Cultural and technological shifts encourage growth of home offices

As technology continues to evolve and advance, home offices are on the rise. Companies are now seeing the benefits and value of their remote employees, not only in the overall operational business costs, but by seeing more productive and engaged workers. Work from home opportunities give employees flexibility and they are much happier overall. The remote strategy allows businesses to have a broader reach by accessing a larger pool of highly skilled talent from around the globe. Soaring success rates is also an attractive driver.

With the excitement of home and office merging, it is essential to separate the two in a way that is efficient. A home work space should be personal, complement home life, offer real comfort yet, be a space that encourages productivity. If the home office is not a separate entity from your home, it welcomes interruption and there is risk of decreased performance. This is when architectural design comes in.

There are many factors that work together to ensure that a home office is functional. Choosing the right location in your home, one that is private, with no home distractions, is the first step to creating the optimal work space. Furniture investment must be considered carefully with pieces that are functional, as well as comfortable. Understanding workflow and needs will help with filling the space, as in an office chair for example. If you spend hours sitting, looking to beautifully designed, ergonomically correct options would be the wisest choice. Then there is the psychology of colour and choosing the right paint to bring out the right mood. Choose a color that gets you motivated, and one that you love. Red is known to stimulate and excite the brain. Orange is also stimulating and energizing, but it’s more muted. Perhaps considering some accents of these colours will elicit feelings of passion, excitement, warmth and playfulness, but not in an overwhelming way that it’s counterproductive. Cool hues like green and blue are calming and known to improve concentration although they too can bring a negative impact if not used suitably. Colour affects people in many ways and understanding what works for you will make your work space ideal. Another important factor is lighting. If you have a window, ideally with a view, that will bring in natural light. It’s important to have plenty of light to avoid eye strain and headaches, so setting up proper lighting for daytime or even those late-night stints, is an essential consideration. Organization of space and understanding if you are a stacker or a filer is going to be important also. As is the use and placement of technology that will be used in the home office.

With the climb of remote employees, home offices are top in mind for an existing home and when looking at new home development and real estate investments. It’s clear to say that architectural design plays a huge role in bringing these elements together. A comfortable, charming, and functional work space trusts heavily on the innovative use of light, colour, space, and location. Once they are achieved, success is on the horizon.

Categorized in: Helpful Resources, Lorne Rose Architect