Are you looking to build a new home and are planning on having a home office? It’s a good idea to know exactly what you need out of your future home workspace—whether you plan to use your home office every day, or just once a month, planning out your design before building, will increase productivity and comfort.
Check out our expert designer’s top 6 need to know tips, for designing your comfortable and productive home office.
6 Need To Know Tips When
Designing Your Home Office
1. The Ideal Location
Choosing the ideal location for your home office is the first step when designing your home workspace. One of the main things to consider when deciding on the right place for your home office is how you plan to use it.
Suppose you’re a professional who consistently has conference calls or clients visiting your home. In that case, you’ll want to select a location away from the daily flow, or other distractions within your household.
However, if you’re a stay at home parent, you may want to be closer to the kitchen or a location where you can keep an eye on your kids.
2.) Increase your comfort and allow enough space
Working in a comfortable work environment is a crucial point to increase your productivity. Being able to move around easily in your office is one of the main contributing factors to comfort.
It may seem like a no-brainer, butunderstanding how much space you need to move side to side, along with standing up and down from your desk, can be easy to underestimate. Professional workstation designers use the rule of thumb of allowing at least 60″ (150cm) in width and 84″ (210cm) in depth.
Beyond your main desk workspace, you should also consider what is required for your daily work activities. An architect, for example, may need significantly more space to sketch out plans. In contrast, a software engineer may only need space for their computer and a few monitors.
3.) Lighting and View
Choose a location that can provide natural light and a view if possible. To decrease screen glare, position your desk so that it is directly facing the window or another area where your computer screen will not be affected. Finding a location with enough natural light can reduce how often you need to use an overhead light—resulting in a decreased electricity bill.
Natural light can also help increase your daily energy along with decreasing eye strain.
4.) Maximize your storage capability
Having enough storage is an easy thing to look over when designing a home office, and can significantly decrease your productivity. When designing your home office, make sure your floor plan has enough space for shelving, filing cabinets, or cupboards.
Consider your daily work routine—what items do you use on a regular basis, where will they be positioned when in use, and will they be stored when you’re finished? If you work on multiple items at once, have space to keep them in arms reach.
If you continuously reference materials such as manuals, catalogs, or any other literature, consider leaving space in your floor plan for shelving nearby.
5.) Reduce distracting exterior noise
In the process of building a custom home with a home office space, possible distracting exterior noise should be considered. For example, if you plan to build on a busy street or a house full of kids, noise can be a common issue. The type of building materials you choose for your walls, can help drastically decrease the amount of noise that radiates into your office.
SIPs (structural insulated panels) are among the few framing materials that can’t be beaten when trying to decrease distracting noise outside your office. This can either be inside your own home or that busy street you’re building next too. Not to mention SIPs are energy efficient and can decrease your monthly heating or cooling bill up to 60% when compared to a stick-built home.
If you aren’t building with SIPs there are still other methods to decrease that unwanted racket. When your general contractor starts constructing the office, ask them to increase the insulation in the walls. Insulation works as a sound blocker, and the more you have, the better when trying to reduce outside noise.
6.) Designing a floor plan
Now you know the essentials that go into creating an optimal home office. The next step is to talk to your architect or home designer, explaining your priorities when they start designing your home floor plan. Come prepared because once the house is built (for obvious reasons), it will be challenging to make substantial changes.
For a more thorough explanation of what you should know when designing your home floorplan, check out our article Floor Plan Design – The 3 Things You Need To Know Before Getting Started.
Conclusion
Now you’re an expert on what it takes to make the most productive and comfortable home office in your new custom home. If you have any questions regarding custom home building, check out what we have to offer, and feel free to contact us at any time. If you’re planning on building a custom home, we always recommend getting at least three quotes, but make sure at least one of those is from us!