Perhaps you are among those who exclusively work from home. This form of work has numerous benefits. Firstly, you save time by not having to travel to the office, which gives you more free time. Secondly, some people find it easier to work from home because they are in a comfortable and familiar environment.
If you work from home a lot, you need a suitable area for this. If there is no extra space available, other rooms such as the living room often have to be used as a workplace. To work from home successfully, the professional and private areas should be separated as much as possible. Our architects have identified some key factors to consider when designing a productive workspace in a living room or multimedia room. Check out the ideas presented in this book for inspiration.
If you have a bigger space then read this; Elevate Your Workspace: 6 Tips to Enhance Productivity at Home
Do you have a lot of space available or are you faced with the challenge of fitting a workstation into a small apartment? No matter what your starting position is, we will show you below how your home office can be visually appealing and promote efficient and concentrated work. So, it's best to take a look at our idea book and check out our great tips.
For example, we'll show you how you can accommodate your desk in the living room or how to create a complete workstation in the living room. Ideas are waiting for you on how to combine a living room with a study or how to integrate the office into the living room. The living room desk with a cool look becomes a furniture highlight. Of course, lamps and chairs also play an important role in the furnishings.
To begin with, it's important to assess the available living space. Is the living room spacious enough to accommodate a workstation? If the living room is generally small, it can feel constricting, making it difficult to work effectively. Is there a specific area that can be transformed into a workstation with a table and chair? An unused corner would be ideal as it doesn't take up any important space in the room. How is the lighting? If the existing light, such as sunlight and installed lamps, isn't sufficient, an additional light source is necessary. Inadequate lighting can make it challenging to work in the environment.
And it is particularly important if you want to set up a workplace at home so that you are not disturbed by too much noise while you work. Are there particularly lively neighbours, perhaps with children, right next door? If you live right on a main road with a lot of traffic or there are construction sites in the immediate vicinity, working from home can quickly become a test of patience.
If you plan to set up a workstation in your living room later, you may need to reconsider the furniture you can do without to create more space. Are there any cupboards with items that should have been sorted out a long time ago? This way, you can accomplish two tasks at once: firstly, get rid of unnecessary items, and secondly, free up a wall to set up your workplace.
Maybe you finally want to renovate the living room anyway and can move the furniture at the same time, thus freeing up a suitable space for your desk.
When setting up a workspace, it's best to choose the corner of a room. To ensure maximum comfort and productivity, it's important to select an ideal corner that receives plenty of natural light during daylight hours. This will enable you to work in pleasant and well-lit surroundings while it's still bright outside.
It's important to ensure that the corner of your room has enough space to accommodate a table and chair. Working at a desk that is too small can be tiring and confusing over time. Choosing a desk that fits perfectly into the corner with ample storage space is highly recommended. Lastly, make sure that the furniture you choose matches the rest of the living room for a harmonious overall look so that the work area doesn't become too prominent.
If you have a large dining table in your living room, you may even be able to save yourself from having to buy new furniture for your workplace. A large dining table offers enough workspace right from the start so that you can work there without any problems. If you set up your workplace here, you should make sure that you have a place to store your documents so that the dining table can be used again when the time comes. Documents lying around don't look too nice otherwise.
An extra cupboard in a corner of the living room offers storage space and can also serve as an additional piece of furniture in the living room. In any case, it should be closed so that the work utensils do not immediately catch the eye.
If you convert your dining table into a workplace, you should make sure that you have a comfortable chair to work with. If you spend several hours there, you shouldn't fail because of an uncomfortable chair.
To save space, you should pay attention to the shape of the furniture when arranging your living room and stay as minimalist as possible. Angled sofas and cupboards take up a lot of space and are rather restrictive when it comes to furnishings. There usually isn't much space left for anything else, especially not for a specially equipped workstation.
However, if you stick to simple shapes such as square or round furniture that are not particularly angled, you will have enough space and a harmonious overall impression in the living room.
The desk for the perfect workplace can either be placed in a suitable corner of the room, as already mentioned, or under a window. If the desk is in front of a wall, the empty section is suitable for attaching notes and post-its. Magnetic or pin boards can be installed there for this purpose.
A more creative idea can be a blackboard where you can write your notes with chalk. If you no longer need them, you can simply wipe them away and write them down again and again. A big advantage here is the amount of paper waste saved, but above all, such a board makes a great decoration and becomes a great eye-catcher in the living room. This also gives the workplace an even more homey feel.