hen the pandemic hit the world, remote working quickly became a trend across numerous industries. The trend brought several changes, one of which is the prevalence of home offices.
The idea behind a home office is to create a space where you can separate work tasks from your personal responsibilities. In turn, you can boost your productivity and reduce the likelihood of burnout, among other benefits. However, just like the traditional office, there's a need for regular renovations as it allows you to avoid the monotonous grind of every day. If you intend to perform a home office remodel soon, here are the four things you need to consider.
1. Budget
Before anything else, you must first set a budget for the project. Doing so is an excellent way to avoid overspending and can help narrow down the list of things you must do or buy.
For instance, if you have a rather big budget, you can afford to deck out your office with extra utilities like file drawers or cabinets. On the other hand, if you don't plan on spending too much, you can settle for simple changes, like an upgrade of your desk and chair. The budget will also help with the decision-making for other considerations further down the line.
2. Square footage
Though some home offices take up the entire space of a room, not all of them do. Others only take up a portion of the room, while the rest of the square footage is used for other purposes.
If your current home office belongs to the latter, you must decide whether you'll increase, decrease, or keep the square footage. This particular consideration will affect several factors in this project. In particular, it can narrow down what you can do to remodel your home office.
For example, buying utilities like a mini fridge or cabinet to add to your home office shouldn't be an issue if you intend to increase the square footage. But if you plan to make your office smaller, that would be out of the question. Square footage will also help you come up with ideas more easily. Searching for an 8x8 home office layout on search engines, for instance, will give you some home office remodel ideas that work specifically for 8x8 feet offices.
3. Priorities
When you remodel a home office, it's not as simple as changing its appearance. Aside from aesthetics, there are other aspects that make up a home office, such as the following:
- Storage – this refers to cabinets and file drawers for storing and organizing work-related objects, like your notebook, notepad, and other files.
- Lighting – to illuminate your workplace and encourage productivity.
- Soundproofing – to prevent noise from disturbing you during working hours.
- Comfort – to improve your comfortability while in the office.
- Convenience – these are extra utilities that are helpful but you don't strictly need. Examples include a coffee station, mini fridge, and whiteboard.
When planning a home office remodel, you must decide which of these will be your priority and in what order you want to prioritize them. People call this their "priority list," and they use it to determine how they'll distribute the budget and size of the home office. The higher up it is, the more eager you should be to allocate your funds and home office space in that aspect.
Are you willing to spend half of your budget on an ergonomic chair? Is it reasonable to buy a desk that takes up half the home office space? Your priority list will answer these kinds of questions.
4. Location
Finally, you must decide if you'll relocate your office or keep it where it currently is. Regardless of your decision, the location of your home office will influence the entire plan for the project.
Suppose your home office is by the windows. If that's the case, then installing hanging cabinets is likely out of the question since there's nowhere to hang them. Similarly, lighting will be crucial if your home office is located in your garage since you'll need it most of the time.
Needless to say, the location will affect your priorities and limit what you can do. Deciding on a location beforehand can go a long way in making the plan much smoother.
Wrapping up
Keep in mind that the primary purpose of a home office is to boost your productivity. And it's no secret that productivity works differently from one person to another. Just because a home office setup worked for a coworker of yours doesn't mean it'll work for you as well.
Remodel your home office in the way that you think will motivate you the most. And though there may not be a right or wrong answer, you must always take these four factors into consideration.
References:
- “Home Office Renovation Costs,” Source: https://www.homeadvisor.com/cost/home-office
- “Home Office Size Guide: The Best Size For A Home Office,” Source: https://homeofficemate.com/home-office-size-guide
- “How to renovate an at-home office,” Source: https://www.renofi.com/learn/home-office-renovation-guide
