Making the Most of Your Kitchen Office
If you work from home, then one of the most important things you can have to increase your productivity and your success rate is a dedicated home office. However, if space is at a premium in your home, finding the right location for your home office can be a difficult task. Fortunately, when you need a home office but can’t find a space for it, there is one solution you may not have considered: a kitchen office.
By carving out a small portion of your kitchen, you can have the office space that you need and deserve. Read about how you can make the most of your kitchen office and find out how you can get help designing your office space from kitchen professionals.
Make it a Cooking-Free Zone
A mistake that many homeowners make when building a kitchen office is failing to separate their office space from their kitchen space. Whether you want a kitchen office for business or household usage, you need to make sure that it is its own dedicated space and that the kitchen does not infringe on it.
One of the best ways to keep your kitchen and your kitchen office separate is to construct your office away from the action. Build your kitchen office away from your big kitchen equipment like your refrigerator or stove. While it can be tempting to place your office near the refrigerator so you can take quick snack breaks, it’s better to make sure you won’t be bothered while working in your kitchen office. Tuck your office into a corner and increase its utility.
Think About Electronics
When you’re trying to locate the perfect spot in your kitchen for your kitchen office, one of the most important things to keep in mind is how you plan to use your office. If you’re mostly planning to use your office as a quiet space to work on paper records and physical projects, then you can place it pretty much anywhere. However, if you plan to use computers and smart devices in your kitchen office, then you need build your office near electrical outlets.
Placing your kitchen office near electrical access means being able to charge your phone, hook up a computer and even install a telephone if your office space needs it. It’s always a better idea to have electricity and not need it than to have to move your kitchen office once you find that you do require electrical hook-ups.
Storage is Key
When you’re working at your kitchen office, you want to make sure that all of your materials and supplies are within reach. This means that you need to seriously consider your storage options before you begin building your kitchen office. Because kitchen office space is often limited to one degree or another, you need to consider storage options that are low profile, but still offer you the level of utility that you’re looking for.
For example, if you’re trying to keep track of many important documents, then you could consider installing smaller filing cabinets in your kitchen office. If you feel like cabinets take up too much space, you could use shelving. Whatever storage option you choose, make sure it fits the space you have to work with and doesn’t make your kitchen office feel too crowded.
Keep Track of Your Documents
Many homeowners that decide to install a kitchen office do so in an effort to create an informational hub for their family. The kitchen office becomes a place where you can leave notes, where your children can do homework and where you can store all the important information related to your family’s life. If this is what you’re looking for out of your home office, then there are a few tips and tricks you can make use of.
First, if you have the space, install a corkboard or a whiteboard in your kitchen office. This will provide a space where you and your family can place notes and reminders that will be sure to be noticed. Secondly, dedicate at least one of your kitchen office drawers to family documents. This can include appointment cards, homework assignments and even pictures.
Your Kitchen Office is Still a Part of the Kitchen
While you need to make sure that your kitchen office is not affected by people using your kitchen, your office is still a part of the larger room, which means you can dedicate a small portion of your office to certain needs of your kitchen.
If you use shelving in your kitchen office, you can use one of those shelves for your most used cookbooks. Another good idea is to place a rolodex in your kitchen office that is filled with recipes instead of phone numbers. This will give you quick access to your family’s favorite recipes when you’re ready to make the transition from working in your office to cooking in your kitchen.
Brighten Your Workday
In any workspace, the key to getting the level of utility that you need is making sure that have access to bright lighting, and this extends to kitchen offices. Without the right lighting level, working in your kitchen office can feel like a chore, reducing your enjoyment of this space.
Since the best type of lighting is natural lighting, you should try to build your kitchen office near the windows in the room. Building near windows will provide you plenty of light throughout the day and make your kitchen office much more enjoyable. If having your kitchen office near your windows is not an option, you should make sure that there are lamps or overhead lights near your kitchen office.
Bright lighting is the key to making the most of your kitchen office.
Build a Kitchen Office with Professional Help
Building an office in your kitchen is one of the best decisions you can make as a homeowner. It gives your family a convenient workspace and increases the utility of the most useful room in your home. If you’re interested in building a kitchen office in your home, then you need to get design and construction help from the professionals at Kitchen Solvers.
The Kitchen Solvers team can examine your kitchen and tell you about your options for building a great kitchen office that meets your needs. Visit one of our locations today to get started.
Save
Save
Back