With an increasing number of people working from home, our kitchens are doubling up as an impromptu office space. With a few changes, you can create a comfortable and functional office in your kitchen or dining room.
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With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020, many of us found ourselves working from home with only a few days notice. Unless you already had a home office, it was a scramble to find a place to work. The kitchen table seemed an obvious place, so takeaway leaflets and fruit bowls were pushed aside and the kitchen office was born. Many of us are still working from home almost a year later, and we’ve collated some kitchen office design ideas to help you.
Choosing your space
Creating a kitchen office space doesn’t have to take up a lot of room, or even be a permanent fixture. If you’re looking to keep this strictly temporary, you only need somewhere to sit and a surface for your computer. In this instance, it’s worth clearing out a kitchen cupboard to store your work equipment to allow it to be swiftly packed away at the end of the working day.
You’ll want to situate yourself near at least one plug socket, preferably more. Having cables trailing all over your kitchen isn’t ideal. It’s also advisable not to be too close to the sink!
If you do decide that you’d like a full-time kitchen office, small corners of your kitchen can be repurposed easily to accommodate a desk and chair. For the long term health of your back, you may wish to consider an ergonomic office chair, but it might be a struggle to get this to fit into your decor scheme!
Let there be light
A space for working has very different lighting requirements than one for cooking or dining. Our kitchens are very often empty during the working day, so you may not have considered how to light them for this purpose. Positioning yourself by a window is ideal, but not always possible. Overhead lighting may be positioned behind you, creating unwanted shadows and glare.
The simplest solution is task lighting. It doesn’t specifically need to be an office lamp; a bedside lamp will work, as long as it provides enough light. If you’re short on desk space, consider a wall/ floor mounted light or one with a clip that you can attach to a nearby shelf. It doesn’t even need a dedicated plug socket, as there are plenty of affordable models that can be powered by USB.
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Utilise empty wall space
Your home office should take full advantage of any dead wall space in your kitchen. Shelves, notice boards and even chalkboards can help you to store everything you need to work without it creeping into the rest of the room. There are also wall-mounted desks available that’ll fold flush to the wall when not in use, perfect for small kitchen office ideas.
In view of current government guidelines regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, our Buckingham showroom is currently closed. However, we are able to operate a fully virtual service, wherever you are in your kitchen design journey. Give our team a call on 01280 822749 to start the ball rolling.