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Even with the lockdowns a distant memory, the reality of working from home still remains, with companies realizing that productivity did not suffer, making working from home either in a hybrid situation or full-time a working practice that is here to stay.
The obvious choice for most people is to turn an unwanted bedroom into a home office. Still, it is it an easy process? Working from home brings many challenges, such as creating a place that is conducive to work without distractions.
In this article, we will offer you a pragmatic and authoritative overview of the best way to make a functional home office that is comfortable, ergonomic, and where you want to work from.
Grab your favorite beverage take a comfortable seat, lets jump right on in, and find out the ins and outs of a professional home office in your small bedroom and more such as:
There are some fundamentals to consider when making a spare small bedroom into an office. Does the room have sufficient dimensions to make a comfortable office? Do you still need to retain the room as a bedroom and work around the existing bed?
Here are some pointers for you to consider:
Let's not forget the budget for your home office, is it paid for by your employer or totally out of your own pocket?
Let's assume that you have the space needed to create an office in your spare small bedroom, you will need to be comfortable working, and you may need to spend at least 8 hours sitting at the desk so the ergonomic design is going to be important to you if you are the be a productive asset to your employer.
Having an incorrect seating position and angle of your office chair can cause fatigue and weariness causing your performance to drop throughout the working day steadily.
Your seating height is incredibly important, feet flat on the floor and your knees level with your hips. Your eyes should be approximately two to three inches below the top of the monitor for correct posture and reduced neck strain.
In a study done back in 2010 on Circulation, researchers discovered that sitting for just an hour increases the risk of depression, heart disease, poor blood circulation, and back pain. People are advised to track how long they’re seated and to try to vary their position every 30 to 45 minutes.
Sometimes you need to have an office combo bedroom which can be difficult when taking video calls from clients or office colleagues, it makes your home office setup seem amateurish.
However, with this ingenious solution, you can simply construct a platform and slide your bed away each morning keeping your clients thinking you have a dedicated office for their needs.
It's compact and has a great feel around the aesthetics of the platform, almost like a theater stage where you will play out your role to the very best of your ability, which is not unlike many jobs today.
If your bedroom/office is upstairs the mattress will also act as sound insulation keeping your office a little quieter.
It is a simple box frame, you will need to have some solid supporting structure across the bed, but it's not that big where floor distortion could take place. You can select the style of wood trim and flooring to coordinate with your spare bedroom decor.
How easy is this look to achieve? Working on a simple scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most complex level to accomplish, this bedroom is an 8.
It's not complex, just time-consuming, and may be best completed by a qualified joiner for the speed of installation and strength of the boxing that will need to support your weight, and the office furniture.
You may need to alter the location of your power outlets to a higher accessible place.
Many offices across the country have plain walls, often painted in muted colors such as whites, creams light beige interspersed with fire regulations and signage. It's done for a good reason, images on walls can be a distraction and leave you devoid of the inspiration needed to complete your tasks.
Having a white office is the ideal color and for the first time, you would not be accused of lacking in design ideas or working in an austere environment.
When you make your home office from your spare small bedroom use this styling cue, take down pictures that are meaningful to you, there is no need to have photos of your family on your desk, they are in the next room!
If you are not required to keep reams of paper then there is no need to have storage, with cloud storage apps and mighty hard drives you can save all of your soft copy documents easily.
It's a great theme for a home office, keep your office bright and airy with a minimalist approach to the design, it will help you focus on the day's tasks and keep your mind from wandering.
How easy is this look to achieve? Working on a simple scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most complex level to accomplish, this bedroom is a 4.
It's a simple look to achieve, with white walls and a white ceiling, and allows as much natural light to cascade into the office as possible to keep you alert throughout the day.
You may have a big desk in your work office with an executive chair but things are different with home offices particularly when space is at a premium.
Some of you have jobs that require you to be stylish and fashionable and if this is you then use what you have to the maximum to create an image that you are still top of your game. What better backdrop for a video conference call? A statically placed Louis Vuitton box framed by some gloriously fashionable handbags with your chic urban girl branded clothes.
A home office in a small bedroom is more about what you need rather than what you want. You need a comfy chair, a desk big enough for your laptop, and a power supply, and you are in business.
If you are from the design industry then this could be the best office setup you could have to impress clients with your prowess for fashion and chic living.
Let’s focus on the desk and chair first, it is such a simple look to achieve and is also budget-friendly, the simplest of desks in white with a chair from your bedroom that is comfortable and has a style of its own.
