Five Ways to Organize a Work-from-Home Environment
According to some statistics from the the Pew Research Center, around 22 million employed adults (aged 18 and over) in the U.S. work from home all the time, equal to roughly 14% of all employed adults. Just over one-third of workers in the U.S. who can work remotely do so all the time — while 41% are at least part-time remote on a hybrid setup. One in five Americans are predicted to work remotely by 2025. It’s one of the largest impacts the COVID-19 pandemic left on the world (USAToday.com, April 3, 2024).
Was there even Zoom before 2020?
During the four years when working-from-home was, at first, forced, and then more so, by choice, homeowners looked to us for solutions on integrating the most efficient and comfortable place to get their jobs done. And those with kids needed help to make it work for the whole family. Competing for phone and tablet charging spots, quiet corners, table space and desks became too much to deal with on a daily basis. Everyone had to figure out what fit each persons’ needs the best, especially in a full house.
Following are five solutions that can help make a work-from-home-space a bit more user-friendly:
Untangle Your Wires in Docking Drawers
When you really think about it, a home with just four people living in it could easily call for 20+ separate outlets just in the kitchen and just for personal phones, tablets, iPads, desk- or laptops, and smart watches. Forget about the coffee pot, blender or other household items used in the kitchen. Countertops became a cluster of wires. The solution? A docking drawer. Docking drawers are purposely designed with as many and which types of outlets people needed, including USBs. Countertops were freed of electronics.
Hidden outlets in countertops also became a solution; so, while you worked at your kitchen island you could plug in your laptop and then “pop” it out of site when done. For people who don’t like clutter, these options are what dreams are made of.
Desks in Kitchens with Filing Drawers
Desks in kitchens have been around for a long time if space allowed. And today they have become a great place to set up as your daily work space. Before working-from-home became the norm, people focused primarily on storage for non-perishables, dishes, pots and pans, utensils – everything kitchen-y. Oftentimes they didn’t consider where they might store mail, paperwork, files or have a place to sit and check email, pay bills and more. With people working remotely, desks in kitchens were given new purpose, designed in a more useful and efficient way. The addition of docking drawers, pencil drawers and file drawers helped keep a clutter-free space to hunker down and let the Zoom meetings begin. And for those not quite ready to go paperless (therefore not having as neat of a space as others), adding bi-fold doors around the space gave the option to close it all up at the end of the day (like the photo to the right below). That’s also a way to separate “work” from “home”.
Get Comfy at a Banquette
For some people instead of a desk in the kitchen they preferred to integrate a banquette that could serve multiple purposes. A large percentage of our clients already strive to fit a banquette in, replacing the traditional “kitchen table”. But when working-from-home came to be, the banquette, by day, could be a comfy nook to sit with a laptop or do homework. After all, you’re always more productive when your comfortable in your environment. By night it could be the perfect space for the whole family to enjoy dinner together or play games, especially when we were all “stuck” at home. The bonus with banquettes is the possibility of extra storage in the benches underneath. But maybe instead of storing tablecloths you could add drawers with organizers to store pencils, calculators and other essential tools. Or if drawers aren’t possible, perhaps an outlet could be added so your laptop doesn’t run out of juice.
Take a Break
It’s always good to get up and stretch your legs – and, if home, most people end up in the kitchen. Designated stations might be something that you would’ve considered whether or not you were working remotely. And it definitely is always something we suggest to our clients. But the rise of more people being home all day and at the same time made this more important than ever. A coffee station, whether you’re getting a built-in coffee maker or using your trusty Keurig, is good to keep separate from, perhaps, the kids snacks. And tucked behind doors is even better. Some drawers come built to hold Keurig pods and have sections specifically for sugar, stirrers, etc. For the kids, maybe designate a specific cabinet with roll-outs for their snacks and an undercounter refrigerator for their water and juice boxes. With extra traffic in and out of the kitchen keeping spaces separate helps avoid those traffic jams.
Add a Home Office or Study
In recent years, desks in kitchens have been replaced by a rise in popularity of a full home office or study. These spaces may allow multiple people to work together. Or it may be built for one. Regardless it gives you plenty of space for file drawers with Pendaflex® inserts, hidden printers on internal roll-outs, comfy desk chairs, bookshelves and more…not to mention, peace and quiet once you close the door. In fact if your job requires you to be on several online meetings daily, a home office is the perfect place for privacy and quiet.
Obviously not everything is perfect. Sometimes the kitchen table or a desk in a child’s room (like many people grew up with), is the way it has to be.
And other times you have to work around visitors.
