apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I am a big advocate of the armoire desk. The benefit is that you can put it in any room, even the living room, and close the doors when company arrives. No need to straighten everything up simply for appearances.

I had a standard desk in the bedroom, but I really hated going to sleep looking at all the work that still needed to be done. Now I just close the doors.

And a dedicated room for an office just seems like a wild indulgence of space.

I've turned the far end of my long-ish rectangular living room (which was previously underutilized) into a office area with a nice desk and some built-in cabinets. I find I still need a designated and organized space to keep files and work-related stuff.

I agree w/ Liz about wireless - having a desktop computer at home is such a waste of space and an eyesore no matter what room it's in, but my laptop allows me to work anywhere: at the dining table, on the sofa, in the den, in bed, out on the balcony - or in the hotel/ship/airport when I travel.

Wireless has eliminated the need for a home office as well. The small closet in my den has been outfitted with shelves where I store all of my files, bill folders, etc. It's organized and easy to access.

First: "a dedicated room for an office is a wild indulgence of space" -- completely depends on the nature of your work (do you *really* just work on laptop, or does your work require actual materials to be spread out for review or revision?), your work style, and who else shares your home and is busy doing their own thing while you're trying to work.

Second: beware of making your comfy sofa your primary work spot. After 3 yrs of constant -- and sometimes crippling -- back pain, I've just started physical therapy and am making a little headway. The main culprit? A work life that requires sitting long hours at my computer without proper back support. You may be young and strapping now, and it may feel oh-so-cool-and-casual to work off your sofa, but you won't believe how f*cking geriatric you feel when you can't walk across a room without bending at a 45* angle. And fainting if you fail to properly support yourself on your elbows while washing your face. Do yourself a favor: get an honest-to-goodness office chair or straightbacked chair that keeps you prim-and-proper at your keyboard.

didn't mean to say that my work requires "sitting long hrs at computer without proper back support" -- it requires sitting long hrs at computer for sure.... neglecting proper back support was optional, and entirely my own mistake.

After spending lots of time looking for the 'right desk' for us we realised we use our laptops in the way Gregory does and we don't need an office set up.

Thanks for the push: my desk is a complete waste of space in my tiny apartment; I never sit there. It's on the way out.

Like most people, my desk had become a catch-all. I ended up getting rid of my desk and setting up couple of shelves with the little bit of home-office things that I use. My laptop floats around the house as I need it, and I can dock it in the bookshelf when I need to print/scan/etc.

I agree that traditional home office set-ups no longer necessary, but we still need a place to put our office supplies.

Of course it depends on priorities. Growing up, I think this was a sudden "concept" that infected everyone - computers became available and then rapidly common. We didn't have a home office, my mother paid bills at the kitchen table and then put everything back in a box or some type of container in the cabinet. My father had a workshop down in one corner of the unfinished basement. At some point, my mom bought a 3-drawer filing cabinet.... there's stuff in it with labels but I wouldn't call it an office. It's in the room, it's a spare room now because we grew up and moved out, where the computer is. There's a bed in there and some other stuff, so I guess it's an office because there's a desk, computer, filing cabinet, but she still sits down to the kitchen table to pay her bills, with checks even.

I think most people don't "need" a home office, they just need some place to park their computer and sit down for extended time-wasting and a little grown-up personal business, and maybe put some of their papers. Some people actually have to get work done though. I need more of a work surface. A desk to put the computer is not a work station or a home office, but you're right about one thing. Desktop computers take up too much room.

In Summary:
Oh my god, you just made a post introducing everyone to the laptop.

I work at home, and live in a loft, so the whole space is the office and I'm always at work. So, I work at a desktop at a desk, and when I get up, I'm home and off duty.

As for home offices, it really depends on what you do, if you just surf the web, occasionally pay bills and little else, a true office space may not be necessary, as long as you have a place to file the important stuff, print etc. But if you do any kind of "work" like graphics, video editing or heck, audio editing, a work station or desk and a large monitor or two are necessary to do your work so a desk of some kind is necessary. If you do a lot of writing/typing, a proper keyboard is crucial to prevent repetitive injuries such as those in your wrists is something to think about as well. Cor casual surfing and the like, being able to do it anywhere is fine for shorter periods but for longer periods, I'd say be at a table or desk.

I'm of the kind that needs a desk space to do my work, and yes, I do have a desktop but I am also of the type that believes that having what you need right there handy is important as well as having a good, straight backed chair to support your back for I don't like having to "set up" a desk somewhere just to pay bills. All that kind of stuff gets done at my desk and yes, it's in the bedroom.

Er, should say, I have a desktop computer at home.