More and more people feel like they need a home office, whether because they work from home or they need to attend to day-to-day matters. If that is the case with you, but you don’t exactly have any spare rooms to set your office in, you may be surprised how little space can be enough to set up a tiny nook ideal for a home office.
Unlike a proper work office, you probably don’t need too much space and most of the office supplies and furniture, which can help you minimalize your office, creating more options and potential spaces which can be converted into an office.
Think What You Really Need
The first step is probably to figure out what you want to have in your office. Naturally, you will need a desk and some kind of a chair. The size and the desk and the type of your chair will be heavily influenced by the placement of your little home office.
However, before you start thinking about that, you need to figure out what else you need. Whether you will need a lamp, a bookshelf, or a secure filing cabinet. Depending on the purpose of the home office, as well as the amount of time you will be spending there, you will want different things.
Figure Out Location Works Best
Even if you haven’t got a whole room to dedicate to your office, you may still find a suitable place to set up an office. Think about what you need when you are working. Some people want peace and quiet, whereas others don’t mind the noise. Some people will want some natural light in their office, whereas others prefer to work with artificial light, or only with the light of the computer.
Once you’ve figured what environment suits you the best, you can start scouting for suitable locations in your house or apartment. Chances are that there won’t be many places that meet your preferences, but having even two options is not bad.
Some Common Ideas
If you don’t really have an idea where you can set up an office in your home, here are a few ideas of people who have successfully created one for themselves.
- Stairwell landing – the space assigned to a stairwell landing is typically much broader than you need to walk up and down the stairs comfortably. That leaves all that extra space unused. Setting up a small desk with a retractable chair is very easy and more often than not, that part of the house is unoccupied. Bonus points if there’s a window there.
- Under the stairs – much like Harry Potter’s tiny room under the stairs, an office can easily be set up in that space if it is not being used for anything else. Just mind your head.
- Integrated into a bookshelf – if you have a bookshelf, you can actually modify it, or have it modified to have a tiny desk instead of one shelf. Not only will it be practical, it will also not require any additional furniture being added.
- Any empty corner – in truth, creating a small office-like space is really not that difficult. All you need is a tiny desk and a chair. Everything else can be portable, thanks to the developments in technology. Even if you only have a bit of space, triangular desks which can be mounted on the walls take up a minimal amount of space.
The bottom line is that creating a home office doesn’t need to be expensive nor is it limited to people who have extra rooms in their homes. With a bit of creativity and compromise, you too can have a home office.