There was a time when having a home office meant little more than putting an old desk, a telephone, and a computer in the guest bedroom. You’d close the door and hope the kids wouldn’t come in and that the dog wouldn’t bark while you were on the phone. That kind of situation just won’t work with today’s high-activity households. And the good news is that with today’s advances in technology—and with a good design—you don’t have to settle for a makeshift office when you need to work from home.

Whether you work from home full time or only use your home office occasionally to keep up with work demands, your office should be efficient, quiet, and comfortable. So how do you set up the perfect office in your home that provides the same level of effectiveness that you experience in a corporate setting?

First, figure out how you plan to use your office. For instance, you’ll need to consider if you will be receiving clients, or if your office will be a place for you alone. The kind of work you do can also influence how much space you need and how much time you plan to spend in your office can impact your choices in furniture as well.

Regardless of how you plan to use your home office, here are some essentials to consider.

Outlets

Most homes today include a pretty generous number of electrical outlets, but if you have a fair amount of office equipment, you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of places to plug in. Make sure you have outlets for cable, phones, a fax machine/copier and TV. Having more outlets that you need isn’t a problem, but running extension cords across the floor is a problem. And make sure you have surge protection to safeguard computers and other devices.

Furniture

We all have our personal tastes when it comes to furniture. Some like sleek, modern designs. Others like antiques. But when you choose your furniture make sure form follows function. A really great looking desk may be nice to look at, but how does it feel to use it for hours at a time? The same thing goes for your office chair. That’s not the place to save a few bucks. If you’re not comfortable sitting at your desk, your work will suffer.

Lighting

Again, there’s a difference between the way things look and the way they function. Your office may look warm and inviting from the outside, but you really want to make sure that you have adequate task lighting for work.

Visual Breaks

Most of us need periodic breaks from our work, but that’s not just a physical thing. Sometimes our minds need a break. Make sure your room has a window that gives your eyes and your mind a break from what’s on your computer screen.

Privacy

There’s a big difference between a desk in the family room or kitchen where you occasionally pay bills and a home office where you have to concentrate for longer periods of time without interruption. A home office where serious work is done needs to be private and separate (both visually and acoustically) from common spaces. That doesn’t preclude having a glassed in office that people can see into (or that you can see out of). It does mean you need to have the ability to shut out visual and acoustic distractions when you want to.

Many Country Classics floor plans offer a Study as a standard feature or an option (depending on the community). If you have other design plans in mind for where the Study is located, creating an office in one of the spare bedrooms and even the sitting room could be great option, as long as you have all your essentials to make it a fully functional office. Contact us today to learn more about our available floor plans and how you can create the perfect office space in your home!