These days, almost everyone is constantly online with their phones, tablets, and laptops, which only means it’s much easier than ever before to abandon the conventional commute to work and comfortably work from home if you have a smart home office space.
Whereas it’s a great advantage to be able to avoid the hassle of travelling to work, it might be challenging to set up a home office that satisfies all your needs, especially the one for a quiet and organized space. Very often, there is no spare room in the house that can become your home office, and even if there is, it will most likely have a dual function.
However, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Dual-purpose spaces give you a perfect opportunity to allocate a place for your home office by taking advantage of commonly overlooked areas and in this way, you save up both on space and cost. Here are five design ideas for creating a home office by making one room do double-duty.
Office/Guest Room
It’s a very convenient thing to have a guest room, especially if you have dear friends and family living out of town or state. But even if they frequently come to visit you, the guest room will most likely go unoccupied for the most part of the year. By turning it into a guest room/home office, it will become a usable and productive space.
This type of space is probably easiest to design as it won’t be much of a stretch, budget or style-wise, to simply bring in a desk. Just make sure it matches the existing décor and furniture so it all ties in well. And, for a more welcoming look, go for a decorative chair rather than a typical office chair.
If your guest room is not roomy enough for a desk and chair, consider replacing the bed with a fold-up wall bed. These can be purchased in ready-to-assemble kits or built from the ground up by a custom installer. For office tasks, the bed can simply be tilted up out of the way, then lowered at night for your guests.
Don’t forget to think about comfort. By installing a smart thermostat, you’ll be able to maintain a pleasant temperature in the room when you’re there, and keep it down when it’s not used, which will help you additionally cut costs.
Office/Kitchen
It may not sound practical to have your office space with important documents and your personal computer or laptop close to a heat source, crumbs, or spilled drinks, you just might find a very convenient nook for your workstation that will match the rest of the kitchen and be far enough from the typical kitchen mess.
You can make your desk blend effortlessly by using the same elements, have it tucked into a corner with just enough room for a desktop and a chair. With clever shelving and top cabinets, you’ll have enough storage for your work-related material, office supplies, and electronics.
Office/Playroom
The idea of having your home office in a playroom full of toys might seem impractical, but similar to your guest room, this room is also vacant for the most part of the day, when your kids are at school or practice, doing their homework, or playing outside.
Your main concern besides brining in a desk and chair is to create some sort of separation between your work area and the rest of the room. This can easily be done with adjustable shelving system that can create a mock wall but still be light enough with ample storage both for toys and your office material and gadgets you might need while working.
Office/Laundry Room
If you have designed a large laundry and utility room in your home, you can take advantage of that extra space and set up your home office. By adding a desk, free-standing or built-in, you can easily maximize the space and with the existing shelves already there for your laundry, you’ll have abundant space to store your office supplies.
The greatest advantage of this space is the fact that it’s usually separated from the rest of the house, so you’ll be able to have peace and quiet when you do your work, talk to your clients on the phone, or make business deals with your partners in a video conference call.
Onward to Productivity
Whatever the size of your home is, there are always ways you can get creative and make the most of what you have. Hopefully, ideas listed here will help you see the advantages of dual-purpose rooms.
