Not only are many businesses becoming more flexible about employees working from home, but there has been a massive boom in the number of individuals deciding to go it alone and become self-employed.
The choice to work from home looks, on the surface, like it will be easy. Who hasn’t considered the benefits of sitting at the breakfast table in their pyjamas, working on their laptop in a relaxed and laid back way? Maybe there’s a space in your home you think would be ideal?
But the reality can be different.
Creating a Home Office
Our customers’ experience – and indeed ours – tells us that if you are planning to work from home, you need to think very carefully about how your home works as well as how your career works. Only then can you look at how to make it really productive for you.
For instance, you might want to consider:
- Are you likely to need to invite clients to your home office space? If so, then think about how much of your home you might be comfortable with your customers seeing. Will they have to walk through the lounge or kitchen to get to the office? How do they get to the nearest toilet?
- Do you have young children or elderly relatives living at home to consider? Again, you might not want to expose one to the other – or vice versa!
- A spare bedroom might look an appealing potential office. But quite apart from the fact that working in a bedroom often feels a bit weird, think about any customers or suppliers you might have visiting. Would you be comfortable with strangers walking around your top floor?
- How important is it to you to be able to shut the door on work, either with you on the inside when the kids are home from school, or on the outside to make sure you can enjoy your down time.
Alan J Currall Architectural Services have a great deal of expertise in helping clients create a space in their home that is both appropriate and conducive to work. We will consider:
- The space you have available within the existing footprint of your home
- Potential to extend
- How you foresee using your office
- Limitations that need to be considered.
Our advice can vary from adapting space within your home, perhaps with layout changes, to extensions or to event garden rooms or log cabins.
For a free, unbiased and expert view on how best to incorporate working from home into your home, call Alan J Currall Architectural Services on 01536 393505.