 No More
Nine
to Five
Creating a productive workspace you can use day or night
by Priscilla Kohutek
photography by Vernon Wentz
For most of us, there’s no such thing as “nine to five” any more. It’s more like 24/7. You bring unfinished work home from the office and generate even more after you get there because you just don’t know when to stop, or your job requires constant travel, and your home is the base of operation; or, perhaps, you’re running a full-time business from your home.
It’s a crazy way to live, but that’s the way it is, so you might as well make the best of it. That means you shouldn’t try to work on a computer crammed into a corner or stuck in a spare room that’s little more than a storage closet for leftover odds and ends. You need an efficient, inspiring, designated space that speaks to you. But don’t worry! Getting it isn’t as hard as you may think. Remodeling a room in order to design your personal home office involves a step-by-step process, just as any other room in the house. Simply answer a few pertinent questions and evaluate the results.
Is it a full-time or supplemental business office? Is it for personal business? Do you need total privacy, or do you want to keep an eye on the kids? The location of the space available often determines how much privacy you will have, but most people would agree that a door is essential — kids or no kids. That means, if you’re trying to run a business and talk on the phone, the designated workspace should not be part of an open design concept or in the public area unless you live alone and privacy is not an issue.
If the space is a supplemental office to be used by other family members as well, it will probably be a multi-purpose space and, therefore, its location requirements are more flexible. List the possible uses of the space by priority. This is a great way to determine what kind of equipment you need and how much space is required. The list for full-time offices versus supplemental offices will differ.
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