Chris Peterson - Home Office Solutions

Copyright 2021 Chris Peterson and Creative Homeowner

This book may not be reproduced, either in part or in its entirety, in any form, by any means, without written permission from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts for purposes of radio, television, or published review. All rights, including the right of translation, are reserved. Note: Be sure to familiarize yourself with manufacturers instructions for tools, equipment, and materials before beginning a project. Although all possible measures have been taken to ensure the accuracy of the material presented, neither the author nor the publisher is liable in case of misinterpretation of directions, misapplication, or typographical error.

Creative Homeowner is a registered trademark of New Design Originals Corporation.

Home Office Solutions

Editor: Colleen Dorsey

Copy Editor: Amy Deputato

Designer: Chris Morrison

Indexer: Jay Kreider

Print ISBN 978-1-58011-859-0
eISBN 978-1-60765-861-0

We are always looking for talented authors. To submit an idea, please send a brief inquiry to .

Creative Homeowner, www.creativehomeowner.com, is an imprint of New Design Originals Corporation and distributed exclusively in North America by Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc., 800-457-9112, 903 Square Street, Mount Joy, PA 17552, and in the United Kingdom by Grantham Book Service, Trent Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 7XQ.

Setting up your home office thoughtfully and with a modicum of advance planning is the way to avoid the downsides and maximize the benefits of working from home.

Chances are you have everything you need to work from your home or apartment. The big challenge is carving out the ideal workspace. The perfect home office combines comfort and efficiency, inspires productivity, and adds torather than detracts fromthe home environment. A great home office design achieves balance and helps the worker do the same.

Home and office, relaxation and work: these can seem like daunting and sometimes competing goals, but this book can help you achieve them. Whether youre a customer service representative who does most of your work on a computer, an editor who works mostly with physical printouts, or a lawyer who goes about the bulk of your business on the phone or by way of video, this book contains all the information you need to create a comfortable, customized workspace that fosters creativity and productivity. Use the information here to create a home office that does everything you need it to do, in exactly the ways you need to accommodate your work.

Start with the three key considerations every good home office coversefficiency, comfort, and separation. Efficiency ensures you get your work done as quickly and easily as possible. Comfort combines ergonomic features and fixtures that make the physical workspace not only tolerable, but pleasant throughout the workday. Separation is one of the biggest issues in setting up a home office. It means developing a space that doesnt interfere with other activities in the home and vice versa, so that you can effectively step away from the home office when your workday comes to an end. Get it right and youll still enjoy your home as a place you can comfortably live, socialize, relax, and even forget about work. Separation is also important in other ways. If your workspace is too integrated into the home, then noise, family members activities, and even pets may intrude on the workspace and your productivity time.

Home office spacing has to balance accessibility and unrestricted movement. In this relatively small whole-room workspace, the placement of the desk allows for comfortable movement behind it and plenty of room in front for visitors and meetings.

As this highly efficient and quite handsome office proves, a backyard utility space can provide an excellent place for your home office.

Correctly integrating any home office is more complicated than it might first appear. Beyond the obvious concerns of the proper equipment, a place to sit, and the right amount of storage for whatever you use and create in the process of what you do, there are a lot other considerations, which well cover in this book.

First things first, though. Youll start by figuring out the perfect landing spot for your new work area. Once youve

chosen that spot, youll develop the the layout and choose the furniture and equipment that will make your work possible. Youll deal with extending any necessary services to the workspace and getting your technology up and running. Finally, youll work on getting the look and feel of the space just right, so that it is a pleasing place in which to spend long hours making a living.

This can all seem a little overwhelming. Dont worry. This book has your back. Start by taking a breath and turning the page, because the rest of this book will lead you step by step through the process. Save yourself some time by making notes as you read, or just mark pages that apply to your particular work situation. Follow the process laid out in these chapters, and one things for sure: creating your home office will be as enjoyable as it is rewarding.

From small to large, technologically advanced to basic, and private to busy, home offices arent one size fits all. In the rest of the book, youll learn how to think about your particular home office needs and make the best decisions for your design. But start here and return for inspiration and ideas as needed.

Thoughtfully picking furniture, such as the black chairs in this home office that match the paint and dcor of the room, is one key way to ensure the home office doesnt stick out like a sore thumb.

Positioning is everything in a home office. Here, the computer monitor is placed so that the large window exposure doesnt create glare on the screen. Gauzy curtains diffuse the light so there are no hot spots in the workers field of view.