When designing home extensions and refurbishments, we always encourage our clients to think about the small details as we include a lot of information in our plan drawings. This could be in the form of ground floor extensions with specific kitchen units, lighting, or furniture. At Home Tales, we offer endless amendments to 2D floorplans, so if you are still unsure on the layout of your prospective home addition, we will ensure the final result is something you’re entirely happy with.

We are passionate about what we do, so we understand that it can sometimes be difficult to separate work from home life, especially as more and more of us are encouraged to hybrid work. The excitement of a new project can sweep you away from reality, but we believe it’s important to maintain boundaries to ensure you are giving 100% in all aspects of life. Otherwise, this could result in personal matters leaking into your professional environment as the lines will end up blurry. That is why in today’s post, we wanted to explore the different ways you can design your home to help re-enforce the separation of your workspace from your home space.

A dedicated space

Having an environment dedicated to working within your home could be a saving grace. This could be in the form of a home office, a section of your dining table, or even a closet that you have repurposed. This should be a comfortable and bright setting, as you will likely spend a large portion of your week here. If possible, we would recommend having a door on your home office so you can physically step away from your work and close the door to take it out of your sight. Afterall, out of sight, out of mind.

Make sure to keep all your work together, rather than scattered around your home, otherwise you won’t be able to tell the difference between your office and your bed. If you don’t have the luxury of having a spare room to host a home study, consider introducing a divider to your layout. This could be shuttered, solid, or glazed, as long as it helps zone the area away from the larger room. A balanced level of comfort is key, as observed in a study at oxford university, because people are better at decision-making when their brains are allowed to slow down. Busy environments and distractions can stunt creativity and interrupt a worker’s thought process.

Clear work hours

Even in your own home, it’s important to set boundaries. This means not allowing any work to leak into your home life, and not allowing home life to leak into your work life. This ensures your mind and judgment are not altered by non-work-related issues and you are able to work at full capacity on specific tasks. Try your best not to visit your workspace after work or on the weekends.

Furthermore, try to perform non-work-related tasks elsewhere, avoiding your dedicated work area. It is shown that tasks can easily become associated with a space, for example, eating dinner in your bedroom will make you feel hungry when you go to sleep. This means if you do things such as watch tv or play games in your workspace, it is likely your focus will be hindered.

Home office design

Lastly, to make the most of your home office, we think there are some things worth investing in. Lighting is everything, and its especially key to a productive workspace. Of course, natural daylight is the ideal lighting for working as it is bright, warm, and plentiful. That’s why artificial lighting in an office must be bright enough and cool enough to simulate natural daylight. If you’re stuck on interior design ideas, why not dress your walls with a packed bookshelf. They add interest to the room and set the tone so you can get down to some serious business. Other than its aesthetics, books double as a form of insulation. They work great to block out sound from outside your office and prevents echo’s that may be present in a study with bare walls.

Want to get some work done to your house and are unsure where to start? Contact our friendly team of professionals today! We would love to discuss your ideas to help improve your home. Call us on 02070432378 or send us a quick email at hello@hometales.co.uk. Alternatively, click here to book a no-obligations telephone consultation with a member of our team. We offer two types of consultation, the Standard (free) telephone call which is followed by a quote for the works, and the Consultation+ which offers many more services and a zoom consultation.