Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has been forced to embrace remote working as the new normal. And the difference between workplace and home office keeps getting blurry.
As a result, almost every office worker is tirelessly working on how to discover new ways through which they can use WFH to improve their productivity. But we recently landed on a gold mine - a balcony home office - which we'll like to discuss with you.
We discover that working from a semi-outdoor or outdoor space might help you boost your efficiency, give your office projects full attention, and improve your flow of thoughts.
On that note, let's show you how to build an ideal balcony office.
Why A Balcony Home Office?
We live in an era where new work schedules keep springing up from remote working every day. This includes hot desking, setting up a home office in the bedroom, shared office areas, and lots more.
But of what importance is a balcony home office? This latest trend is an avenue to escape the too-formal nature of the regular office or home office. It will give you a beautiful view to enjoy while working and during your leisure time. Building a home office right on your balcony will also help you save costs.
After all, the basic items you need to get include your height adjustable standing desk, an ergonomic office chair, and probably a couple of pots of fresh flowers. You'll also have unrestricted access to natural lighting and proper ventilation.
Most importantly, the greenery around you would also help to enhance your psychology and keep you focused and active all through the day.
Guidelines on How to Design Your Balcony Workroom
If you want to work in a serene and positive environment, then no natural scenery beats an office located on your balcony. This creative and innovative idea will help you achieve a healthy work-life since you'll be working alongside the calmness and peaceful vibes of nature.
Hence, we have discussed the relevant tips that will help you design the balcony to your taste below.
Install Canopy Covers for Open Balconies
Since most houses have their balconies and terraces open to the sky, the first step you need to take is to build an enclosure around it. However, you should design the enclosure in a way that gives enough room for sunlight to find its way in and regulates scorching sun rays at the same time.
The enclosure should also be able to protect the area from rain. And if you want to give the outdoor office balcony a contemporary look, you can adopt a pergola with glass overhead if your budget allows it.
The glass overhead will keep off the rain while the spaced-out areas allow ample sunlight into the arena. That's a stunning look! Meanwhile, metal fabrication should work fine with the proposed pergola structure since it is weatherproof and almost needs no maintenance.
At most, all it requires is coating with fresh emulsion or cosmetic every three or four years. You can also bring in potted plants or flowers to improve the greenery.
Let the Protection of the Sides be Your Priority
You need to plan ahead of a rainy season and the best way is to have an all-weather space that can be used at any point of the year. So you need to enclose all the sides of the terrace or balcony. Meanwhile, we've got different ways to get it done.
A cost-effective way is getting a combo of openable or decorative grilles and fixed glass panels. You need to keep them openable to accommodate proper natural ventilation. Imagine you have the work desk positioned perpendicular to the open side of the balcony. That side should also have a parapet wall with openable windows fixed under it.
And if you're residing in a metro where most of the houses have small balconies, another alternative to parapet walls is railings. They'll also do the job perfectly.
Balance the Light Reception and Retention
If you want to allow natural light into the balcony without the glare, we will suggest that you cover the balcony with some outdoor blinds. You can also go for transparent blinds, wooden or faux wood Venetian blinds, transparent monsoon blinds, or louvered shutters.
All these options are very durable, reliable, and suitable for different weather conditions whether winter, hail, or rain. Another advantage these options have is that they are available in different colors to satisfy different tastes.
Meanwhile, you shouldn't forget that blinds often give the office a formal look, so sheer curtains might be the ideal solution to help you build a modest and relaxing design. How about woven shades? That's another cheap but effective way to balance the light and glare.
Unlike wooden blinds which come vaned, hard, or slatted, woven shades are gotten from reeds, bamboo, grasses, or jute. In other words, they are more cushiony and comfy.
Allow Proper Ventilation
In tropical countries, especially in North Africa, daytimes can be incredibly hot. That's why you need to design the balcony and terrace enclosure in a way that allows ventilation. Keeping the area ventilated will also help you stay more focused and active to execute more tasks unlike when the home office feels hot and uncomfortable.
Depending on how hot your location is, getting a ceiling fan should also help. There are also some louvers and blinds that regulate the breeze coming in. This way, the flow of air will be unrestricted and the circulation of hot air will be reduced to the barest minimum.
Go For a Horizontal Setup
If your terrace or balcony has a narrow space with a ready-made roof slab, it'll help to do the extra coverings horizontally. This will save you from the rain backsplash while also minimizing the temperature in the vicinity.
Even if your finances don't favor getting consider modern covers, awnings are very easy to get. And they are good at fending off the impact of the rain without affecting the quality of the natural light coming in.
Their cost range is somewhere between 100 to 300 bucks depending on if you're getting the fixed or retractable type. Awnings are also easy to maintain and available in various colors and designs.
Select Furniture with Weatherproof Materials
Ergonomic office furniture can never go wrong and they're the best furniture for your outdoor balcony office. Most of these height adjustable standing desks and ergonomic office chairs are also made from weatherproof materials such as teak, breathable mesh, leather, and outdoor resin.
It'll also help to coat the pieces of furniture made of teak with paint or spray, at least once, every four to five years. Concerning your office accessories and supplies, you should also target products made of nylon fabric or vinyl canvas.
Allow Different Lights
Introducing different lights into the balcony is one of the most important rules. And the essence of having these direct and indirect lights is to ensure that your eyes don't get worn out while staring at a sole source of light.
Hence, keeping the balcony illuminated and bright will reduce your eye strain since you're not concentrating on a single source. On that note, you should get a hanging light that provides supplementary light to the spotlighting.
You should also get a bright table lamp for your desk. However, they should be very easy to install.
Include Storage System
You can also rely on the vertical spaces that balconies offer to introduce storage management here. For example, you can lift the face of the wall by getting some outdoor wallpaper or tiles. You can also use this idea to give the outdoor environment a sharper look.
For easier reach, we'll advise that you have the shelves built right above or beside your work desk. As for other office accessories, you can make rooms for them in the drawers.
Install Switch Points
You need to ensure you have sufficient switch points before building up your desk space. This is to help you maintain proximity with your desk and switchboards while connecting or charging your PC and other standard electronic gadgets.
For every laptop connection, switch points with 6A sockets are recommended and you should have them fixed at somewhat 12 inches from the floor to where you place the office desk.
And if your balcony already has a switch point, you can cut costs of connection by getting a power adaptor that has many sockets Those ones will have your PC and CPU constantly plugged in.
Maintain Some Distance From Your Living Space
The hustling and bustling that accompany the daily commuting from home to work and back home has some psychologically inspiring effects on us.
So why don't you build the balcony home office with some distance away from where you live? Of course, we understand that it won't be like the usual 30-minute commute to work, but it's strong enough to send some signals to your brain that it's time for work anytime you enter the balcony.
Even if it's a slatted sliding door made of wood used to demarcate the boundary, it'll also instill some sense of privacy in you.
Summing it Up
From all these ideas discussed, it is evident that a balcony home office has all the features expected of an ideal workroom. You can also adopt other ideas that will further soothe your mind and revive your energy. And in the end, you'll see that this modern workstation will be worth it.
