When designing your home office, everyone's priorities are a little different. This is because the work you do, your working style, and the lifestyle you build around working from home is unique to you. Some people want a home office with a napping couch, some want a treadmill instead. Some need extensive filing cabinet storage when they transition to working at home, and some set up their own kitchenette break room area.

One of the more common trends in home office design is to build yourself a "pod" or an everything-space so that you can disappear into your home office for long hours and still have everything you need. Whether you are tied to a demanding team effort or diving deep into an enjoyable project, building a home office pod can help you maintain your focus, privacy, and comfort during long home working hours. 

Here at Fossil Blu, we are happy to see an increasing number of people expanding their ideas for home office renovation to include a plumbed sink to make either a kitchenette or workshop space complete. Today, we'd like to take you on a tour of recent home renovation trends that are focused on providing an everything-space to promote optimal productivity in optimal at-home comfort.

Guest Room Transformations 

The single most common starting place for home office renovations is the guest room. A guest room is, by definition, a mostly unused room in the house and already a popular choice for those building a home office or workshop even before the remote work migration. However, guest bedrooms are designed to be bedrooms, not offices, so a few changes can really improve your new office space.

One popular option is to rebuild the guest room closet into office storage. If you require locking filing cabinets, the guest closet is a good place. If you need to set up a printer and scanner stack, tucking it into the guest closet can be a good idea. Or you can create a system of shelves that perfectly stores the office supplies that you most commonly use. You can even replace the closet door with something more office-chic, like a sliding wood panel or a modified storage cubby.

Workshop Space Customization

Many professions that can be done from home still require physical workshop space. Graphic artists, architects, and many types of engineers - for example - may need a space to spread out and work on larger projects. If you put things together, take things apart, or even just do a lot of shipping, having a dedicated workshop space can be just what your home office needs.

Particularly for art and physical projects, your workshop may benefit from dedicated floating tabletops, an angled art desk, or a built-in sink to provide the cleanup space you may need between projects or project phases.

Built-In Kitchenette Features

For those planning to renovate your home office to improve the space, adding a dedicated kitchenette can be essential to at-home efficiency. A mini fridge is a good start, but for real flexibility (and the ability to lock yourself in for long projects), you will likely also want a hotplate, one or two small kitchen appliances, and a plumbed sink for running water.

The nature of your work - and your personal preferences - will determine which type of sink and powered features are best for your home office kitchenette. A farmhouse sink is highly versatile and can provide a comfortable place to wash up, rehydrate, and provide for both kitchenette and workshop needs. Consider whether you will need a coffee maker, kettle, toaster oven, or perhaps an efficient air fryer to complete your versatile little kitchenette design - and make sure there are enough outlets for everything you need.

Home Gym Space

Staying fit while working at home has become a shared challenge for millions. After a long run of gyms being closed, many people began building gym space at home. Inside your home office is the perfect place to create a little open floor space combined with a few pieces of workout equipment to help you catch a few workout sets or a half-hour of cardio in between seriously focused rounds of work. 

In fact, a home office gym is a great way to get more exercise into your life in small doses than ever before. Include rolled-up yoga mats, hooks for jump ropes and resistance bands, and a small rack for free weights, kettlebells, or bar weights. You can also set up the surround sound or Bluetooth to make sure you can enjoy your favorite tunes, or podcasts, while working up a sweat.

Speaking of sweat, many people are adapting to include a hamper, towel storage, and maybe even direct shower access when renovating to include the perfect home office/home gym combo.

A Home Office Garden

You can even design your dream indoor garden in your home office. If leafy greenery is what you need to feel motivated through a long day of work, turn any unused space in your home office design into a plant nursery. You can nurture thriving house plants with grow lights or window access, then enjoy the sights and smells of a garden every day while you focus on work.

Gardening indoors is another great reason to incorporate a sink, ensuring your plants always have fresh water. A large farmhouse sink can even provide you a no-mess space when it comes time to tend the soil or replant your plant babies.

Welcoming Guest Seating

Family life also plays an important role when renovating for the perfect home office. While an enclosed office is often used to escape from at-home chaos, you may also want to create a welcoming space for your partner, children, or visitors to sit and visit while you are working in the office. You might create a welcoming traditional seating (and napping) area with couches and soft chairs or get creative in how the space is used.

Many parents working at home, for example, create a place for kids to do their homework in quiet solidarity. You can do this by providing a separate table, chair, and perhaps a computer workstation for your kids to dive into their after-school studies. 

If you like to work with movies or music in the background, you might create a viewing space where guests can join you for the entertainment provided, they respect your focus. You might have a break-room space to share quick meals, or even a floor play area where children (and maybe adults) can use your floor space to build Lego castles while spending quiet time together as you work.

Fold-Out Furniture Transformations

One of the more entertaining additions to home office trends has been Murphey-style furniture that folds out and back up to transform the room from one mode to another. For example, a Murphey bed inside a wood-paneled cabinet can temporarily transform your home office back into a guest room. A fold-out surface can allow you to alternate your extra space between a gym and workshop. Sliding doors, doors disguised as cabinets, and multi-purpose furniture can help make the most of a small everything-space that is the modern home office.

Customize Your Home Office Renovation with Fossil Blu

If you are renovating your home office to become the ideal pod for long work hours and still achieve a well-balanced life, Fossil Blu is here to help. Whether you are considering a deep farmhouse sink to facilitate break room dishes, repotting your plant nursery, cleaning up after a workshop project, or rehydrating after a workout, we can help you choose the best sink for your new office space. Contact us today to learn more about beautiful beaten copper, durable fireclay, and comfortable farmhouse sink designs.

If your home office would benefit from a deep, beautiful, and/or comfortable sink, we are delighted to help you find the right one.