Inspiration

Making ‘Work From Home’ Work for YouThe phrase “work from home” has become one we are now all too familiar with, but its impact on our homes has been more widespread than originally predicted. Our work that was initially done in high rise office buildings has moved to our beds or dining room tables. Now, after some time to adjust, work has moved into its own nook in the home: the home office. With this migration of all aspects of our lives happening at home, the entire concept of the home office and our home office design ideas have been reinvented to suit our new needs.Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, a designated office space in the home was more of a luxury than a necessity. We may have had desks to house our drawers full of personal documents or forgotten craft supplies, but not much actual work was being done at them. Now in 2021, a home office is not just a want, but a need for most people.With more of our homes being shown on Zoom these days, the need for a functional, stylish and calming workspace has only increased. The reality of our lives, from kids to pets to clutter, is now on full display, so we have no real need to try and conceal this with minimalistic design anymore.Finding the perfect work from home office designsStark whites have given way to a variety of color and pattern combinations. Dark, contrasting hardwoods have given way to lighter, more inviting tones, like COREtec’s Lyric Oak and Shoreline Maple. Products like these give our home office space a brightness that keeps us motivated when the couch is calling and keeps us glowing during our virtual meetings.     While we still crave organization within our workspaces, the crisp and empty aesthetics that were popular in years prior have given way to more practical styles that allow us to use as much of our space as possible. What used to be a room used mostly for organizing bills or maybe even just an empty corner of the living room is now being utilized to serve a variety of purposes. Kids need a school desk, parents need a workspace, and our new quarantine hobbies need a place to live.Hybrid & Functional Home office design ideasWhile we need our homes to serve a lot more purposes nowadays, we don’t all have the luxury of one space for one purpose. We need products to improve the efficiency of these spaces to serve all of our needs. Stylish, durable and functional products can help us get the most out of our space. COREtec’s Pro offers flooring that is waterproof, warmer and quieter than competing floors, and impact and dent resistantEven as we transition back into a more “normal” way of life, many are still choosing to work from home or have adapted to more hybrid work schedules. While this has definitely shortened our commutes, it has simultaneously increased our need for a designated work space that helps us separate the different aspects of our lives now all taking place within our homes.Pre-pandemic, the simple act of entering our homes marked the difference between the workday and our free time. Now, these aspects of our lives are intertwined, and it can be hard to switch the brain from work to relaxation after logging off. Whether it be a new desk or a certain seat on the couch, designating a specific location for work can help to ease the transition at the end of the workday.This past year has brought about a lot of change; that’s clear. This has created a strong need for comfort and the desire to curate an experience within our spaces, whether that be through personal photos and trinkets or cozy blankets and rugs.For those of us living with roommates or family members, our limited amount of personal space has to serve a lot of purposes: private work spaces, places to work out, personal sanctuaries for relaxing, and so much more. Because of this, we’ve had to put intentional effort into curating our spaces to meet this wide variety of needs.Something that we might have just bought off the rack in passing back in 2019 is now something that we’re taking our time picking out so that we can find the perfect products to fit our spaces. We want desk chairs with adequate back support, keyboards that feel nice under our fingers, and storage to help us transition our spaces through their different uses. Things like rugs help us to feel cozy while high quality resilient flooring allows us to go from pillow forts to at home yoga with ease.All the change of the past year has forced us to adapt our homes to fit this “new normal”. As we adjust, we’ve curated spaces that fit our personal styles and needs and allow us to truly enjoy the spaces we inhabit.Our home office designs have come to reflect who we are and what we value in life, adding an extra layer of comfort to our days by reminding us what we’re working for. Stylish, durable, and functional products paired with organization and comfort pieces make our lives easier and help our space to work for us. While our needs are constantly evolving, one thing we can be certain of is that the need for a home office is not going away.