You don't need to be from the fashion industry to make good use of this style of backdrop, if you need flair and a creative streak using this backdrop couple pay dividends when dealing with clients over video links.
How easy is this look to achieve? Working on a simple scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most complex level to accomplish, this bedroom is a 9.
It's a high complexity look, not all of you have Louis Vuitton begs to fall from the shelves and designer clothes. You could create a look that works for you with your back to a white wall with some chic monochrome images mounted to project your style.
Your spare bedroom may indeed be the attic that makes for sublime office space, it gets lots of light during the day, and it may have some architectural designs such as the angle of the roof and some exposed beams.
The attic is normally a quiet room away from the hustle and bustle of the main living areas in your home, particularly if you have young kids in the house. The lack of noise intrusions will help you to focus in this awesome attic space.
Just because it's your home office does not mean you can't have some creature comfort in the office, a plush rug, or a comfy chair for taking a break away from the computer.
What do you need for a desk? Well, in this image it looks to be a steel table with wheels, it could be from an industrial source or even from a hospital. However, the truth is it makes a perfect desk for your home small bedroom office.
Having a desk on wheels may seem ludicrous but when it comes to the video call you can orientate your desk to give a plain background to prevent your callers from being distracted by your decor.
It's a handsome white attic with a beautiful comfy chair that sets the tone for the bedroom office, then adds a plush rug that your toes will sing into for the crowning glory of the room. But, it's not finished. The juxtaposition of the steel cart as a desk is incredibly stylish and conspicuous making the bedroom office a special place to work.
How easy is this look to achieve? Working on a simple scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most complex level to accomplish, this bedroom is a 4.
It's an easy one to achieve, attics make the best offices apart from the climb to the room, and they often have great light that is perfect for working on a laptop.
The furnishings are awesome but you could achieve a similar look with contemporary furniture which of course would take away from the aesthetics but would still leave you with a functional office.
It's great working at home, most of you prefer this option, it is better than the drudge to the office every morning, sitting in traffic or taking public transport where inevitably the person with body odor sits next to you, its a yucky experience, it hardly surprising that working from home is the best option for many of you.
However, working at home brings its own challenges, it's easy to take an extra break, or daydream and generally not be as productive as you can. So, you need to address this issue and be accountable for the time you work from home.
Taking a minimalist approach to your office decor should keep your focus on the task at hand and prevent you from being distracted frequently. Gone are the days of strong colors and chaotic themes for office, it was found to affect the bottom line by reducing productivity.
Its thought that open desks that are free from clutter and white walls allow for blue sky thinking which is creative and should add to the business bottom line.
You can still be comfortable.
Keep it simple, with no clutter, no family photos, white walls, and lots of light. If your job requires creative thinking then this should provide the inspiration you need due to there being fewer visible distractions.
How easy is this look to achieve? Working on a simple scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most complex level to accomplish, this bedroom is a 3.
It's white from top to bottom, with no breaks from design, not even a contrasting rug or accent wall. It is a tried and tested theory that makes decor for your office simple and cost-effective.
It's easy to get carried away with the budget for your home office in your spare small bedroom when the truth is there is no need to. Just because it's your home do you need to buy the very best you can afford, it's a great premise for your home but completely unnecessary.
This office bedroom is stylish and makes use of three double-drawer steel filing cabinets that were destined for the scrap yard. A haphazard coat of white paint and the filing cabinets are back to life with more purpose than they were designed for.
A suitable length of lumbar provides enough working space for two people in a small bedroom office that would be the envy of top designers.
The white minimalist theme continues to conform with the psychology of colors in the work environment.
Of course, some homely comforts and nicknacks have been introduced to make the room feel as if it's still part of the home. The gray rug is inspiring with its indigenous vibe.
Conforming with the white look but breaking away for minimalist vibes, the wall clock is big like you may find in an industrial setting. It's a great office full of character that has utilized budget-friendly filing cabinets. A simple but resourceful idea for keeping control of the budget.
How easy is this look to achieve? Working on a simple scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most complex level to accomplish, this bedroom is a 5.
The filing cabinets are a fantastic idea, even more so if they are functional. It's an easy look to recreate, you can add your own homely items and decor if desired but keep in mind the psychology of colors in the office.
For some of you, an office is just a simple desk, a power outlet, and a laptop. It is easy and simple, the perfect way to work from home.
