Ease the Work from Home Transition with Multipurpose Rooms and Furnishings
Multipurpose rooms create versatility during this unplanned need to work from home.
A versatile room is one way that my clients are coping with the “new normal” in all our lives and workplaces. The goal at home is to create a comfortable and productive environment with few distractions. Creating a space that is tailored to your needs will make you more productive.
Your requirements for a productive work-at-home work environment may include:
1. Eliminate distractions such as noise, smell, clutter, or children stuck at home.
2. Create a place to comfortably sit or stand and use office equipment such as a computer and monitor.
3. Have a place to store and easily reach office reference products.
4. A place to print, scan, copy or place work related equipment in easy reach.
5. A way to communicate with the outside world via internet or phone.
6. A desk or surface to place papers for projects
7. Sufficient lighting for detailed work.
Some challenges in creating a versatile space are
A. A place for office equipment so that when they are not used, the room looks like it’s meant to be a personal space.
B. How to manage all the wires and wiring of the different components
C. Fitting more furniture into a tight space
D. Creating a color scheme that is practical for family life, or having company and appropriate for a work setting.
A guest room that you can convert to a home office/guest room combination is a possible solution.
In this case a queen size sofa bed clad in neutral tones opens up when needed. The room has several doors and entrances, thereby creating few options to place a desk. Keeping all the colors of the large items in the same golden neutral tones, creating surfaces in silver and gold combination creates some interest. The space is highlighted with red accents, creating an environment that is fun and relaxing when needed, yet appropriate for a professional office environment. Wires are hidden behind a small file storage and a printer/scanner is placed on a unit under the TV. The storage is also used to house work related reference material as well as a cable box for the TV.
A new desk with coordinating color schemes with enough room for a large computer monitor makes an enticing space. Neutral tones for the basic items are a backdrop to pops of color to add some pizzazz and interest to a small room.
The sofa opens up as a sofa bed when the room is not used as an office.
On the other hand, In a small apartment there may not be an option to add a desk and a place to add more furniture.
In this small apartment living room, we now have to fit a space to house office equipment and have it be comfortable to work from home. In addition, when not working, this client wants to have a living space where he can host board games with friends and have access to the kitchen.
There is not much room for a very different layout so in order to accommodate this requirement, we converted the coffee table to a
Multi functional unit that can be arranged at different levels for work and storage. In addition, we added a small file cabinet as a table to store important reference data. When the office work is done ,the table is set to a coffee table position where the friends can set up a board game and use the top of the file cabinet as a side table to place drinks and plates of food. . The furniture items are a replacement for the current furnishings.
If you would like advice on how to plan your space to work more productively and comfortably from home please contact dafna at 516-234-5425 or email dafna@interiorsbydafnaadler.com.
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