No one needs to tell us twice about the benefits of keeping work separate from home. But what do you do when you're forced to work in the place where you normally relax and kick back to watch zombie flicks? Create a top secret slide-open home office, like Australian firm Nexus Designs did with this Melbourne apartment...
When divvying up a space that's used for both hanging out and professional work, there are 3 things to keep in mind:
If you plan to knock down walls, be sure to get a second opinion from your go-to contractor to see if it will be testing the integrity if your home's structure. An alternative would be to use curtains instead of sliding door features.
Once everything checks out and you're ready to design, be sure your secret office can blend into the rest of the home when not in use. Nexus Designs was able to deftly incorporate a secret professional workspace into the rest of the home by choosing a neutral color on the sliding door, the hue complementing other earthly-colored furnishing and decorative elements. Unless carefully inspected, the door appears to be just another wall, and that's what makes the slide away so wonderfully surprising.
Also, it doesn't hurt to have another entrance into the office to be used as a guest bedroom when you're not busy creating the next big thing.
Be judicious with lighting. Make sure when the walls are down that both rooms can flow into each other, but when separated, they can function independently as well.
Nothing beats a home that carries with it some clever functionality with the lifestyle of the owner. Even if that means living like James Bond for a moment or two.
More Info: Nexus Designs
Via: Design Milk
(Images: Earl Carter for Nexus Designs)
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Love this concept. I created a similar solution (though much faster and cheaper) with a Pax wardrobe from IKEA. My "office" is behind the wardrobe's sliding door in my hallway. With one of the wardrobe shelves positioned at counter height, I can just slide open the door and pull over a stool from the kitchen when I want to work. A small hole cut into the back of the wardrobe means I can also plug task lighting, printer, and shredder directly into the wall outlet behind the unit. The Pax system can be configured to many different dimensions and styles.
AUNT CHE CHE: we'd love to see (and maybe share) your project..sounds like an impressive IKEA hack!
Thanks, Gregory. It's not a hack exactly since I didn't alter the structure in any way, other than adding the little hole to access the wall outlet. Time Out Chicago did a paragraph about it in a story on storage solutions in 2009 - see #3:
http://timeoutchicago.com/shopping-style/home-design/68839/contain-yourself
I'd love to see the sliding wall "in place", before being slid out at all....great idea!
Aunt Che Che- love the PAX wardrobe idea and would love to see more pics (I checked out the link you shared). It looks like one could even configure a standing work station w/ that movable shelf!