Here are some things to consider before you start looking for home office furniture:

Clearly identify your office space within the home - is it a shared area or a dedicated room?  How much space do you want to dedicate?  Sketch out the area with some basic measurements - if you need some help click here

Do you want to utilise space in your garden or garage?  - Browse our garden offices and garage conversion sections for inspiration.

Is there ample natural light? - You may need to include additional desktop or overhead lighting.

Are there sufficient power and telecom points - think about how you will route cables to your area of work (this is often overlooked). Do you want to incorporate audio visual technology such as a plasma screen or Wi-Fi into your office area?

Do you have plans to move house or relocate your home office in the future? This will have a bearing on the type of furniture that's best for you - i.e. built-in, freestanding, a combination of both.

How much time will you spend at your workstation?  When there, what will you be doing most of?  Working at the PC? Reading documents? Drawing, sketching, designing? Using the telephone? Maybe a combination of all of these?

Think about how much worksurface you ideally need - don't just find a desk to fit into your space - there are many different ways to incorporate worksurface into small areas - contact us if you need some help.

What do you have to accommodate? Phone, fax, computer and/or laptop, printer(s), files? What needs to be close at hand? 

Do you ever have visitors for meetings? How will you accommodate them? Do you need a 'time-out' or 'easy' zone away from the workstation but within the office area?

Analyse your storage needs - what type of storage do you need? Media, general files, books, magazines, samples? How much of it is needed to be close at hand and how much can be stored elsewhere - e.g. archived in a secure location - always over-estimate to leave room for growth!

What style do you really want? What type of house do you live in? Contemporary, period, open plan? Have you seen a style of furniture that you like? Browse through the gallery, look through magazines for inspiration.  You don't have to find the actual products, just give us an idea of what sort of thing you like and we'll find it for you.

There are often many variables to consider, but by thinking about these things and exploring different options before you buy any furniture, you will easily create your ideal home office.  If you are unsure of what will be suitable for your needs, please talk to us!

More Advice...

Ask our experts a question - create a discussion or post a message on the board for our experts to respond!

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