Recently, the UK’s labour force has experienced a considerable rise in self-employment, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) finding that self-employment rates have increased from 2001’s 3.3 million to 2017’s 4.8 million. With the self-employment sector now emerging as a distinguished area from within the labour force, more and more people throughout the UK are looking to create the perfect office space in their homes.
However, the self-employed are not the only group of professionals that require an office space. A home office can also be a great addition to anyone wanting an area within their house to conduct any and all means of work, including studying, or finishing off any final bits from the office.
But how do you build the perfect home office? And where do you find the best people to help you build the perfect working space for your home? Through this piece, we will be taking you through some of the main things to consider when building the perfect office for your home.
What are the main things to think about when building a home office?
When building your home office, as with the development of any new space within your house, there are many different things to consider, all ensuring you get the most out of the working space you create. However, although there is an abundance of different factors to be considered when creating your home office, these factors can almost be entirely summed up in the following two areas:
- Design
- Location
Both the design and the location of your home office are both essential factors that both hold numerous different components that can help to create the optimum working environment for the office.
Design
The design of your home office can have a significant impact on your attitude and further productivity when working from home. Ensuring that your home office is designed to stimulate a positive working environment can improve these levels of mood and productivity, and help to create a stable, positive environment for your working life. Below is a list of some of the major design features that can help to create a positive working environment for your home office:
- Open space – ensuring that you have a good amount of open space throughout your office can help to eliminate any feelings of claustrophobia. Having enough space throughout your working environment can help give you the room to think clearer and allows your thoughts to flow better, increasing productivity at work.
- Good lighting – similar to open space, good lighting can help you to think more clearly and therefore be more productive.
- Comfortable furniture – as you will be spending a considerable amount of your day in the office, having a comfortable place to work is vital to help ensure a positive environment and attitude, and also helps to eliminate the chances of physical strains and pains from such examples as an uncomfortable office chair.
Location
Another major component that can greatly effect this working environment is the location of the office within the house, below is a list of the major factors to consider when deciding the location of your home office:
- Signal (both phone and wifi) – as you will most likely be needing to have access to the outside world (e.g. communicating with people and accessing information via the internet), ensuring your working space has good signal is vital to make sure effective communication is had throughout your work, thereby increasing overall productivity.
- Privacy – if there are multiple people living in your home, having a home office set in a private location within the house that is both harder to access and lower in general noise levels can help to minimise interruptions to your work flow, therefor increasing overall productivity from within the working environment.
A great area of your home to consider putting an office in is the loft. A loft extension can help to create a fantastic office space that can be great for signal, privacy and noise levels, whilst also being able to provide any and all of the features listed as important in the design of the working space.
