5 Ideas and Tricks to Make Space for a Home Office

It’s hardly news to anybody at this point that, compared to last year, gradually more of us have spared the travel expenses and switched the train commute for a stroll to the living room to take on our daily responsibilities by the desktop computer. For some of us, this change of pace has been easy to adjust to - and even happily welcomed in some cases. It’s been great for the flexibility and has enabled many of us to find more time for homelife chores and hobbies that time killers such as a commute would otherwise prevent. 

However, no home comes without distractions. Whether it’s kids, pets or the excessive need to bake your own bread (which was very much a thing in the early stages of the 2020 pandemic). Taking work home is easier said than done. Because compared to an allocated office that you travel to, which is set up with the purpose of doing work, a home is for most of us made to ‘live’ in and take our minds off of work. The bottom line is that a home creates diversions, and when you have to juggle both parts of the work-life balance in the same space it will undoubtedly create challenges at some point. If you, like so many others, live in a cramped environment that you have to share with others this challenge doesn’t become any easier.

To help relieve the common disruptions it’s necessary to create a workspace for yourself where you can focus effectively on your tasks at hand. Fitting a home office into a confined space with limited options can be tricky, and that’s why we’ve compiled a few tips and tricks on how to most efficiently create space in your home.

Make use of vertical spaces

Even if you don’t have an especially high ceiling it’s still crucial to consider all potential spaces. Vertical spaces can be useful in several ways.

 Focusing on fewer bigger pieces of furniture, like a tall bookcase, compared to several smaller ones scattered around the room can serve a huge benefit to lessen occupied space. You may also consider wall shelves that you hang directly on the wall if the floor space is already being taken up by a shorter object (like a table, plant etc.). 

Use furniture with double functions

Think of furniture that can serve multiple purposes. A bench with storage space? Bookshelves that can divide the room into different sections? Consider what you have at hand and how you can utilize these items to what you need. It could be as simple as using a small chair as a side table - that way you always have an extra sitting space.

Make the room multi-purpose

Now, depending on where you live, chances are you’re already embracing this tip out of necessity. If you, for instance, live in a 1 or 2-bedroom apartment, it’s not uncommon to see one room used as a living room, dining room, even kitchen, and yes, office workspace as well.

If possible, think of ways to divide the room so you can better distinguish between which part of it you’re currently using. Consider ways to establish a designated office space. Ideally, you would want a distinct corner dedicated to this, but even if you have to use the same table as you eat by, you can still make separations by choosing a particular seating spot. Having one chair you always sit in when doing your work will help maintain a certain mindset and keep you in that particular zone. 

Use soft, light hues

When rethinking your office space, it’s even worth noting which colours are present in the room. Whereas light colours reflect, dark colours absorb light. This is important to keep in mind as the lighter colours will help generate a more airy atmosphere and as such a sense of spaciousness. 

Declutter

It goes without saying that likely all of us could point out at least one thing in the room we’re currently sitting in that we don’t really need. That’s not to say that we should remove everything from our homes that don’t serve an integral purpose. But, spending as much time at home as we’ve been doing lately does give us an opportunity to rethink what things we use in our daily lives and what adds value. And the things that are just taking up space? It’s a good time to get rid of them and declutter your room.

Creating more space can be a difficult task and a big commitment, so it’s important to consider what exactly it is that you need to establish a workstation at home that inspires productivity and focus. At WriteWall, we create more space through our different writable solutions. By adding a discreet creative surface directly on the wall, we embrace a minimalist approach that gives you plenty of opportunity to write, plan and organize without taking up any unnecessary space in your room.