super important to make sure you are covered in all areas.
What are the tax implications of a home office?
This is actually a super interesting point.
If you work for an organisation, you might actually be able to claim back some of your office as a work expense. This could typically include things like electricity used, stationary heating or other general amenities.
It’s worth noting that I’m not a lawyer or a tax expert so please do read into this further but definitely worth asking if your project is on the expensive side.
How many days a week will your home office be used?
You might be surprised to read this point on a blog dedicated to remote working and working from home but if you’re only working in a home office space for 30 minutes every week is it really a viable option for you?
You might be taking up a lot of room only to end up neglecting it like a gym membership after January.
One of the things that might be more beneficial instead is foldable tables or standing desk converters which are much more portable and cheaper then designing a brand new office from scratch.
Will you be using any builders to help you?
Another important question to ask yourself, if your home office project falls on the bigger side.
Builders stereotypically can be flakey when it comes to completing a project and going over budget, especially if you opt for contractors who aren’t the most legitimate.
So what questions should you typically ask builders before any project? I’ve listed a table below:
| Question to ask | Why |
| Can I see examples of your work | If a builder is not willing to show you their past work or put you in contact with a few of the projects they have worked on, they might be trying to conder |
| Are you licensed and insured? | If your builder is licensed and insured you have legal grounds to stand on should something go wrong with your home office project |
| What will happen if I am not happy with your work? | This question is great as it answers any worse case scenarios. Let’s say if your builder does not design your home office exactly as you would like, you can then reference this back to them during any construction work required. |
| Can I have a contract stipulating everything we discussed? | This question is important again as it gives both yourself and your contractor the exact specifications on how you would like your room to look. It is also worth keeping a log of your chats via email, which can be used should anything go wrong |
| How long will the project take/ how many people will be required | By setting up a solid time frame and the number of people it will take to finish your project, you’re setting yourself up should anything go over or cost more |
Do you need an interior designer?
So if you really are struggling to get any movement on a home office an interior designer might be required. At the end of the day it is their profession, so they will be way more experienced in undertaking projects like this then you might be.
Just be aware that they are on the pricey side so try to save up and only use it as a last resort.
Ask yourself would you use an interior designer for any other room in your house? If not then why would you use them for your home office?
Would you need a home office for a different role?
Another super interesting point to ask yourself. If you were let go from your current role, would you still have use for your home office space? Or is it just a nice to have?
Now if you’re self employed this is probably super different but if your home office is necessary only for your role, or if your previous roles in the same industry have not required one then you might want to second guess yourself.
What are the downsides to a home office?
Whilst it’s easy to get carried away on the fun aspects of a home office you should always ask yourself about the downsides. These could include things like:
- Will you be cleaning up more ?
- Will you be using more heat and power?
- Will it continue to be an ongoing expense?
- Will it reduce your home’s value?
Only you can consider if this is the right choice for you, so it’s vital you make a list of all the potential issues before you start your project.
Do you struggle to stay focused away from people?
A recent airtasker study suggested that people who work from home are 16.8 days more productive per year then their office based counterparts.
Whilst this is good news there are still some people who are outliers that just simply can’t focus unless they are in a public environment. If this is you being cooked up in a home office space might not be the right solution for you.
My recommendations on building a home office.
Building a home office is no easy feat, as such it’s one of the major reasons this blog was set up. Hopefully to save you a lot of time and effort you can find everything you need on my resource page here.
However if you are interested you can find all of my go to products on my recommended gear page here.
It’s also worth noting that a lot of people who read my blog are interested in how I monetise this site. You can find out my course recommendation here.
Fehed.
The content on this on this site has been written by Fehed Nicass who has over a decades worth of experience in sales and has worked remotely for the past 2 years.