Sometimes I feel like I’m not working from home, so much as living in my workspace. During the day, my husband and I share a home office where we try to get as much work done as possible in the small windows of time during which we’re not watching our daughter. Of course, my daughter still finds a way to barge in, demanding a cuddle and serving as a constant, very cute distraction. Life bleeds into work, work bleeds into life, and neither is particularly satisfying.
Could good design help? Benjamin Pardo, design director for the esteemed furniture company Knoll, believes it can. Over the course of his career, he has thought a great deal about how design can improve the way we work, and he has designed some well-known ergonomic furniture that fill offices around the world, like the Generation and ReGeneration chairs.
Now, he’s turning his attention to the home office. Over the past few months, he has observed how chaotic and distracting the reality of working from home has become for many people. Pardo is not just concerned about creating home workspaces that allow us to be productive; he also wants to ensure that our homes remain safe spaces where we can escape from the stresses of work. “Our homes need to be a place of comfort, where we can express our identity and personality,” Pardo says. “We need to design spaces that are flexible and allow us to both work and live at home.” On Knoll’s new Work From Home website, Pardo shows how pieces traditionally designed for offices can be adapted for home settings. Though the site highlights Knoll products, it offers inspiration that anyone working from home could apply to their own space.
The timing is apt. The pandemic has forced many companies to consider the long-term value of remote work. Assorted tech companies, including Facebook and Slack, have already announced that employees can work from home permanently. Developers are thinking about how to transform offices into residential housing across the country. And many city-dwellers are thinking about moving to more spacious homes where they can have designated work spaces. The home office is here to stay. Here are Pardo’s key insights for designing homes that balance the needs of both working and living.