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Home Improvement

2007-01-01 16:20:00

Making a home office with no space

I want a home office, but space is limited. What are my options and how feasible are they?

ANSWER: With careful, calculated planning you can have a very functional efficient home office. The options are endless and the planning process is still a common sense process much like planning for a kitchen or bathroom. While I cannot provide a complete solution to your situation in a single answer, hopefully I can steer you towards a beneficial thought process. To begin the process, you must first consider how much space is needed and, more importantly, what will this space be used for. Many people are adding home offices because the organization they work for allows them to telecommunicate. Working from home for many is a very economical way to reduce overhead and saves the drive time for people who would otherwise have to commute frequently. According to an economist with the National Association of Home Builders, Gopal Ahluwalia, 12 million houses nationwide have a dedicated home office space. If you are a professional, who spends eight hours per day or more in your office, often with clients visiting your office, or your business requires a lot of traffic flow, then the problem is solved…create more space! Dedicate a room specific to your office needs or add on an office suited to your type of business. A professional remodelor can help you with that. If you are like most people, however, you need a well-organized place to pay bills, file documents and play on the internet. Everyone's professional time is important, so keep in mind that productivity and efficiency is directly related to your ability to separate yourself from distractions. If your "time is money" and you do not provide a dedicated place to concentrate on work, then the money saved by not providing a professional location will be money lost in the long run. For the most efficient use of space where space is limited, you need to think outside the box. In most offices you will see lots of countertop space being used for printers, fax machines, postage meters, computers, and all the other equipment as well as a cluster of piles of papers. Instead, capture wasted space by making the corner of a room the center of the work area. Most people use this space for all those lost papers and junk mail. Computer monitors can easily fit into this corner space. Spend the money on a good comfortable swivel chair so you can easily move left and right to access both sides of your work station. Above the space, shelves can be built to store the fax machines, printer, paper, and supplies, all of which are readily accessible. A system like this can be custom constructed of finish grade plywood and can be fairly easy to accomplish. Another idea is to utilize the space in a similar way with a pre-made piece of furniture. Be sure to research many different professional office grade furniture resources. One thing to remember is that the supplier will only recommend furniture they sell, so it's important to think about your specific needs. Here are some ideas to help in your planning process. Plan on having more filing space than you think you'll need. Keep extra storage and reference files in a closet and get rid of the magazines, even if you haven't read them yet. If you haven't read them in six months, it's old news. Keep your desk only for things you need most often like the computer, pens, and notepads. You need a minimum of four feet of desktop to work on. Put everything else in drawers, shelves and bins you can store or roll away. The biggest mistake people make when planning a home office is lighting. Even if your office is a portion of another room such as the kitchen, you need both task lighting and ambient lighting. Recessed lights and desk lamps are good examples of lights that need to be considered in the planning phase and should be able to be independently controlled. Take advantage of your existing ceiling light fixture and replace it with a three-spot pendant fixture and strategically focus the spots on work areas. Natural lighting is important, but position your computer monitor at an angle to reduce the glare on the screen. What about your computer? Is it adequate and can you access the internet from this location? Consider this phase in the planning process because it will be less disruptive to make the proper electrical and data cabling modifications now vs. later. Also, a tangled mess of wires is not only unsightly; it is also a pain to work around. The best thing you can do is go wireless wherever you can. Once you do, you'll wonder how you survived before. Try to position electrical outlets close to countertops if possible and in places where they will be needed. It may be necessary for a professional to add a dedicated electrical circuit to your area depending on the electrical devices added. Again, you may not think you need it now, but it will be much easier to do during the remodeling phase than after you are set up. Now that you have planned for all the storage and function, it's still fine to make your home office uniquely yours. Your work space should reflect your personal taste. If you have a particular décor you like, use it in your office. Paintings, photographs, and collectibles can add a personal touch to your work space. Add a bulletin board or dry erase board for posting important information or essential phone numbers and addresses. With careful planning you can count on a functional and comfortable home office. For more resources on finding professional remodelers and other professionals who can help with your home office project, contact the local Remodelors Council at 316-265-4226 or their website at wabahome.com for a list of professionals to help with your needs.