19/03/2021 - Home sweet office. Whether a professional choice or, like the past year, out of sheer necessity, working from home has become a big part of our daily lives, inevitably putting our domestic space to the test. How to create an office corner at home?
Just a year ago, we began to wonder what we needed to do to set up a workspace at home. Between makeshift dining room table workstations and improvised seating, we hoped that it was only temporary. Now that the health emergency still has us at home and the home office has become a space that we can't do without, creating a place to work at home is essential.
From a custom made desk to a retractable top to an open partition to a room of our own - here are a few examples of how to organise a workspace with newfound creativity and pragmatism.
Office corner in a nook
Niches and alcoves are valuable resources. A recess can transform even the most forgotten corner into a functional space. All you need is a desk, a chair and the right lighting. In this Vilnius flat, YLC studio chose the Calamo steel and leather desk and the iconic Mezzadro stool by Zanotta.
Work nook in a hallway
Corridors and hallways offer spaces for a respectable home office. In the Casa K renovation, architects Giuseppe Gurrieri and Giulia Filetti used a corridor to create a reading nook by a wall. Discreet and private, the space is unusual, but it still functions as a hallway.
The retractable office
Flap tops, pull-out tables, multi-tasking furniture and transformative solutions. Hiding the home office after work can be fundamental for disconnecting and separating home from office life.
For a Milan apartment in Via Archimede, the architect duo casatibuonsante created a small studio that can be hidden away in a built-in wall, the real backbone of the project. The iconic Lampadina by Flos captures our attention.
Functional, fun and unexpected. Clei provides transformable furnishings for the dynamic home office - from the bedroom to the office nook. The Penelope 2 Board wall unit, the App pull-out table and the Wally and Girò folding systems are solutions that help gain precious centimetres to use space only when it's needed.
Lago’s wood desk with drop-down doors is a compact, monolithic volume that can be positioned in a living room, entryway or in a separate room. A simple gesture transforms it from a sideboard into a desk.
True Design's Hella system is another solution for increased flexibility; it is a desk, a bookcase, a charging station and so much more.
Home office in a room
You can locate a workstation in the corner of a living space. A worktop flows into an open bookcase, used as a green partition in this open space Wroclaw apartment designed by studio Kohlrabi.
Alternatively, the workstation can be a simple piece of furniture, occupying extra spaces near balconies like in the Wardour apartment in London by Design Haus Liberty.
A built-in wall is also an excellent opportunity to create more workspace. The total wood system in ZOOCO estudio's project is a coordinated cluster and fulcrum of the project, housing desk and shelves while defining the home’s other rooms.
The charm of the writing desk
Smart and agile work brings back the lost fascination of writing desks - made for concentration. Classic yet profoundly versatile, the writing desk is one of the most fluid pieces of furniture in a home office space.
In this Bucharest flat, Jooca studio plays on the contrast between metal and wood for the workstation furnishings, including the desk.
GTV's Allegory Desk was designed by Gamfratesi as an ideal shelf for the home office. The large weave in Vienna straw, the material of choice, makes unusual use of the disc form: from aesthetic to functional, additional accessories and reminders can be attached to its weave.
Minimal, retro, rigorous or multi-tasking - Living Divani desks enter the home quietly thanks to its graphic lines, subtle silhouettes and harmonious material combinations.
Green office corner
At home and in the office, greenery helps us work better, aids concentration and provides a sense of well-being. If a plant near a desk can reduce stress, a domestic jungle can become a true means of oxygenation.
Thin, dynamic and flexible, the Albero vase holder designed by Achille Castiglioni for Zanotta creates a small domestic vertical forest. The iconic Cavour desk, a tribute to Carlo Mollino, camouflages its sculptural character. Symbolic and allusive, the silkscreen print by Enzo Mari for Danese, silently appears on the wall.
Work corner in a bedroom
If space is used intelligently, a temporary workstation can be organised in the bedroom. In this residential complex, Raca Architekci integrates the workspace with a system for storing objects and clothing.
Work in a loft
For those who prefer spaces for meditation, a loft can purge all visual stimuli and encourage concentration.
In the London studio by Fraher & Findlay, this workspace enjoys the benefits of overhead light and the cosy, relaxing effect of total wood.
For the renovation of a flat in Milan, ITCH studio plays with the vertical connection as a furnishing element. Wood tops attached to steel tubes create a workspace.
The worktop that furnishes
Minimal and multifunctional, the extension of the worktop makes it possible to work and furnish an entire wall at the same time. Studio Arhitektura d.o.o. chose a built-in that focuses on warm wood tones in this Ljubljana flat.
