Working from home is more than just a lifestyle choice; striking a work-life balance comes with its challenges, and depending on your working arrangements, where you sit can be a core issue.
George Clarke, architect, TV presenter and lecturer, said: “In today's evolving working environment, home office spaces have become essential sanctuaries for productivity.
“A well-designed space is not only beautiful to look at, it's also a space designed with productivity in mind,” Clark emphasizes.
“The design process must combine style and functionality to set the tone for improved performance and work capacity.”
He continues: “A home office space is a powerful tool that can enhance our professional output, so its design should reflect that.”
Clark says the location of your desk really comes down to the activities you do and your personal preferences for what you want to see while sitting at your desk.
“For example, I have two desk positions at home: one for sketching and architectural drawings, and one for sitting in front of the computer to write and edit photos.
“My sketching desk is located in the middle of my home office space, with a beautiful view of my garden and lots of natural light.”
“For sketching and painting, natural light is best, rather than artificial light if possible,” Clark explains.
And in his case, “it's the kind of uniform northern light that any designer or artist wants, with strong southern sunlight.”
Then there's also a small desk area for a desktop computer, Clark reveals, “which is actually part of a work station built into the wall.”
“Often, this type of desk position isn't as important since you're often facing a large screen and a wall, but it's still nice to have some visibility to the left or right of the screen.”
Clark says being able to look out from her garden provides some relief from staring at a computer screen for hours.
“The desks along the walls are very practical as they have all the power points and data cabling to connect to the computers.”
How to make the most of a small workspace at home
Clark points out that everyone works differently, but if you have a small workspace at home, here's what you need to do…
Organization: “Have as little clutter as possible in your space. Keep it really simple and only have things around you that you need to get the job done in a day.”
“Store anything you don't need on a daily basis in a separate place. The less clutter you have, the more productive you will be.”
Avoid carrying lots of paperwork: “This means fewer paper files in your home office and more information stored online.
“Online information takes up less space and files are easier to find, so keeping all your information in the cloud will make you more space efficient and increase your productivity.”
Keep the space as quiet as possible: “My home office is very quiet and there are very few distractions, which definitely makes me more productive.”
How to best design your home office
Clark suggests that the best way to “design” something as personal as a home office into an existing space is to essentially measure the space and plan what will fit where.
“Even a quick sketch or drawing can help you determine what works for you and what doesn't. Take some measurements of the space, get some graph paper and draw out the available space to scale.
“Then we start sketching out all of our options, from the actual desks to shelving to fixed drawers and units,” Clark adds.
If you're bringing in a carpenter or other craftsman to create a new desk area, he says a quick sketch or drawing can help communicate your ideas to the craftsman.
“Then they help us refine the design and get it 100 percent right.”
Plus, if you're thinking about setting up an outdoor office or small building in your yard, Clark says the possibilities are endless.
“There are some fantastic companies out there that can design and build your new home garden office space to suit your requirements.”