With the recent shift to hybrid working, the lines between professional and personal spaces have become blurred. For many, the home office has become a permanent fixture, yet few people give it the same care and designer attention that a regular workplace might receive. Many home offices are squeezed into corners, slipped into spare rooms among stored items, or even pressed into cupboards and hidden from sight. It’s a difficult line to tread, as you don’t want to lean too far in either direction; work must remain work and home must remain home.
Enter London’s coworking spaces.
These offices house transient workers and have mastered the balance between functionality, creativity and comfort, making them the perfect case study for anyone looking to elevate their own work setup at home. Let’s take a look at how you can model your home office with the perfect blend of professionalism, functionality and aesthetically pleasing comfort.
Bringing Light and Texture Into Your Workspace
One thing that regularly goes amiss with a home working space, is something that could potentially have the biggest impact on your day to day; natural light. Natural light has a huge impact on a room, space, corner, or wherever else your office is, and the way we manage it can be impactful for productivity, creativity, and our general mood.
There are many ways we can control the natural light that enters our homes, but it comes down to much more than simply blocking it or letting it in. Curtains can add colour and texture to a space, and can of course be adjusted to let in as much, or as little, light as you please. However, they can also filter light with thinner materials, block direct sightlines to the outside world whilst letting light in, help with keeping rooms warmer, or cooler, and complement or offset the decor of your space.
Made to measure curtains can have a big impact, particularly if you’re dealing with bay windows and unconventional-shaped sills or alcoves. With all these benefits you can improve fatigue, aid concentration and even absorb sound, meaning you’ll have crystal clear audio for those all important Zoom meetings.
If you’re considering refreshing your setup, or looking for an impactful way to improve your home office, then starting with window dressing is a great way to go. It can have a huge impact on your day and, when done correctly can make a space feel special instead of ordinary.
Furniture That Works as Hard as You Do
One thing you’ll notice if you’ve been to one of the capital’s fabled coworking spaces is that the furniture is never arranged into straight, uniform rows of cheap desks matched with uncomfortable chairs and ugly dividers. Instead, you’ll find cleverly planned layouts with ergonomic chairs, standing desks, casual lounges, open meeting spaces, and dynamic fittings everywhere. In this modern age there is no reason for office furniture to be uncomfortable, impractical and cheap.
At home, these principles apply even more; why would you include cheap office materials in your home decor? There is no way you would have a chipped old desk that is too small and wrong height in your dining room, so why include it in your office?
Ensuring you have the right furniture for your needs is a must, after all you’ll be using it for most of the day. Invest in an ergonomic chair that supports your posture, get a sit-stand desk that lets you change position with ease, and if you need large worktops, then take a look at fold away workstations. Ensuring your furniture works for you, whilst you work, is such a crucial step and it’s overlooked by so many hybrid workers. Get it right, and live with the benefits.
Biophilia and the Power of Plants
Biophilic design is one of the latest trends sweeping the interior design world, and this time it’s much more than just a fad that will pass with time. Plants are scientifically proven to reduce stress, boost air quality, and give spaces a sense of calm, all of which will contribute to sharper thinking, greater creativity, and better general happiness, which is arguably the most important factor.
Greenery has become a cornerstone of office design in London’s coworking spaces, and the science suggests that you should do just the same. We’re not suggesting that you must turn your workspace into a garden centre greenhouse, but grabbing a peace lily or spider plant can actually improve the air quality in your space, as well as offering an aesthetic element that appeals to the human soul. If wellbeing is key to your home office space, which it probably should be, then getting some plant life in there can have a huge impact, not just on you, but on the space itself.
Zoning Your Space for Focus and Flow
One of the key things that coworking spaces understand which regular offices never seem to be able to grasp is the dynamic nature of a working space; not all work requires the same type of energy or activity. Whilst some jobs require deep concentration, others need collaboration and conversation within the same office, but most traditional offices around the UK are solely focused on the quiet, soul crushing rule of corporate work.
So, if your job requires collaboration and creativity, follow the lead of London coworking spaces; allow your home work space to be adaptable, dynamic and fresh. Don’t put yourself in a corner and hunch over your computer. Try carving out zones where you can do different types of work; have a space where you can participate in meetings and articulate or display things in your own way. Have a spot where you can focus intently without being disturbed, choose a space near a window for reading and research, and have a standing spot where you can comfortably create and formulate.
None of these things need to happen in the same room, but they all require some thought and consideration. If you’re not prepared, you’ll end up sitting at your desk for the entire day, inhibiting inspiration and blocking creativity. Keep your sense of flow, allow your creativity to reign and keep your mental health in a great place by having adaptable and refreshing work spots for different moments throughout your day.
Technology and Tidy Workstations
The old adage ‘tidy desk, tidy mind’ is an overused idiom, but it does have some truth to it. One of the less glamorous, but equally vital, aspects of coworking space design is the attention to neat work spaces. And of course, we’re not talking about being messy and leaving empty cups and clutter on your desk, although that is important to avoid this; instead, we’re talking about cable management and seamless tech integration.
A clutter free desk allows for the dynamic work we’ve already discussed, it means you can keep your space clean, and actually helps with focus and flow, whilst tangled wires mixed with unoptimised tech can be a serious stopper for workflow. At home, there are plenty of things you can do to streamline your operation and improve efficiency. Use a cable tidy and ensure all of your electronic charging points are off the desk but easily accessible and ready to go.
Mount your monitor to a wall, or use an adjustable arm to free up lots of desk space and improve adaptability, get yourself a height-adjustable desk, make the most of wireless charging tech, and ensure everything that you use day to day has its own place.
Clean, well organised workstations do more than just look good; they reduce distraction when you’re working, allow your space to be used to its full potential, and help you maintain the flow of your day, without hindrance.
Designing With Intention
London’s coworking spaces thrive because they design with intention. Every detail, from the lighting to the furniture, works to boost creativity, improve wellbeing and create an amazing workspace.
There is no reason for your home office to be any different. Bringing these lessons from a coworking establishment to a home office does not mean spending money on expensive furnishings and technology; what it means is paying attention to the details that will allow you to work efficiently, happily and effectively in your own space, no matter your job.
By adapting strategies to suit your personal space, you can create a home office that not only looks superb, but supports sustained focus, keeps your mental health high, allows you to be comfortable, and ensures that your day flows. The line between work and home may well have blurred, but this lack of distinction can allow us to design our very own spaces that truly work for us.
Photo credits: eOffice