DESIGN GUIDE
Stephanie Dedes, Design and Marketing Manager at bespoke !"ed furniture company Charles Yorke, explains how to plan a home office
You don’t need a dedicated room to create a home o!ce. If you do have one, you will have more !exibility with the space in terms of furniture and what can be included, but you can integrate furniture within other rooms to create the space you need just as easily.
If you don’t have a dedicated room, you will need to "nd somewhere with su!cient space for a desk chair and some sort of desk. I would look for areas where electrical points can easily be accommodated. You can never have too many! Light or lighting is a consideration; a well-lit area especially with daylight can only be good for your wellbeing. I would also think about where you would most enjoy working – an area with lots of light, near a window with a view, or simply a quiet area of the house.
Where space is tight, hidden desks can be a great solution, for example where bifold or pocket doors hide the desk area behind them. This is ideal when a more permanent home o"ce is required and is also useful for hiding mess! For a home o"ce that is only occasionally used, you could have the area integrated into other furniture in the room, such as in a corner of the kitchen, between bookcases or inside bedroom cabinetry.
Consider the depth of the desk and make sure you have
enough knee space. Also beware of drawers below the worktop as these can make it uncomfortable to sit. The ergonomics of a desk are important, especially if you are using it for long periods of time. Check the height of your chair, the level at which your monitor sits, how far away it is, the right angles of your elbows and so on. Visit nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/how-to-sit-correctly for guidance.
Think about the electrical items you will be using, such as laptop, monitors and printers, and what needs to be connected to a socket or data cables and how these cables will route between the equipment and the source. These cables need to be easily accessible so they can be unplugged if necessary. Having a tidy and organised route in the beginning makes for a clean design and an easier life later.
Storage is essential for keeping organised and keeping your desk tidy, so think about what you will need close to hand and how that can be stored. Consider drawers for stationery or #ling, shelves for reference books and so on. Lighting is also important, so think about where natural daylight will come from and what additional lighting you will need. Ideally, you don’t want to be working in your own shadow. charlesyorke.com