For others, their office space may be more complex and require specialist equipment, say for an architect drawing structure forms for large buildings to complex wiring diagrams. If you are going to fill the space in a small bedroom at home, decide on a furnishing theme to keep the aesthetic flowing through your workload.
Industrial wood benches may not fit everyone's small bedroom office but for some, the concept of a small bedroom takes on different dimensions especially if you live in a period high rise building or a loft conversion where bedrooms are more open plan style.
With some thought and style cues and the willingness to attend industrial closure sales, you can find some incredible furnishings that will make your home office feel accomplished.
Your small bedroom will need to have reasonable dimensions to pull this office design off. Take time to visit factory closure auctions, they are full of surprises and you can pick up awe-inspiring furniture for very little money.
How easy is this look to achieve? Working on a simple scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most complex level to accomplish, this bedroom is a 7.
It's more complex on a few fronts. Will the furniture fit? Is your room structurally sound to take the weight of industrial furniture? How can you lift the furniture into situ?
However, with lots of store closures, you can purchase used wood furniture that would be easier to deal with.
It's not just adults that need a quiet place to work so small bedroom offices and classrooms have been high in demand in recent years. Your growing teenage kids need a place they feel comfortable working, it may be an assignment from school or college or general research but the common thread is they need space where they can concentrate.
The same rule as office decor should apply to kids but asking them to accept rules of minimalism may be out of the question so make a small bedroom office lively and inspiring by adding some wallpaper that is more in line with the trends that they are following.
A homemade desk, simple lighting, and a bit of faux fur make the scene appear comfortable and delightful on a small budget.
Again keep distractions to a minimum and trust the work gets done!
Understand the teen's style vibe, it could be anything from Boho to rock and roll chics or girl movies with friends, try and take the style for their interests. You can add wallpaper for interest or color-painted walls.
Keep the room bright and airy and well illuminated with artificial light.
How easy is this look to achieve? Working on a simple scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most complex level to accomplish, this bedroom is a 5.
It's an easy theme to achieve and there is minimal wallpaper being an accent wall. Worktops are easy to fabricate, and you can buy the support online easily.
Filing cabinets are out so are large bulk storage units, they are only used if you use blueprints and drawings for work. Most documents are safe on the cloud or hard drive freeing the home office from clutter.
Make the most of vertical storage if you do need to store some items, maybe invoices or credit notes. Floating shelves are the perfect way to store a box file or two and it keeps the office floor clear of hazards making the home office in a spare small bedroom look bigger than its dimensions.
Just because your office is white doesn't mean you can't add a few accessories to your office, a glorious pink cushion for added comfort, a Woolen shawl for these in-between temperature days when the mornings are cooler but not cool enough to put the heating on.
A few strategically placed monochrome prints, maybe with inspiring messages to pick you up during the day.
Add accessories that you like and feel comfortable with, austerity and focus are two different things so make yourself feel at home if it's going to help you focus on your tasks.
Keep files off the floor and make the most of vertical space in your home office.
How easy is this look to achieve? Working on a simple scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most complex level to accomplish, this bedroom is a 6.
Hanging floating shelves for files is not complicated but you will need a spirit level and drill with bits to complete the job.
Most of you have similar needs from your home office in your spare small bedroom, first, they must be functional where you can work a whole day with minimal distraction. Second, the office should be comfortable and pleasant to work in.
However, with a little thought and inspiration, you can make your office classy, you could feel like the CEO, the number one guy setting the direction of a huge company. It's easy to achieve this look by keeping your office minimal and white, then introduce the black leather office chair, and some black box files sitting on floating shelves.
It's easy to create a classy-looking home office on a budget by utilizing black and white, the black office chair, and white desk and walls. Black filing drawers and some black box files, it's simple.
You will need to follow the theme of white walls and a white desk, then place elements of black to contrast and disrupt the white lines.
How easy is this look to achieve? Working on a simple scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most complex level to accomplish, this bedroom is a 5.
If you have adhered to the principles of color psychology in the office then this look is simple to recreate. Proportional shelves set the scene for a classy home office.
Yes. You will need the space but if you have a spare bedroom with dimensions of 12x 12 feet then you have quite a big office, some home offices occupy 50 sq feet!
If you need to retain the bed your issue is going to be video conference calls where your clients are going to be able to see your bed. You could use a backdrop or software that deletes backgrounds. Alternatively, you could make a platform and store your bed under the platform so it papers you have a desiccated office.
Keep it white and bright!
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