Alternative for office/home office on the ground floor

Hello everyone,

last week an interesting discussion about the topic of home office started at our workplace.

Due to the current situation, many employees were allowed to work from home. However, a suitable and/or separate room is not always available.

The same question arises with new construction - should I consider an office or does it take away important space, especially in smaller houses, that could be better used?

A colleague set up a garden shed as an office. However, that is not always comfortable, for example, he sometimes has to go through the garden in the rain to get to the house to use the toilet. Another suggestion was an extra room in a garage - but living space is not always permitted there, right?

Has this question come up for you as well, and if so, how did you solve it?

We clearly decided from the beginning to plan for an office, even though currently no one works from home - even though we are building a mini-house (especially by the standards of this forum). It is even designed so that theoretically both of us could work there someday. As long as we don't need it, it will be used as a guest room. In five or six years, when it is needed, a new sofa bed will be purchased and the guest room will be abolished. Just in case, we will also install the necessary connections in the walk-in closet now, so that theoretically another workspace could be created there.

A family can make good use of a multipurpose room that can be used as an office, sports and hobby room, or as a storage place, as well as for an emergency bed for a guest. Otherwise, interior designers in expensive apartments are often clever to equip built-in closets or storage rooms homely with a pull-out shelf or desktop PC. A sewing machine can also be integrated this way. This is suggested in niches in the hallway, living or bedroom, but also under stairs or kitchen cabinets. Such a conversion is often costly, so a cupboard in a single-family house, where a door then also separates the user, is preferable.

If a room is to be used as a Home Office, i.e., not for mobile working as many are currently practicing temporarily, the Arbeitsstättenverordnung must be complied with.

I think you need a room like that. For office stuff, possibly home office, with a pull-out couch for guests, possibly space for a cross-trainer, additional storage options besides the often tiny utility room in houses without a basement... Just some reserve space. However, of course, the space has to be available. With 120 sqm for 4 people, it can already get tight, for example. But in average houses of 140-160 sqm, I would always try to allocate 8-10 sqm for such a multifunctional room. I would rather do without a dressing room or children's bathroom. And for me, such an office is not simply a home office but, as described, a multifunctional room.

Base your decision on the following questions:

[*
What do I need in order to work well?
[*]When do I work?
[LIST]
[*]Am I undisturbed then?
[*]Do I disturb others then?


[*]What requirements does my employer have?


[*]Possibly a future employer?

I have solved this very flexibly for myself – we basically live as two people in a one-room house. I prefer to sit at the dining table, but then I annoy my wife when she is at home. Therefore, I also have a small hidden desk (Müller Flatmate) on the gallery. When I have many conversations, I go into the motorhome or use a kind of workspace outside the house. There I also receive business partners.
A separate room would make things easier in some respects – but it would also disrupt the very private character of our house.
If one of the children moves out of their apartments, I can set up an office there without connection to our living space – toilet, kitchenette, own front door – that way it could be separated.