For many of us, remote working has replaced commuting to an office. Some may never return to the office, while others may split time between home and office once COVID-19 restrictions ease. Either way, at-home work and study are here to stay. You may be considering renovations and additions to your home to accommodate more family members living and working together for many more hours each week. How can you best improve your home to create a workspace that optimizes your productivity and provides the privacy you need?

In this new reality, your virtual meetings and classrooms offer a public window into your home. Organize to separate your workspace from your children, pets, and clutter. Capture a controlled background from your camera to frame a pleasing composition behind you, such as an orderly display of your treasures. Add indirect lighting to illuminate your face and highlight focal elements behind you. In short, create a curated stage set-like setting that you intentionally share with your clients and colleagues.

A home office should provide acoustical and visual separation between work and family functions. Separation can help you dispel the feeling that you are living at work 24/7. Consider adaptive reuse of an under-utilized room or attic as a quick and affordable home office alternative and renovations to storage areas to create a place for everything to maintain order in your busy home. Think creatively about the spaces within your home or possible additions and renovations, to optimize your home’s functionality as both a workplace and a comforting personal sanctuary. Everything evolves over time, and your home can also transform to make the most of this “new normal” in which we find ourselves.

Raphael Architects has been creating transformative architecture to meet the changing needs of our clients for over three decades.