How to make your home office work for you

By Eleanor Flegg

“A home office has become a must have in a lot of houses,” says Gwen Kenny, interior designer. The vast majority of her clients require one. Many of these may have worked from the kitchen island during the pandemic. Now, they recognise the need to shut the door on the office at the end of the day. “If they’re constantly reminded of what they do, they never get a break from work.”

In home office design, everyone’s needs are different. Some like their desk to face the window, others find this distracting. Not everyone is comfortable with a door behind them. Who knows what may creep up behind you as you work? Some like to surround themselves with a comforting mess of books and papers; others need everything to be tided away.

“I’ve designed home offices for couples,” Kenny says. “Both working from home, but in different businesses. Sometimes one of them is neat and the other needs to spread themselves. I’d go bananas!” Kenny is married to a joiner, Tadgh Kenny of Chisel and Plane. They collaborate successfully on projects, from separate office spaces.

Most home workers prefer a room of their own, with a door they can shut against the world. This isn’t always possible. Where space is tight, or the home office is located in a multi-functional room, Kenny recommends a “cloffice” – an office in a closet. This is a new name for an old concept.

The Victorian bureau desk had a slanting lid that shut the worktop from view. The modern cloffice is more likely to be wall-mounted with a pull-out desk below shelving. Off-the-peg cloffices are available but are not yet widespread.

The Matheo Oak Hideaway Cabinet Desk (€‌955.99) from La Redoute is elegantly styled but tricky to acquire in Ireland. The best option is to order from the UK website for delivery to an address in Northern Ireland.

In all of this, ergonomics is the elephant in the room. “Ergonomics are so important,” Kenny says. “Even when people think they’re getting it right, they’re probably not.” The problem is that human beings did not evolve to work on computers for 8 hours a day.

Our heavy heads – on average between 4.5 and 5 kg in weight – are designed to be in alignment with the spine. When this balance changes, even by a small degree, it puts pressure on the neck. “A lot of people use laptops. They either have their set-up right for the arms or right for the eyes, but not for both.” A separate screen and keyboard can help a lot.

Seating is another issue. Sitting too much is bad for your health, yet most office jobs require it. Ikea’s sit-stand desks range from the Segrare (€90), operated with a manual crank handle, to the electrically-powered Mittzon (€435). Saddle stools or chairs, as used by dentists and hairdressers, are reportedly better for the back than standard office chairs.

“I’ve ordered one for my own office,” Kenny says. “You can find them in hairdresser suppliers and the design is quite minimalist.” The FRNIAMC adjustable saddle chair has won awards (from around €100 on Amazon).

A home office from the Dublin-based joinery company, Custom Made, costs between €4,500 to €8,000, depending on size and complexity, with an average spend of €6,000. “Most clients want a peaceful, uncluttered space to help them focus,” says in-house designer, Vanessa Manta. “They want plenty of storage without making the room feel busy. When that’s the case, I tend to recommend floating shelves, open shelving, or storage under the desk to keep things light and functional.”

The trend is for bright colours with oak or walnut elements and integrated lighting, either LED strips or downlights. “Shaker-style doors with small knobs or handleless fronts are the most popular,” Manta says. Most of her clients are hybrid workers. “This definitely influences their home office needs. They need enough worktop space to accommodate a multi-monitor setup and a printer. The space needs to be practical for regular use, but not necessarily set up like a full-time commercial office.”

While some integrate a desk into the living room by combining it with the TV unit, the overwhelming preference is for a separate, dedicated room.

No home office, however well designed, will remain uncluttered in a messy home. “If you struggle with accumulation of stuff, it tends to flow into every area of your life,” says decluttering coach Suzy Kell.

Decluttering is a state of mind, rather than a particular project, but working from home brings its own challenges. “A cluttered desk brings a feeling of chaos. It’s distracting and makes it hard to concentrate.”

Kell’s solution is simple: “Get rid of anything that’s obviously rubbish and anything that has an obvious home.” Once the books have been restored to the bookshelf and the pens to their resident mug, tackle the anomalies. Unlidded Tupperware containers can bring order to a drawer.

“I like to have a one-step put-away,” she explains. “Small items of stationery can simply be dropped into place. It helps if they have an obvious place to land. If you have a tech drawer, wind up the cables and fasten them with a rubber band so they don’t turn into a crazy spaghetti of cables.”

Paperwork can still be a problem. “With paperwork comes the fear of throwing something important away,” Kell explains. “Some of my older clients feel they need to keep a record of everything. This can lead to piles of unprocessed papers and packed filing cabinets. In extreme cases, I’ve seen rooms full of shopping bags filled with papers.”

The fear of discarding important paperwork is legitimate. Many people have died intestate because their Last Will and Testament went out with the recycling. “If you think a document may be important, check it at source. Call the bank or the solicitor. If in doubt, keep a scanned copy.”

Once the accumulation of clutter has been dealt with, a regular tidy-up routine will stop it from getting out of hand. “A 30-second clean-up at the end of the day is a good habit,” Kell says. “It’s easier to start a new day with a clean desk.”

​See @gwen_kenny_designer, chiselplane.com, custommade.ie, suzykell.com

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