Since 2020, working from home has become part of daily life, and many homeowners have set about creating a permanent home office. Although the home office isn’t a new concept, it’s always been nice to have a designated area for all desk duties rather than everyday work. Many of us have made the permanent transition from traditional office work to office life within our homes.
When it comes to planning, you will need to identify an underused space where you’ll most likely focus. It doesn’t need to be a whole room, but it must be comfortable enough for you to work in efficiently. During lockdown in 2020, a whole host of new home office possibilities became a thing, from the ‘shoffice’ (an office in your shed) to the ‘cloffice’ (an office in your closet).
The key to creating a bespoke home study is making it successful, usable and a professional space separated from the rest of the home. When speaking with our clients they all have their own unique working styles, but we always want to make sure function and form are combined with style in these spaces.
Working efficiently from a room away from the hustle and bustle of family life makes it so much easier to achieve a good work/life balance. With a delineated office space within your home, you can shut the door at 5 pm.
Handmade Kitchen Company is known for beautiful handcrafted kitchens but also builds bespoke furniture for other areas of the home, including studies and home offices. We utilise every inch of the room to provide stunning solutions for the end user, so no more working from the kitchen table or a makeshift desk in the spare room.
The Bespoke Home Study at a Glance
A bespoke home study is a dedicated workspace built into your home, designed around the room you have rather than assembled from off-the-shelf furniture. The essentials are a generous desk with built-in storage, a supportive ergonomic chair, plenty of natural light supplemented by well-positioned task lighting, and tailored storage such as open shelves, bookcases, drawers and cabinets. The aim is a space that feels professional and separate from family life, so you can close the door at the end of the day. At Handmade Kitchen Company we design and hand-build studies to suit the room and the way you work.
What are the home office essentials you need?
Working Desk
One of the most important parts of a home office is the desk, somewhere to put your computer or laptop. You may think that a sleek console table is a great choice but you need to think about what you need in front of you. Choose a desk that will have ample space, built-in storage and a stunning design.
Comfortable Seating
Something that needs to be high on the list is the office chair. You will need to make sure you are comfortable and your posture is suitably supported, and a dining chair is not the answer. An ergonomic chair is designed to enhance your level of comfort and reduce pressure on your body, ensuring you are supported for as many hours as you will be sitting there.
Perfect Lighting
The home study should be filled with as much natural light as possible, keeping your vitamin D levels topped up and reducing eye strain and headaches. However, on darker days, or in smaller spaces, you want to make sure you have the right light, positioned correctly.
Storage Solutions
Create a place for everything with our bespoke storage solutions. Choose from different styles, from open shelves and bookcases to drawers and cabinets with enough space to store all your office materials.
Our Bespoke Study Projects
Part of a huge renovation project in this beautiful cottage in the country is this bespoke study room, a home office that makes working from home a joy! Located on the ground floor and a room off the heart of the home is where we find our handleless cabinetry, which is a contemporary take on the traditional panelled design.
Following the neutral tones around the property, the study furniture has been hand-painted in Rolling Fog by Little Greene and oak-planked tops have been chosen to complete the look. The space has been beautifully organised with the filing system drawers, not forgetting a stunning glass-fronted display cabinet for sentimental pieces and office essentials.
After discussing and establishing what our client in Hadley Wood was exactly after, we put together a cohesive design built with desk space, storage and shelving, the home office they deserve. Our Classic Shaker style completes the look and is hand-painted in French Grey 113 by Little Greene, a fancy, luxurious grey that bounces the light beautifully. Another feature in this top-floor study is the tongue and groove backdrop and end panels.
Building the floor-to-ceiling furniture within the walls of this dedicated space, we broke up the design on each side which suited the space best. It would give the best efficient workspace to our client.
We as a team certainly built our clients a sleek and functional space that they won’t mind sitting in all day while they work from home. This space keeps the area fresh and current, and a wooden worktop was chosen to contrast the soft furnishings and linen wallpaper.
We later returned to this property to create a second study, designed as a library with a dual workstation, alongside a boot room and garden room kitchen. You can see it in Continuing the Hadley Wood Story.
How to create a dream home office environment with the following tips
Introduce the outdoors
Add some plants to the room such as succulents, cacti, a herb garden or some botanical accents. All types of plants will give your office a luxurious green addition, but also improve your health at the same time. The presence of nature and greenery helps us to relax, reduce our stress levels and improve productivity too, so add a houseplant to the top of the list.
Keep to the right temperature
Comfort is one of the main priorities in creating a good working space and you need the right temperature to be productive. Open up the window on warmer days and when the temperature drops, keep the room warm but not so warm that you start to feel sleepy.
Add some sound
For many people the ideal working area is a peaceful one, away from the hustle and bustle of daily life and other family members. Other individuals simply cannot focus without a little background noise, so make a playlist that helps you get into the zone.
Make a personal statement
Add a personal touch to your home office environment with your favourite photographs and artwork. Items like this should motivate you and inspire you to have a good day.
Bespoke Home Study FAQs
What is a bespoke home study?
A bespoke home study is a workspace designed and hand-built around your room rather than assembled from standard furniture. That means the desk, storage, shelving and cabinetry are made to your exact dimensions, so awkward walls, alcoves and ceiling heights are used rather than wasted.
What do you need in a home office?
The essentials are a desk with ample surface area and built-in storage, a supportive ergonomic chair, good natural light supplemented by correctly positioned task lighting, and tailored storage such as open shelves, bookcases, filing drawers and cabinets to keep everything in its place.
Do you need a whole room for a home study?
No. The space needs to be comfortable and allow you to work efficiently, but it does not have to be a full room. An underused corner, alcove or landing can become a proper study with bespoke furniture designed to fit it, though a separate room does make it easier to close the door at the end of the working day.
What colours work well in a home study?
Calm neutrals tend to work best. Our Essex study is hand-painted in Little Greene Rolling Fog with oak-planked tops, and our Hadley Wood study in Little Greene French Grey 113, a luxurious grey that bounces the light around a top-floor room.
Where does Handmade Kitchen Company design bespoke studies?
We design, hand-build and hand-paint bespoke studies, home offices and whole-home furniture from our workshop in Hertfordshire, for clients across Essex, Hertfordshire and North London.
For more ideas, take a look at our home study design trends and ideas.
Are you starting fresh in a spare room and seeking ideas for a home study? Contact us today for more info about building a bespoke office in your home. We will work with you and your style to create a suitable space to work in.
