Outfitting A Home Office: An Exercise In Versatility

A friend called while in the midst of a major home renovation. Part of the project was a new home office that she and her husband would share. Their previous "home office" was some desk space down in the basement next to the noisy old boiler. It wasn't pretty.

Their deceptively simple plea: come up with the perfect home office set-up for their video production business.

Our First Step: Understanding Their Needs, Work Habits & Lifestyle

The new home office was to occupy a room at the opposite end of the basement. It was an unusual size and layout with a low ceiling, but very workable.

Beyond the obvious need for two workstations rather than one, we came at them with a long list of questions, such as:

• Will they need meeting space? ("Yes")
• How many people typically attend the meetings? ("Up to 3")
• Will there ever be more? ("Yes")
• How much of their office time is spent at the computer? On the phone? Watching video footage? ("About evenly split")
• Do they primarily use desktop or laptop PCs? ("Laptops")
• What sort of filing requirements do they have? ("Mostly project files & video tapes")
• What interior decor style were they looking for? ("Sleek modern - contemporary classic")

Then came the "wild card" question: what else would you like to use this room for?

Her immediate response: "A place where I can find some peace and quiet."

Making Maximum Use Of Space

After consulting with their interior designers, we divided the room into separate functional spaces.

Work Space: Both husband and wife opted for a very simple and open desktop arrangement that was to be custom made. The work space would serve as the functional focal point of the room. A flat-screen video monitor would be mounted on the wall opposite the desks next to the door.

For optimum comfort and support, we selected a pair of black Aeron chairs equipped with the PostureFit lumbar support.

Meeting Space: They needed a meeting area suitable for collaboration with other creative professionals. The idea was to give the meeting space an "intimate but not cramped" feeling.

So we surrounded a small round table with red Caper multi-task chairs. They're small and light but amazingly comfortable. They're also available in a stackable variety, which meant an extra 4 could be stowed easily in the closet for those high occupancy days.

The kids, as it turns out, like the meeting space so much that it also now doubles for homework space.

Storage Space: In addition to the file drawers that were part of the desk arrangements, the homeowners needed shelf and cabinet space for video tapes and all sorts of odds and ends that creative people tend to accumulate.

The perfect choice here was the classic Eames storage unit to anchor the far end of the room. The textured natural wood finish added warmth and the panels added a splash of color.

Relaxation Space: Having an office at the far end of the basement gives it plenty of "peace and quiet" potential.

As you can see from the pictures thus far, everything other than the Aeron and the meeting table is pretty angular. And other than the Eames unit on the far wall, the room is dominated by black and white.

So we decided to create a relaxation space with some bold curves and color. The perfect team is a pair of Perfect Chairs and the iconic Noguchi coffee table.

The Perfect Chairs recline to what's known as the zero-gravity position, where there's absolutely no stress on your spine. It's one of those NASA developments that has been put to marvelous use here on Earth.

The red leather of the recliners matches the color of the Caper chairs around the meeting table, which helps bind one end of the room to the other.

Since my friends both use laptop PCs, we finished off their ideal home office with a rolling laptop stand so they could do email and other stuff while relaxing in their Perfect Chairs.

Mission Accomplished

Needless to say, they were ecstatic with how their new home office came together. And so were we.

As always, we're here to answer your questions and help you get the job done. Call us toll-free at 1-877-MY-OFFICE and one of our customer service reps can work through the details.