A new way of life… working from home
Since 2020, life for many of us changed. When Covid restrictions were announced in March 2020, many businesses had no back up plan for such an event (and why would they?).
In most industries, people were told to work from home, and restricted to travel. In our industry, construction, the business continued with emergency and essential works, especially for local social housing and authorities whose need was pressing.
But for the majority of workers who were not furloughed a new way of life emerged – working from home (often abbreviated as WFH), otherwise known as working remotely.
And at the time, we thought that Covid would be a short term inconvenience. Few of us though that, 12 months later, we’d still be faced with restrictions on travel and working in close proximity with others.
That’s why nearly the whole nation “made do” by working from their coffee tables, working from their couches or anywhere else they could find with a flat surface and space for a laptop. We all thought “Yes, this will be fine for a few weeks”. But those few weeks soon become a month, then two, then three and before we knew it, this working from home gig was pretty much permanent.
Employers have seen this in many cases. People have been, in the best part, more productive as they have found a better work / life balance. There’s no daily commute eating in to the time and the money you earn – which in turn means they tend to log on a little earlier, work extra through their lunch and work a little later. On the whole, working from home – once seen as a big “no-no” was found to actually be better for us, and the businesses we work for.
However, fixing one problem raised another issue. SPACE. Many people are still working from their kitchen tables and couches. It’s an ideal situation, but one which we’ve accepted given the circumstances.
SPACE – the final frontier?
So for many, working from home has brought many benefits. That life / work balance has improved, spending more time with family, less time in the car (which in turn has helped the environment) and a more focused approach to our working day.
But the space issue has never really gone away. Namely because the thought of packing up and moving to another larger property isn’t worth thinking about, either because of the cost or the stress of the whole moving problem (or in most cases, both).
But why are we talking about space? Simple… your home is the key to finding more space.
Higher End Construction – Building High End Property Extensions To Help You Find More Room
At Higher End Construction, we specialise in providing high end property extensions to help you get the most out of your existing property.
When it comes to finding more space in your existing property, there are plenty of options including:
- Converting an existing room from a bedroom or a living room (for example) into a home office
- Adding an additional internal room through a property extension
- Creating additional space with a loft conversion or dormer
- Utilising an external building (such as a garage or an utility room) and converting
- Creating a new external building (an external home office is ideal where external space is available and internal space at a premium)
Depending on your choice, you could create a specific working space from as little as a few hundred pounds (think a new paintjob, some shelving and a tidy up) to many thousands of pounds.
But what other benefits does having a stand alone home office give me?
The space that it grants is not the only advantage that you’re going to get if you build your own office.
It could also give you:
- Focus – yes, working from the couch or the kitchen table is fine, but when the kids come home from school and the hundreds of other interruptions that come with it kick in, it can be really distracting! Having your own room allows you to focus on the job in hand.
- More space to move – we’re not just talking about the room itself, but having a dedicated room means that, in all likelihood you’ve not got all of your paper work sat on top of each other, scrabbling for pens that have fell of the table and all the other issues that working in a cramped space causes.
- Quiet – how often have we seen a zoom call where someone is distracted – perhaps by the door bell ringing, a child, family member or whatever. The noise can also be really annoying! Having a quiet space to take calls and video meetings is perfect!
- Added property value – so, like you, many other people are working from home. Having a home office can increase your property value because people, like you, need that space, quiet and focus. It’s a win-win situation for everyone!
- A room for you – having a dedicated office may not just be used for an office. It’s fine for the 9 to 5, but once the laptops shut you could use it as a studio, a den or just somewhere to collect your thoughts and chill!
So… how can Higher End help?
Simple! By working with you we can discuss the possibilities your current property has with being extended – whether that be internally or externally.
We can project manage the updates from beginning to end… and have done so for many other happy customers across the North West… helping them work from home in an environment that is better for them!
To find out more about the options you have available, simply give one of the Higher End team a call today on 01772 555084 or visit our contact page and send us an email.
