Home Design Tips: Work Rooms

Any sort of work that is done at home requires some sort of defined area, even if it’s only for filing papers and paying the bills. The efficient running of a home can include the storage and organization of any of the following: a list of emergency telephone numbers, receipts from all purchases and home accounts books.

However, many people do more than just run their home: they earn their living from home as well and nearly every home has a computer of some sort, which is used at least partially for work of some kind, so the work room or work area should be seriously considered. An element of office work involving desks, files, computers, telephones, and pens and paper is common to nearly all households. However, other specialized work rooms are important too and these include music rooms, workshops and sewing rooms.

A good work room or work area should be inviting, a pleasure to use, suitably lit, convenient and efficient, in a calm atmosphere conducive to work. That doesn’t mean it has to lack any humanizing elements, such as color, soft textures or pictures on the wall. If there is space for such things, they will be an encouragement to work.

The Priorities

You will have to decide which room to use as your work room, then make a list of the equipment and furniture you will need, where to put it and how to arrange it; list your storage requirements and decide what you will need in the way of lighting.

Most work spaces are best sited away from any activity room, such as the kitchen or children’s rooms, or it will be difficult to work in peace. In this respect, an attic, a garden room or a basement would be ideal. Remember that an attic may not be designed to take a lot of weight. If you are thinking of introducing heavy pieces of furniture such as, a piano, get expert advice first. If you are thinking of building or converting a work space, you will have to comply with local building regulations.

All too often, a garden work room tends to be a minimum-cost shed, with no insulation and it is not integrated visually with either the house or garden. Yet it is so easy to install a shed which is insulated (or to insulate it yourself), to add power points and electric light, and to decorate it inside and conceal the outside with leafy plants or paint so that it becomes an integral part of the environment. Perfectly standard garden sheds are reasonably priced and can be fitted with shutters and locks to keep out the curious and the light-fingered. If it is well placed in a narrow town garden, a sensitively treated shed can provide a satisfactory focal point. A window in the roof can provide good light distribution.

If you have no room at all for a shed in the garden and you can’t extend your house, the spare room can be a satisfactory place to work in, so long as visitors are willing to get up early if you need to work and don’t stay long enough to take the room over completely. One end of a small bedroom can be turned into a satisfactory office, especially if you can provide a positive division, such as a set of shelves which opens onto both bedroom and workroom. A large landing can be turned into a valuable work space, but only If you can eliminate the noises coming up from the rest of the house, and if it really is large enough to contain a large work surface and has enough storage to be convenient.

Under the stairs can also provide space for work. It may be possible to remove the non-load bearing wall from under the stairs and use the space there. It will depend on the sitting of the stairs, how steep and how wide they are. Don’t dismiss this potentially useful space, but get professional advice first.

A loft conversion is a good, way of giving yourself separate space for work. This may be cheaper than renting premises outside the home and there are many reliable companies who make loft conversions a specialty. They will advise you on whether your house is suitable for a conversion. You must make sure that any work you do conforms to local regulations.

The garage could be a useful work space, but it must have a window and you may need planning permission to make it work-worthy. As garage interiors are extremely basic, it is more important than usual to make sure the space is softened with colors, textures, pictures and pleasant background lighting, as well as efficient task lighting. A conservatory can make a satisfactory workspace, but it will have to be insulated with double-glazing and blinds, otherwise, like an attic, it will be too cold in winter and too hot in summer. As the gateway to the garden, a conservatory can be a pleasant place to work, but only if it is dedicated to that. It’s almost impossible to concentrate in a place which is also used for leisure activities.

If it is not necessary to get away to work, any small space in the home will do, even the kitchen table, as long as there is enough shelf space for storage, enough room for a telephone, telephone directories, a note pad and pens. For day to day bill-paying and organizing of the home, a table should be quite adequate. It is only when the work starts to involve computers or other equipment, that you will need more work surfaces.