Home Office Design Insights

Home Office

You can pick a room, buy desk’s and filing cabinets, hookup your PC or laptop, but will that room and your equipment really work for you?

Here are some things to consider about your Home Office Design.

Do you want to isolate yourself from the rest of the house, or will you just end up being interrupted and called out to the kitchen or family room? We have gone back and forth with three different offices and locations for a computer desk in our last several homes.

First, a separate room with a door works well if you want to be “at the office”, and will not have to respond to interruptions or go to other parts of the house often. An extra bedroom or actual dedicated office space works best for this.

If you need to monitor others in the house or activities going on in the kitchen, then sometimes the best place is the corner of the kitchen eating area, family room or an actual desk built into the Kitchen area.

We have a dedicated office in our current house with two desks and two computers and my husband still works on his Master’s degree classes at the Kitchen table on his laptop. He is just more comfortable there and he says it has better light.

My office and desk are about 50 Ft from the Kitchen and Family room and we are constantly yelling across the house from the office to the other side if both of us are at home.

I tried the PC Desk right by the Kitchen several years ago – but this didn’t work when the kids wanted to play noisy computer games and my husband wanted to watch TV in the same area beside the Family room. So – everyone has their own computer now and goes to their own special, comfortable “place”.

Now that the kids have moved out I think that we will go back to a Computer Desk in the Kitchen or Family room (and reduce the need to yell!).

If you want a home office for an actual business make certain to consult with a Tax Advisor so that you can get the maximum benefit and comply with all the rules.

Other Home Office Design issues to review are lighting and ergomonics.

How are the lights in the room positioned, will you need more light and where are the windows. How will the light in the room work at different times of the day? A computer screen placed so that in back of it is a brightly lit window is hard on your eyes. You will end up with headaches and eye strain.

Another pitfall of a new Home Office space is new placement and height of your PC, Mouse, Distance to the Monitor, etc – all of the classic ergonomic items should be considered. If you’re current desk, the reach of your arm and the position of the monitor work well – try to make the new office as similar as possible.

I found that I needed new glasses because my new desk required the monitor to be placed almost one foot further away from my face than before, and the focal point of my computer glasses was only about 18 to 24 inches from my face.

Finally, will the space be quiet enough for you to concentrate on your work? See some of the notes under Comfort Features concerning Noise, both inside & out.

If what you set up does not seem to work right away – keep changing things until it is comfortable and you can sit down and really get things done. If it isn’t comfortable and you cannot concentrate when you are there, you will avoid the room and getting the work done also!

Which room in the new home you are considering will work best for your "work at home" and computer?

If you have more than one computer consider all of the possible uses & locations!

Other considerations are listed in the

Comfort Features Section

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