Is your spare room suffering from an identity crisis? Guest bedroom. Dumping ground. Airing cupboard. Man Cave. Chill-out room. Time to give it a break and finally convert that spare room into an office!
The pandemic hangover remains one reason why more of us are working from home. Pre-pandemic (2019), only about 5% of UK employees usually worked from their dining room or kitchen table, spare room, or home office.
But recent data from Statista reveals that around 41% of UK workers now regularly clock on at home either exclusively (about 14%) or through a hybrid schedule (about 27%).
Maybe you’re one of them, and whether it’s hybrid or full-time, a dedicated office space is a fantastic idea for the whole household, not just the work-from-home person. It creates a clear delineation between work and home, paperwork and piles of ironing – and never the twain shall meet!
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A proper clear-out – that’s what’s needed
For a clear head at work, you need a clear-out that counts. Go straight to the sexy stuff, like buying a lovely ergonomic chair, desk, cool lamp, shelving, etc before you have completely cleared the area so you can survey the space, and you might get too carried away and end up with even more stuff you can’t comfortably house.
And the great thing about safe self storage like ours is you don’t have to be ruthless or think short-term. That spare bed, sofa bed, bedside cabinet that isn’t ready to meet its maker might be just as well stored with us. Converting a spare room into an office isn’t a huge job, like a kitchen or bathroom, so you could conceivably convert it back should your circumstances change.
You don’t want to fork out for new and bulky stuff, so why make irreversible decisions?
Where to put all the furniture from the spare room?
We could be talking about a wardrobe here, too. Not everybody has fitted ones. Perhaps it’s valuable, or you’re just attached to it. This isn’t a piece of furniture that you could slip unnoticed into another room. Plus we heard on the grapevine that big old wooden wardrobes are making a comeback!
Part of this ruthlessness is being realistic about what you need. Items in other rooms that always seem to gravitate to the spare room- maybe you could store them too so you’re not robbed of even more cupboard space?
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What do I need for a home office?
Keep things simple and don’t overload it with unnecessary storage if you have a lot of paperwork.
You can store documents with us. Odds are, the spare room is the smallest bedroom, and an airy, clutter-free environment is a productive one.
You also need to think about your background when on Zoom calls and the like. This can either make you look A-game professional or snatch that trophy away if a lot is going on in the background with an old coffee cup and plate bearing crumbs, or washing drying on the radiator.
All the more reason to make this a household mess-free zone. It can no longer creep into what is really a part of your work. Think of it like the Vatican – a separate entity from the rest of the house.
Do you really need a printer or a second monitor? Good lighting helps, both overhead and desk lamps.
Self Storage for home improvements – read the blog here!
And then there’s the psychology of colour…
Design gurus YesColours did some research that gave cool blues and greens the thumbs up for a home office. They lower the stress hormone, cortisol, and can reduce anxiety at the same time. And they improve mental concentration.
But do they stop you from wanting to sneak downstairs to the fridge? The research didn’t mention anything about that.
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How to optimise a home office
You might not have room to swing a cat in your new home office. All the more reason to think about the layout. Furniture in front of radiators or your desk in the corner away from natural light – this can take the sheen off the comfort factor.
A compact or wall-mounted desk might be an option if you need filing cabinets or lots of shelves to display your awards to motivate you on dark days.
Then there’s the electrical set-up. Are the sockets in the right place for what you’re visualising? Do you need to add some or use workarounds with extension cables, or can’t you abide wires everywhere?
Here’s our blog on how to organise your storage unit!
Technology and your new home office
Think about Wi-Fi and whether the router will reach you with a good enough signal.
You might need an extender or mesh system if you’re out on a limb in a part of the house where only the ghosts and the cat wander.
Make it somewhere you actually want to go to
It must be comfortable and not austere. That’s one of the huge plusses about working from home – you don’t have to sit in bland offices listening to colleagues slurping and chewing or staring at stained ceiling tiles.
You can make it homely too, with some pictures of family and pets or whatever you like.
And there are so many wonderful chairs available – it might become the most comfortable room in the house. Maybe even with a wee couch in the corner. Then you could enjoy a wee nap.
It’s perhaps not a great look to keep exercise equipment in there at the same time. It will only detract from the professional look and feel. Again, you can always store that safely with us.
You can create a dedicated workspace that is not cheek-by-jowl with all the stuff you have collected over the years, including the Christmas decorations. Nobody wants to see them in July.
It’s the best way to keep it organised, as a sole-purpose room. And no need to move house, work in the shed or build a pricey extension.
As we say, this might well include stuff outside the spare room too, which is more reason to check out our self-storage deals today!
