Closet can make nice workstation in home office

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This article was published 17/11/2002 (8444 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

QUESTION — We live in an older home (built in the ’20s) and are undergoing some renovations, most of which we are doing ourselves.

We have a room that we have used as a home office but would like to use for several purposes, including a place for watching television, and as an extra sleeping area for guests.

We are planning to “gut” this room and are open to any suggestions on how to place furniture.

We plan to buy a new computer desk and a sofa bed, although we would prefer two large, comfortable chairs.

The room faces north and can be cool in the winter.

The floors will be refinished to the original maple with an inlay mahogany detail all around, but we would love to hear your ideas for colours and furniture placement.

answer — A space like this one presents so many opportunities that it’s hard to know where to begin.

But such a large, well-proportioned room should create few problems in space planning and you should be able to meet all the criteria you have mentioned.

The home office function is the one area that interested me first.

Rather than purchasing a unit that may or may not function for your needs, consider taking over the large closet space for use as the workstation.

While it may seem like a sizable investment at first, I believe that a custom cabinet here will be more fitting in this space and may not cost much more than a good prefabricated piece.

It may be designed with one side of shelving for handy storage of books; cabinets for files, stationary and computer supplies, and a long expanse of horizontal work space.

Shelving may be a combination of “open” and “closed” (closed storage may emulate a glass-fronted “lawyer’s bookcase,” for example).

At more than 76 centimetres deep and more than 1.8 metres wide, the closet provides a wonderful opportunity to create a custom workspace that can be tailored precisely to your business.

Since this workstation will be featured prominently in the room, design it with a traditional flair, opting for materials and finishes from the style of the house and one that complements some of the other pieces you will be using in the space.

As part of the renovation, you should consider the electrical and communication requirements of a home office.

While the walls are exposed is a good time to have all the necessary wiring required for today’s office and entertainment needs.

Be sure to provide a dedicated circuit for the computer and its peripheral equipment. You should also have at least one phone jack so that you don’t have to climb under the desk to access when you want to go from phone to fax, or from phone to modem.

The key to buying a good sofa bed is in its comfort.

Sofa beds are notorious for being hard because of the mechanism required for the pull-out bed function, so test it both for seating (like any sofa you would buy for comfortable television viewing), and for sleeping (as you would when buying a mattress).

With this plan in mind, I see no reason why you can’t have both a sofa bed and two comfortable chairs.

If you have existing occasional chairs in good condition, look for a sofa fabric that complements those.

If you plan to buy new or to reupholster existing chairs, I would recommend that you use the same fabric or a similar fabric for all three pieces.

My plan shows two large occasional chairs with a large ottoman, prominently flanking the sofa and facing towards the television.

The ottoman can do double-duty as a coffee table and foot rest, and will easily push out of place when the sofa bed is opened.

The room’s large, north facing windows will give it constant, even light and contribute to the room’s feeling of spaciousness.

Warm colours, from the orange and yellow families, will help make the space feel more comfortably toasty.

In my opinion, cool colours like blues and greens, should be avoided with northern solar exposures, since they will contribute to making the space feel cooler.

You can contact interior designer David Ferguson at his Web site.

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