Rehab Diary: Storage in Unexpected Places, Home Office Edition - Remodelista
My husband and I designed our home office in our small London townhouse for two people–I would be the permanent fixture and another member of the family (my husband or one of our two sons), would be rotating temporary fixtures. Photography by Jonathan Gooch for Remodelista unless otherwise noted. Desperate to accommodate the overflow (and its accompanying mess), we figured out a simple way to create more workspace. When we first moved into our house, what’s now the office was the kitchen. We moved the kitchen downstairs and got to work designing our office, which is situated at the front of the townhouse and shares the second floor with the living room at the rear. The Original Office: Workspace for Two and Storage Galore When we relocated the kitchen downstairs, we decided to keep the sink–now incorporated into our two-person desktop made from stained butcher block. The only source of water on this level, the sink has proved invaluable for art projects and watering the plants on the balcony in the back. In the corner where I typically sit, there’s a monitor for easy laptop plug-ins and an ergonomic Aeron Chair by Herman Miller. The space has overhead spotlights, which we now realize aren’t in ideal locations for computer work because they introduce glare at night. As architects obsessed with order, we wanted to be able to tidy up quickly without misplacing anyone’s things, and so we introduced as much built-in storage as possible. From Ikea in the UK, the Moppe Wooden Chest of Drawers allow me to obsess over finding a place for everything, from sewing tools to desk supplies. Small Metal Cabinets from Bisley provide more storage under the desk of each work station. On the wall between the living room and the office, we slotted three-drawer lateral files under a recycled Ikea Stolmen shelving system in which everything from sewing projects to work files lives. Our paperwork is filed efficiently in metal Lateral Files from Silverline, and the shelf on top holds sundry items until they get tidied away. Creating more work space turned out to be easy: taking advantage of an empty wall right outside the office in the living room, we designed and installed a long, shallow counter-height desk with a white spray lacquer finish. The Office Addition: A Laptop Counter and Charging Station Photograph by Kristin Perers for Remodelista. Our new custom-built setup is intended as a place for temporary workers to perch on stools or stand when they need to plug in–enabling those (like me) with long-term projects to man the two-person main desk without fear of being asked to vacate. Meanwhile, our younger son, who is in the throes of exams now, and I share the home office. Photograph by Kristin Perers for Remodelista. The new counter-height desk (not seen in this photo) extends into the Vitsoe bookshelves on the long wall of our living room. Photograph by Kristin Perers for Remodelista. Tired of hunting all over the house for charging cords that have “walked,” we added eight outlets to the counter so that it works as a charging station–unfortunately, the cords still vanish. And see our kitchen solution in Rehab Diary: Sleuthing for Space in My Kitchen.