Home Office Design 101

Kevin Frankental, founder of Lemon (lemon.za.com), a design studio that specialises in printed products, furniture and accessories, has perfected the art of designing versatile pieces that work in both commercial and residential spaces.

He believes that Covid-19 will forever alter how we designate our workspaces at home. “I think people are now increasingly starting to create a division between living spaces and workspaces at home, rather than creating multipurpose spaces as they did in the past. As we spend more time working in earnest (and sometimes for good) at home, we need spaces where we can escape and focus,” he says.

As a result, you’ll start to see people investing in high-quality essentials – a good chair, a beautiful desk – and adding depth to the space with artwork and greenery. “At Lemon we encourage people to buy pieces that will live with them for many years,” says Frankental.

No need to go overboard

In terms of the how-to of creating a great WFH space, Frankental says you don’t need to consider any major structural changes. Create privacy with a screen if you can’t devote a whole room to your office, and demarcate it further visually using wallpaper to create the feeling of a separate space.

Must-haves for a successful space include an ergonomic chair, a table that’s warm (so ideally it should be made of wood), and a book or display shelf with your favourite items on show.

Keep it comfy

“We advocate for timeless rather than trendy, but our advice definitely aligns with what we’re seeing now – people are moving away from the curated Scandi style spaces and towards more comfortable rooms that feel lived in. We propose that interiors should be functional as well as beautiful. Minimalism has its place, but people confuse minimalism with just a lack of furniture, and they’re not the same thing.”

Frankental suggests gradually acquiring furniture and accessories and buying high-quality pieces that you love rather than filling the space quickly on the cheap.