Getting started on your custom home office

Your home office space is like your lair. It’s your zone, your place in which to focus and get things done, yet it still provides the comfiness of  home.  Whether you work from home primarily or you use your home office space for bills, emails and paperwork, it’s important that the space strikes the perfect balance between comfortable and focusing.

Here are some questions to help you begin your home office customization project:

(1) Do I want my space to be strictly a work space or a multi-use space?

(2) Do I want to go for a total custom design (a custom room layout including built-in cabinetry or shelving and custom furniture and fixtures), or am I just looking for some custom touches to make my office feel more “me”?

(3) Do I want my home office to fit seamlessly into the rest of my home’s decor and atmosphere or do I want it to feel like a “space apart” from the rest of my living space?

There are lots of different ways to personalize and customize your home work space. Once you’ve got a sense of the scope of your project, you can start thinking about what you’d like to customize to optimize your work flow and capture your personality.

Ryan Detzel, CustomMade’s VP of Engineering, knew he wasn’t going to customize a separate room in his home but rather chose to integrate his home office as a multi-use space. He opted for a few custom touches to make his area his own, and the style of his workspace matches the overall look of the rest of his house – simple, modern, and comfortable.

CTO Ryan Detzel's home office space is clean and modern and incorporated into the main living area so he can hang out with his family while plunking away at his tasks. THis kind of setup works for folks who do well working with some background noise and activity as opposed to a secluded workspace, and the style is very modern, simple, and crisp.

“I think it’s always interesting to see where people work so when I’m
not in the office this is usually where I’m at. I like working here
when I’m not in our actual office because I can do work while “hanging out” with my wife.”

Contemporary lateral file by Roltgen's Woodworks available through CustomMade.com

A modern home office look can be achieved with some basic pieces that can be easily integrated into an existing space, like this contemporary file cabinet by Jeff Roltgen.  If you like the look of Ryan’s simple black desk, the modern ebonized oak desk by J.R Signature Creations of Carmel, NY might be a perfect fit for your home office. Its unique legs give it personality, but it doesn’t command an entire room and could be incorporated into a common space without stealing the whole decor show:

This Ebonized Oak Desk by J.R Signature Creations can be ordered custom on CustomMade.com for a modern, sleek workspace

Not everyone, though, wants a causal workspace integrated into the central living area. If you’re looking to create a more traditional home office, a room in your home designated as your office space with deliberate furnishing and decor to make you feel at home but put you right in the work zone,  check out CustomMade CFO Seth Rosen’s home office:

CFO Seth Rosen's home office space has a totally different vibe from Ryan's. His home office is a "space apart" from the rest of his home that allows him to focus solely on work, and he went for a total-design-customization by customizing each piece of furniture to create a home office atmosphere that looks and feels exactly the way he wants it. Seth's decor tastes are more traditional than Ryan's; he favors exposed wood grains, visible joinery, and marks of craftsmanship that show the Maker's handprint.

“Here is my home office!  Note the cherry burl Desk Chair by Shangri La Woodworks, the custom desk by Heartwood Furniture, and custom “Girlz Weekend” coffee mug  by my wife.”

Seth put together the entire room with a centralizing decor theme that draws from the Arts and Crafts aesthetic, emphasizing materials and craftsmanship, and seamless integration of furniture elements into the overall room structure.

You can customize a traditional office chair like Seth’s by contacting Shangri La Woodworks.

Have a blast personalizing your home office, and don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions along the way!