UPDATED 12/21/20
People today may ask: are open office plans good? These types of offices have been popular for a while, but people are now evaluating them again. They save space, and they can make it easier for employees to communicate when necessary. However, it’s also easier for employees to become distracted in an environment like this.andnbsp;
While meeting rooms usually have to be open, this is not the case for office plans. The best office rental websites will give people several options, so they won’t have to choose open offices if they haven’t had good results with them in the past. Some of the business office space for lease might include traditional cubicles and other features. The best shared office space might vary from organization to organization. People who are trying to create offices of their own at home might have to try different things in order to decide what will work effectively for them.
Some people might prefer household offices that are more spacious. Other people will want more compact offices. It’s possible to find a balance, but the people who are setting up offices at home might only have a few options. One room can be modified in a lot of different ways.andnbsp;
Did you know that there are roughly 400 million entrepreneurs around the world?
Even before the internet existed, it wasn’t unusual for ordinary people to launch and run businesses from inside their homes. But today, with high-speed internet in every home and the advent of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s becoming increasingly common for corporate employees to work from home as well. Of course, working from home comfortably means you’ll need a good work environment at home. From administrative jobs to freelancing, there are dozens of reasons why you might want to build your own office space.
To help you figure out what sort of home office you need and how to put it together, we’ve compiled some tips and advice for doing just that. Keep reading to learn how to build your own office space.
Choosing a Home Office Space
Unless you’re building a new house from the ground up, complete with new HVAC installations and custom-made windows, you’ll have to choose an existing space to turn into your home office. Before you can build your own office space, you’ve got to select the right room or section of your house to use. Keep the following tips in mind as you select your new office space.
Define Your Needs First
This is good advice for every venture, from buying a car to residential home remodeling: define your needs first thing. Everyone has different tastes, preferences, and requirements that are unique to them. Maybe you make a lot of conference calls during your workday, so you need a room that’s especially quiet and separated from the rest of the house. Maybe you expect to have clients come see you in person, so you’ll want to have an office near the front of the house, with a nicely-manicured lawn leading to your front door. Or perhaps you need plenty of storage space for specialized tools used for graphic design, photography, or teaching.
Keep in mind that your productivity will likely go down if you have to work in two or three rooms at once. It’s far better if you can have everything in the same room, somewhat in reach of your desk.
Consider the Climate
We mentioned that noise can be a problem when you’re working from home (although you may get away with a noisy environment with some ergonomic, noise-canceling headphones). But other environmental factors to consider are temperature control and humidity levels.
First of all, your work environment needs to be well ventilated to be a good workspace. No one can concentrate in a stuffy room, so airflow is important.
The World Health Organization recommends that healthy, comfortable environments should be kept at a temperature of around 64 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius), although this varies depending on whether you have a health condition or not. Meanwhile, the EPA recommends an indoor humidity level between 30 and 50%.
To have the environmental features you need to be comfortable during extended work sessions, your office space will need heating, air conditioning, and perhaps a humidistat. If you aren’t sure what the general temperature or humidity are in the room you want to convert into an office, you can find small, accurate thermometers and hydrometers online or at hardware stores. However, if you feel comfortable in a given room — comfortable enough to spend hours in it without becoming too warm or cold, or finding it slightly difficult to breathe freely — chances are its temperature and humidity levels are already about right.
It’s important to note that a room must be well-insulated, besides being well-ventilated and climate-controlled, to serve well as a good work environment. Fortunately, a poorly-insulated room can often be easily renovated with spray-on insulation and crack sealer. You might need vinyl replacement windows if the current windows you have let in a lot of cold.
Look for Natural Light
One of the most important rules for a comfortable, productive workspace is lots of natural light. Sure, you can install all the lighting fixtures you need, but no synthetic light can compare to the pleasant, healthy glow of natural sunlight.
In fact, people exposed to natural light tend to sleep better, and workplaces with lots of natural light can experience up to 40% increased productivity. So if you want to really advance your career or take your business to the next level, one of the best things you can do is build your own office space with generous amounts of natural light.
Work With What You’ve Got
If you’re extremely lucky, maybe you’ll discover a room in your house that already has all of the great perks we mentioned: perfect ventilation, great climate control, a quiet and convenient location, and all the natural light you could want. But at the end of the day, you have to settle for one of the rooms in your house, and chances are you don’t have one that’s quite that perfect.
Not to worry: when you build your own office space, the name of the game is working with what you’ve got. Narrow down the rooms in your house to a few best contenders, and then choose one to use based on how easily you can renovate it for your work. If need be, electric services can install new wiring to accommodate more equipment. You could even have your central air system rerouted to blow more air into a room of your choosing. This might sound like a lot of work, but it’s worth it for the perfect home office.
Now that we’ve discussed what to look for in a room for your home office, our next section will deal with how to actually build your own office space.
Beginning to Build Your Own Office Space
You’ve scanned your whole home and chosen a room, based on both its existing qualities and its potential for improvement. Now it’s time to start building your home office.
Install Ambient Lights
Natural lighting is hands-down the best light source you can get to illuminate a whole room with. Of course, you’re going to need more direct light sources as well depending on the work you do, such as a desk lamp to help you read and write. But for general lighting, natural sunlight is where it’s at.
However, the best room in the house for working in may not have much natural light. Or you may have a schedule that requires you to work during the late evening or early morning, while it’s still dark. In either case, the next best light source after the sun is ambient lighting. Ambient lights ensure that your entire office is filled with a soft, comfortable light, without any overpowering glare or uncomfortable dark spaces.
