Long ago, in a not so far away place, I pondered
whether or not to allocate a small space at the bottom of the basement stairs
in our first semi-detached home for a pseudo “home office”. At the time the concept of needing a specific
place in your home dedicated solely to office work was relatively uncommon. Unless you were a lawyer or a doctor with a
home based practice, the concept of working regularly from the place you lived
was largely an idea that people only spoke of.
At the time I was overwhelmed at the thought of
trying to work full-time while raising in any sort of reasonable fashion, a
challenging baby. Email had just been
introduced in our office, the internet was a new resource we were to consider
and I had just received my first laptop at work, though it still required a
docking station. Enjoying the relative
freedom my new computer allowed me, I went to my boss to plead my case in favour
of working from home. After being
laughed out of his office, it occurred to me that the mere notion of not
appearing in the office on a daily basis was perhaps too much for him to bear. How would he get in touch with me? How could he know for certain I was working?
Zoom ahead 15 or so years and at least that many wrinkles
and you’ll find an office is not only common in homes, but that full blown
businesses like my own are often run from the house.
It’s interesting to me that most average homes built
prior to the mid 80’s do not have a space allocated ANYWHERE for an
office. There’s the front hallway, the
living room, the laundry room, the kitchen and 2 or 3 bedrooms. Perhaps home builders prior to this time did
not even consider the nature of one’s home to be such that it needed to accommodate
for office work. It might be difficult
for some to imagine or remember, but there was a time when everything moved
slower and working from home was all but unheard of. Stores were closed on Sundays, people cooked
BBQ over charcoal and work stayed in the office, which wasn’t in your
home. The term “don’t bring your work
home with you” was an important value to which people held firm.
Post 1980’s home builders typically added some form
of a home office in a centrally located space on the main floor, perhaps
signifying a growing importance of the role of work in our lives. Those who owned older homes looked to
re-purpose a spare bedroom or a room in the basement solely for office use. Over the years I have designed some sort of built-in
to hold full libraries, filing systems, computer networks and book collections
in almost every private home I have worked in.
The office migrated and took up permanent residence in our homes.
Now well into the 21st century, the
notion of not bringing your work home is a concept all but forgotten. In fact, people bring their work home, on
vacation and sometimes even to bed. But
as technology pushes us to work faster, leaner and smarter it’s been my
experience that those who work from home are shedding off the confines of their
home office and with the great strides of technology, are requiring less space
not more.
In fact, the kitchen office which has space enough
for a laptop, a few hanging files and some storage for family paperwork is an
idea whose time has likely come. Work has
drifted once again and is now out of the home office and taking root in the heart
of our houses. A centrally located work
space allows for any family member to work while keeping the family computer(s)
in a safe and easy to monitor common area in the home.
The nature of the home office spurred by changes in communication
has seemingly undergone a cyclical metamorphosis. Home designs while still fundamentally
family-centred have been influenced by technology by allowing work to become more
pervasive in our lives than ever before.
I have to admit that when I close my eyes and
picture the house of my dreams, the office is nowhere in my view; it’s not in
the kitchen nor even a separate room.
But since work is still as important as ever, it might as well be
somewhere it’s convenient for me to keep a watchful eye on it while I tend to
our family’s busy life.
Cheers!
Janice
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