When you live in a small apartment, multi-use rooms are a necessity. And with so many people working from home these days (or just taking work home with them for overtime on nights and weekends), many rooms end up doing double duty as the home office.
If you’re tired of monopolizing the kitchen table as your makeshift office, here are some tips for creating an apartment workspace that don’t require a spare room.
Select a Space
The first point of business to consider when selecting an area for your apartment workspace is the nature of your work and specific needs. Depending on whether you’re an architect, a graphic designer, or a business analyst, the size of the desk and other requirements will vary greatly. Factors to consider include potential distractions, lighting, and whether or not clients will be dropping by your apartment workspace for meetings on occasion. Chances are you’ll want an area that can be made at least semi-private and is near a window that lets in light and boasts decent views. Taking a moment to admire what’s going on outside of your workspace can inspire or stimulate you when writer’s block kicks in or you’re feeling unproductive.
Design and Equip Your Apartment Workspace
Once you know where your apartment workspace will be and are familiar with the dimensions you have to work with, you can start on the design. If you’re working with a small nook or corner of a living room or bedroom, look into multipurpose furniture. For a bedroom workspace, you might purchase an armoire that serves as a dresser, foldout desk, and a display space. Vertical shelving and desks that have lots of room for drawers underneath them can help you make the most of a small living room workspace.
Aside from perhaps a nice desk that meets your at-home work needs, a comfortable chair that is the right size for said desk should be a top priority for your apartment workspace. A good desk lamp, preferably with several brightness settings, is a must. Depending on what sorts of documents and equipment you work with, an office safe may give you peace of mind. Almost everything else you need for your office is dependent on what type of work you’ll do in it. You may need a label maker, a printer/scanner/copier, a camera, an office computer or two, and much more.
Personalize Your Workspace
Equipping your workspace is about making sure you have everything you need to effectively complete tasks from the comfort of your apartment. Personalizing your workspace is about making sure it’s adapted to your personality so it’s a place you feel comfortable working. Personal photos, mementos, and knick-knacks are appropriate but shouldn’t be given the opportunity to overrun your entire the space. Organizers and storage solutions can be custom tailored to meet your needs. The colors and styles of furniture, equipment, and artwork that you choose are the sorts of details in which your personality ideally will be reflected.
At AMLI Residential’s luxury apartments, a workspace in your apartment unit is only one of multiple places in which you can work from home. Almost all of our communities have their own business centers, carefully designed and equipped with ergonomic furniture and plenty of outlets. If you get distracted in your apartment workplace, retreat to the business center with a cup of coffee or tea in hand.
Have you designed a beautiful apartment workspace before? Please leave a comment to share your tips and anything you wish you knew when you got started.
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View All Posts by Jason Ernst