Work From Home... Successfully

If you’re like me, this sudden change from an in-office 40 hour work week to a work from home/ juggling children / running a household all at once change has been, well, a little jarring to say the least. At Found Design Co., we have been asked for help by many clients who need flexible home offices spaces – often where there is not a dedicated office “room.” This can appear challenging for many clients who have a hard time identifying how to create flexible work areas in spaces other than the dining room table. Let’s take a look at a case study on how we created flexible space for a client who wanted a built-in approach.

*Create a home office space that works as hard as you do, but also serves to energize and nourish your mind and spirit.*

First, we will start with what the client asked for, which are the usual’s : Storage, power access, ability to “hide the clutter.” Since the client did not have a dedicated office space, she was using her dining room table as a make-shift desk that was right in the middle of all the family action.

Then we dug a little deeper. We discussed pain points as we chatted about work-flow and discovered an issue neither she nor I had realized before… While working from home is convenient and, by and large possible with the use of technology and the connectiveness of virtual meetings- a deeper issue arose: the in-ability to disconnect. We knew that how we addressed her work space was critical to her productivity but also to her ability to step away and recharge during non-working hours.

Our solution was to make use of a “formal” front room that was under-utilized during the day. We created a display built-in that flexed to reveal a flip-down desk with hidden storage as well as adjacent built in storage to house a printer, binders and additional supplies. This flexible built-in “work wall” also housed a large media screen and camera that allowed for zoom meetings to take place in a spot other than her desk. The idea was to shape an immersive environment that was flexible and able to inspire creativity. Most importantly, when the work day was finished, our client could easily flip the desk surface up and minimize the, oh-so- familiar temptation, of working late into the evening.

This media display built-in doubles as a flexible work wall that houses a flip-top desk and ample storage. When not in use, the flip down desk simply closes and becomes integrated/hidden within the media built-in.

When in use, the flip down desk opens to reveal integrated storage, power for a laptop and USB charging as well as tackable cork or writeable back-painted glass wallcovering at the back vertical portion.

We also had the privilege of selecting new (budget friendly) furniture and fixtures to truly deck out this flexible work space and transform it into a creative work environment. We incorporated lots of natural finishes like wool, wood, leather and cork- paired with a few key pieces that added a punch of color and pattern.