You can have an office in your home

Press, 8 October 1987, Page 33

You can have an office in your home

An office in the home is very convenient but not everyone has enough space for one whole room to be used only for that purpose.

Most people would like a space where they can work at night without having to use the dining table. All that is needed is enough space where a study area can be made, not a room as such.

Then dad will have a place where he can do the office work he seems to bring home every night. Mum will have a place to put the sewing machine where she can leave it if she has not finished.

Students in the family will be able to lock themselves away from the distractions of the televiion. Somewhere in the house there will be a wall which can be used as a home office: a place where a desk will fit, some overhead or full height wall shelves, plus perhaps a set of drawers

to serve as a filing cabinet.

On the market today is a wide selection of wall type units that can be developed for a study area — these can provide us with a desk, shelving and filing cabinet. Perhaps the most versatile desk top is a flush door; it is easy to obtain a damaged or paint grade door and its size provides a work surface far more functional than a standard desk.

Shelving can be fitted to the wall above the work surface and below there is ample room for a set of kit-set drawers or even more open shelves — the perfect mini-study!

If the top is too wide — doors come in a variety of sizes — then you should look at the possibility of hinging it to the wall so that it can be dropped down or folded up.

Another advantage of

this type of home office is the price.

Each part can be developed as finance allows, the top first, then the shelving, later the filing cabinet, though the luxury of the swivel chair comes much later.

Open shelving always looks better than a group of cupboard doors. The study area is there to be used; it is not a piece of furniture for show.

When choosing the place for your office, you should consider how much space you have in the master bedroom.

Maybe you have a wide hallway. Could one of the children’s bedrooms be rearranged, or is there a more convenient place against a wall in the family room?

An open study can be achieved with careful thought and reallocation of space in at least one room.