Whether you’ve recently had a child ‘leave the nest’, you converted your garage into a spare room years ago, or you’ve always had a spare room destined for laundry, storage and old plush toys, now is the time to sort it out! Clear out the whole spare room and start work on creating a swanky new office that you can use for working from home, starting a business or even just filing your personal paperwork. It might sound like a bit of work, but it helps create a real purpose for that spare room and also gives you the opportunity to create a beautiful home office that you can be truly proud of.
We’ve created a simple 5 step guide that you can follow to creating your dream office. Renovating any room is possible if you manage to break it down into enough steps. You just need a few spare weekends, packing boxes for all the stuff you need to sort out in the room, and plenty of imagination. Perhaps you also need an electrician, if you’re looking at adding extra plug sockets or re-wiring your lighting, but for now, let us look at the basics.
1. Clear it out and Set Yourself a Plan
Planning is everything! Start by completely clearing the spare room of all its junk so that you are free to envision your new office in the space available. This is as good a time as any for a spare room clear out so that you can throw away anything you don’t need or don’t use anymore. If you’ve been using the room for storage, now you need to be ruthless and throw those old toys and collectibles away, if they’re just going to take up space.
Now try drawing yourself a floor plan. Measure the room in its entirety so that you know exactly how much space you have to work with. Think about what you want to put in the room. A desk and computer space is a given but what sort? Do you want a filing cabinet? An office chair or a plain wooden chair? Do you also want to perhaps include a chill out space? It is up to you.
2. Switch up the Colour Scheme
Sometimes when we paint a room a particular colour for a number of years, we start to lose interest in it. Chances are that your spare room most likely holds the decorative remnants of an old child’s room, that or it has just made do with peeling wallpaper or a tired coat of paint. Giving it a new lick of colour will kick-start your new plans for the space. It may even help you to envision the finished office in all its glory.
3. A Desk with Plenty of Space
Now that your room is cleared and painted like new, you want to start looking at furnishing the area. A good sturdy desk is a great way to start. Think about the sort of theme you want for your office. Do you want modern chic or a more traditional ‘writing desk’ look? If so, choose your desk accordingly. A huge wooden desk with drawer space and a polished finish looks great, but it can seem slightly out of place if all your other furnishings are stainless steel and acrylic.
It is also important to remember that if you have a desktop computer, you will need a fair amount of desk space. Laptops are designed to take up less space but have fewer capabilities when running several programs. If you are unlikely to want to move about the room when working, going for a desktop will likely end any performance problems you may have and will also help with both concentration and taking breaks.
4. Storage Solutions
Bookshelves, filing cabinets, overhead shelving; whatever you happen to go with, try to be consistent. If you aren’t exactly sure of what kind of look you are going for and just buy furniture willy-nilly, you’ll end up with a haphazard looking office that doesn’t have any direction to it. Like your big classical desk, you want to pick storage solutions that fit in with your chosen theme. If you aren’t sure where to go from here, you can always ask a professional interior designer for tips on making the most of the space you have.
5. Finishing Touches
What else does an office need? A homely touch of course! A couple of picture frames or pieces of artwork will decorate the room nicely while a potted plant or small aquarium will help to give you something to do when you’re in a rut. Foliage and pets are proven to increase office morale, so they’re a good choice to make when designing any office; home or elsewhere. If you want to create a sort of ‘study room’ a big reading chair with a pouf could make a great addition and, of course, no traditional home office is complete without a roaring fireplace to give that true ‘classical businessman’ feel.
Working from home doesn’t have to be a chore; in fact, if you create your ideal home office, it can turn out even better than working in an established office. Working from home gives you more flexibility, but also requires more willpower and higher levels of concentration. This is why a swanky new office will really help your productivity levels as you create a beautiful working environment that keeps you away from the distractions of working at home. Get a head start on your business ideas and finish off that tired spare room so that you can start looking at working productively from home.
Article provided by Mike James, an independent content writer in the property industry working with a selection of companies including Wakeford Fireplaces, who were consulted over the information contained in this post.
