Adding an office space into your home…
Since the pandemic, more and more of us have started working from home, and self-employment is more popular than ever due to the expense of childcare – amongst many other things! For most people, especially those with children, there isn’t room in the home for an entire office, as much as we’d all like one. The standard size of a family home in the UK generally doesn’t factor in an office space, and house prices are crazy at the moment so it’s not as simple as upsizing. I live in a lovely, but small, two bed terraced house and for me an office space is essential, as I’m self-employed and restricted to working from home for the majority of the time with having little ones. I wanted to share a few ways in how you can create a little office in your home, no matter how small the space you live in is. Keep reading for some ideas!
Use Your Dressing Table
The little desk I use as my office space in my bedroom, used to be my dressing table. The drawer is still full of all of my makeup and beauty products. I decided that I didn’t really mind where I got ready on a morning, and was happy to have a little makeup bag I can sit anywhere with. I prioritised my office space because I like to have that designated corner where I can sit down and get in the zone. It can often be hard to concentrate with the distractions of home, so to have that corner that I can go and work from is ideal. If you have a dressing table at home, consider which is more important to you, or you could even use it for both! You could pop your laptop on it at the start of your working day with your other bits and bobs, and then you can tidy it away when you finish work.
Invest In A Small Desk
The desk that I use in my office corner is from West Elm, and it’s their Mid-Century Mini Desk. It’s only 91cm in width, and you can see from the pictures that I don’t have tons of space either side of my Mac that’s sitting on the top of it. I could do with a bigger desk, no doubt, but the size of this one is ideal for popping in the corner of a room without being in the way too much. Another option for a small desk is to get a floating desk, these attach to the wall, have no table legs and they can be put in a corner taking up very little space.
Add A Folding Desk To Any Room
I don’t personally have one, but folding desks that sit on the wall are brilliant as they can be easily unfolded and set up during working hours, and folded away at the end of the day. I’ve seen lots of them in homes via Instagram and Pinterest and I think they’re a fab idea. If I ever got rid of my desk for whatever reason, I’d be very inclined to get one of these instead. I love that you can put them pretty much anywhere in your home too. I’ve seen them in bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens, dining rooms, you name it.
A Garden Home Office
A garden home office can be wonderful if you like to separate your home and work life. Garden rooms can work great for office spaces and help you create that work/life balance, allowing you to shut the door and leave work behind you when you’re ready for rest and some family time.
An example of a garden office by Garden Rooms by Creative
Do Whatever Works
If none of the other options are suitable for you, you can just keep it simple and work from your coffee table or dining table. I recommend investing in a collapsible laptop stand, I got one recently and it’s genius! Not only does it come in so handy as a laptop stand for when I’m working downstairs, but it flips over and can be used as a storage stand too. There’s only 3 parts to it so that it’s easily collapsible and it could be super useful if you really don’t have the space for any other kind of office area in your home.
Do you have an office space in your home?
