How to Make Your Home Office More Stylish, According to Design Experts
Making the most of your office hours looks quite a bit different when youâre clocking in a short stroll from your bedroom, which has become the norm, at least part of the time, for many professionals. With the usual distractionsâkids, pets, the regular household buzzâand spaces built before the ubiquity of telecommuting, many are still playing catch-up to optimize their home for productivity, but without sacrificing a room to resemble an I.T. hub.
According to Charlotte Green, of Mayfair-based design studio Sixty3 London, a proper home office is now âan essential, as opposed to a nice-to-have.â Multi-hyphenate designer and author Kelly Hoppen agrees. Her London firm has seen an uptick in requests for workspaces in the home âthat are not only functional but also comfortable, luxurious, and balanced.â Today, architects and designers are creating more customized quarters brimming with advanced technology and bespoke furniture. Here, expert advice on everything from where to locate a home office to the high-end tech that will make your Zoom calls sound like youâre actually in the room.
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Location, Location, Location
Ground-up builds and full guttings mean you can choose the placement of your office, but think twice before defaulting to a central spot. âThe floorplan from four years ago doesnât work anymore,â says New Yorkâbased interior designer Nate Berkus. âThe home office used to be in the middle of the home, off the kitchen or family room, but people are moving it down the hall to feel a separation between the home and the home office.â The physical remove helps delineate work from home, making the office a destination unto itself.
Sound Off
The need for silence while workingâespecially during video callsâhas a big impact on how designers construct a space. âPrivacy is paramount,â says Sergio Molho of acoustic-design consultancy WSDG. âAcoustic isolation ensures confidentiality and a pristine auditory environment.â Structurally, this means using high-value-STC (sound transmission class) doors and windows to keep the noise out. But noise inside must also be factored in. To prevent echoes, WSDG places sound-absorbing materials such as acoustic panelsâwhich can be invisibly integrated into the ceilingâas close to the sound sources as possible.
Desk Marks the Spot
The desk is often the roomâs centerpiece, so positioning is crucial. âWe donât like to do desks that face a wall, as it makes them feel confining,â says designer Ali Budd from her Toronto studio. â[You want to look out] at an open space whenever possible.â
What you donât want to see is a tangle of wires. To avoid unseemly cords stretched across the room, Budd has designed desks that run the power cable down the inside of the leg of the desk and directly into a floor outlet. This is where antique pieces prove problematic: Itâs hard to hide much tech inside without retrofitting, which means you might want to consider whether itâs still the right workspace for your modern job.
âOne hundred percent of our clients want [integrated] tech,â says London-based designer Katharine Pooley, who has designed castles, superyachts, and jets for royalty around the world. âTheyâre used to it, and they want it done better.â This means seamlessly integrating the technology in such a way that ânone of our desks have computers or wires on them anymoreâeverythingâs wireless, everythingâs seamless.â A bespoke Pooley design allows for computers to be concealed within the casework, to be raised and lowered at the push of a button; these statement desks are made by hand and can take up to eight months, with prices running into the high five figures or more.
Getting Wired
âTechnology canât be ignored, though sometimes it can be hidden,â agrees Berkus. But what if multiple large screens are integral to your daily work? In that case, he says, âthereâs no point having a useless, beautiful office.â When tech canât be dispensed with or covered up, designers turn to advanced options that require minimal amounts of space. Appleâs Mac Studio computer has powerhouse processing in a diminutive footprint, while Sony makes a tiny broadcast-quality camera, the FX3, thatâs Netflix-approved for shooting movies. And itâs not just about looking good. At nearly a century old, Neumann produces reference-quality studio equipment including the TLR 170R microphone and MT 48 mixer, while Sennheiserâs out-of-frame MKH-50 mic was used on set for both Breaking Bad and David Fincherâs The Social Network.
Best Seat in the House
If you spend hours sitting at a desk, choose comfort over chic. âGone are the days of picking a home-office chair on the aesthetics alone,â notes Berkus, who has designed spaces for the likes of Ricky Martin and Karlie Kloss. âThe request for decently designed, ergonomic seating is constant,â he says. Sergio Silva, vice president of design and innovation at ergonomic-furniture brand Humanscale, suggests keeping it simple. âStay away from over-stylized designs,â he says. âChairs that focus on function and simplicity tend to have a timeless aesthetic.â
Silva recommends Humanscaleâs Freedom chair (designed by the late Niels Diffrient, the âfatherâ of ergonomics) for a sleek, self-adjusting seat that adapts to the userâs movement rather than the other way around.
Call Centered
âThe background of a video call has become a key element of design,â explains Hoppen, who designed Sydneyâs lavish Sirius Building, while Berkus notes it has been âa consideration for every project in the last three yearsâwe have conversations about camera and Zoom angles.â If a picture paints a thousand words, your backdrop speaks volumes before you ever open your mouth. At Pooleyâs ChĂąteau de la Croix des Gardes, in Cannes, the office features a collection of rare books that are beautiful but also functional: They diffuse the direct reflection of noise, thus improving the sound profile of the room. Berkus says that a successful project always comes down to balance. âYou donât want it to read as too opulent, too studied, too finished,â he says. âA properly designed home is always at the crossroads of function and beauty.â
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