It might sound fancy, but ambient lights can be quite affordable. A few cheap rope LED lights draped neatly around your workspace can do the trick, gently illuminating picture frames and shelves. Rope lights distribute electricity to all the lights in your room at once, instead of having a separate light with a battery or plug in each corner of the room.
While we’re on the subject, don’t forget a bright, high-quality table lamp to illuminate your workspace. Unlike the ambient lights, you want your work lamp to focus light directly onto your desk surface. Keep in mind the warmth and color of the lamp you choose, and try to find one that’s attractive and matches the kind of decor you like.
Get a Good Desk (or Two)
No office is complete without a desk, but the desk you choose needs to be special. Whether you like to get nice handmade furniture or only buy whatever you can find used, your work desk is not something you should try too hard to save money on. It needs to have sufficient surface area and storage space for everything you need to do, and it’s very important that it be ergonomic and suited to your height.
The first thing to consider when buying a new desk is what your needs are. This will usually inform what type of desk you look for, and whether you need one with a specialized design for your job. Next, you’ll want to look for a desk is comfortably sized, giving you plenty of elbow room at a good height, and allowing plenty of room for your legs underneath. You should consider looking up some guidelines online for choosing ergonomic workspaces.
A regular office desk might not be the only one your office needs, however. If you have an unused corner to stick it in, you might want to buy a standing desk as well. You’ve probably seen articles and studies promoting the benefits of standing desks. While working standing up won’t magically transform your health all by itself, it can help improve your focus, productivity, and even your cardiovascular health. Plus, standing desks typically have a smaller surface area than regular desks, and they don’t need a chair to accommodate them, so you can easily squeeze one into a corner even if you don’t have much space.
Get a Comfortable, Ergonomic Chair
If having a good desk is important, having a comfortable, high-quality chair is even more so. A well-designed, ergonomic chair is the heart of an efficient home office. Excluding time spent at your standing desk, you’ll probably spend nearly half your day in your desk chair. Because of this, don’t be afraid to splurge on a good one. It will make a tangible difference to your happiness and productivity.
Although anything can be ordered online, including high-end office chairs, your best bet is to visit an office supply or furniture store and try some out for yourself. Doing this in person will help you find the perfect chair for you without having to painstakingly compare measurements. As you look for the right fit, watch out for how your back, thighs, and arms feel. Each of these specific areas should feel well-supported in a position that you could hold comfortably for long periods of time. As you’re shopping, don’t forget to also take into account any warranties and material options.
Bring in Some Greenery
When you build your own office space, you get to choose exactly how to furnish and decorate it, at least as long as you have the necessary budget. And one budget-friendly way to add some color to your office is with potted houseplants.
Don’t assume plants are all about looking pretty, however. Besides adding a refreshing dash of color, houseplants help filter indoor air, and they’re recognized for increasing happiness and reducing stress. That means having plants in your office can make you more productive — possibly by as much as 15%.
Your goal when choosing houseplants should be to find plants that are low-maintenance while also possessing excellent air cleansing properties. The Boston fern, spider plant, dracaena, and ficus are all well known for their ability to help filter the air.
Get the Right Electronics and Accessories
When you buy your new home office furniture, you might also consider upgrading your computers and accessories. If you’ve been using the same main computer for five years and it’s starting to show its age, investing in a new one could save you enormous time and stress waiting for things to boot up and load.
Even if you keep the computer you have, upgrading the accessories alone can really make your workday more comfortable and convenient. Finding an ergonomic mouse and keyboard to use is as important for your wrists as a good chair is for your back. Your computer mouse should be large enough to fit comfortably in your hand, ideally with a molded grip and conveniently-placed buttons. For your keyboard, don’t settle for the cheapest one you find. Try using a mechanical keyboard, as they’re very comfortable and offer plenty of satisfying feedback, even if this does make them a bit noisy. Bonus points for finding one with a wrist support bar built into the front.
If you feel your productivity is in need of a serious boost, consider getting a second monitor. Having an extra screen makes countless tasks easier, from writing and researching to coding and design. It’s especially helpful if you like to be allowed to multitask. If you buy a new monitor to accompany your old one, make sure they’re both the same model so the picture feels consistent across both of them.
Here’s another productivity-related tip you should think about as you build your own office space: internet speed. Even if you don’t use your internet for data-intensive tasks like video conferencing, waiting on web pages to load can seriously undermine your productivity. If you don’t have blazing-fast internet already, find a local telecom service who can support your needs.
Decorate Your Space
And now we come to the last (and most fun!) step in how to build your own office space: decorating. Decorating your office can mean whatever you want — the idea is to make it feel comfortable and welcoming to you. Finding good art and decorations is easy. Just make sure you don’t use any obnoxious colors, patterns, or conflicting designs. Your decor should help you concentrate, not distract you.
Creating an office space at home can be extremely beneficial to your work. It also does not need to be difficult. While you need to work around the limitations of your home, much of what you need can be found at an office furniture store. Find an office chair combo that is ergonomic and will support your body during long work sessions. For your workspace, you’ll need a good office desk and storage, as well as the necessary office desk attachments. And finally, you’re going to need at home office supplies. Trying to replicate an office environment while at home can be difficult, but it is worth the expense and time in order to effectively do your work while also taking care of your own needs. Your needs are important here, so think of the ways that you can improve the office once it’s in place. Bring in ambient light, plants, and your own personal touches. Create an environment where you are completely comfortable. Combining home and work can be stressful, so the more comfortable your setting, the better off you’ll be.
And with that, you now know everything you need to build your own office space. Remember: the nicer your work environment, the more enjoyable working from home will be.
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