Those of us who work out of home often feel the need for a dedicated room or corner which offers peace and privacy. Here are a few tips from architects and designers on how to set up a home office within a comfortable budget of Rs 2 lakh.
MUMBAI
A small room measuring 10’ X 10’ is good enough for a home office. Ideally, the room (such as this one) should have a window that brings in fresh air and natural light. A minimalist, functional look is what works best. While the design has no starting or end point, this one by interior design firm Home Makers fits well within the Rs 2-lakh budget. It has been designed for a consultant who has overseas clients and few visitors to the office. The workstation made of MDF and measuring 7 feet, cost around Rs 30,000. The side credenza, which includes the file draws, is part of the table. The hydraulic, revolving chair (Rs 5,000) with a slightly curved back ensures that the user can work long hours comfortably. While the room here has only one chair, there is enough space for additional chairs or even a 5’ sofa that would cost no more than Rs 15,000.
The black pedestal cabinet in the corner (Rs 15,000) goes well with the black-and-rose-coloured table and provides extra space for file storage. You could add some book shelves, only make sure they have glass doors and not wooden ones that hide the books. For the flooring, the grey vinyl wall-to-wall carpet is easily available in the market for Rs 50/square feet (Rs 5,000 for a room this size). You could also opt for wooden floors, only it’s costlier at Rs 125/square feet (Rs 12,500 for this room). Velvet Touch paint with satin finish (ideally an elegant white) keeps the room looking bright. The amount of paint to be used is calculated at 3.5 times the covering area (walls and ceiling), which in this case comes to 350 square feet. At Rs 25/square feet, that’s Rs 8,750, though there are cheaper plastic paints available for barely Rs 10/square feet.
Proper lighting is essential. A 100-watt concealed compact florescent light (CFL) takes care of that for the entire room at a cost of around Rs 900. In the day time, natural light from the window is good enough for a room this size. Else, the window can be kept covered with roller blinds (white here to go with the decor) that cost Rs 90/square feet. In a small work space such as this, there should also be no sharp edges and only toughened glass should be used.
A few photographs and some plants have been added to this functional space to make it pleasant and inviting. One of the walls, right next to the table, has a round, white mirror that goes with the white, grey and black theme of the room. This has been picked from the Mumbai Chor Bazaar for a steal — Rs 65.
— Veenu Sandhu
DELHI
Custom-made as a graphic designer’s den, this home office would work well for other professionals too. The challenge here for the interior designers from the firm, Amgo International, was that the room, measuring 12’ X 11’, was neither a perfect square nor a rectangle. One of its sides curved slightly and had to be somehow made part of the design. That problem was solved by designing a piece of furniture around it. A single-piece, curved table has been built along the length of the curved wall. Made of medium density fibreboard (MDF), the table cost a neat Rs 25,000. A black-and-orange revolving chair (Rs 8,000) goes well with the bucket-shaped orange visitor’s chair (Rs 15,000) in the corner. On one side is placed a log, in its natural shape but polished and turned into a glass-top coffee table. Costing Rs 12,000, this lies before a bench made of board. Overall, the room has a natural wood look.
The overhead cupboards, costing Rs 850/square feet, cover practically one whole wall and provide lots of storage space. The flooring is vitrified tiles, a bit steeply priced at Rs 130/square feet. To give a sense of space and to break the wood-look, a toughened glass partition has been added. The glass is colourless but takes on a frosty blue colour from a reflection.
The room is well lit with a six-foot-long window running across one wall. There are no curtains. Instead, a roller blind covers the window and allows filtered light to enter.
Including the paint, polish, flooring and furniture, this home office cost around Rs 1.75 lakh.
— Veenu Sandhu
KOLKATA
This office, used by a spice trading company, is located in the 13’ X 10’ room of an apartment. It is near the main entrance so it does not encroach on the privacy of the flat.
The interior designers, Ravi Pugalia and Associates, built a large Finesta (clear glass) window, measuring 7’ X 4’, to allow natural light into the room. They covered this with vertical blinds so that the light would be diffuse. The glass window cost Rs 20,000 and the vertical blinds, an additional Rs 5,000. The width of the main door was expanded with the help of floor springs so that it could be opened from both sides. This half-frosted glass, half-wooden door cost Rs 19,000. A false ceiling with built-in lights was added to enhance the aesthetics of the space. The cost — Rs 9,000. One of the walls was covered with a white-and-green laminated wallpaper and the others painted in green acrylic emulsion. The cost of this was Rs 23,000. The original floor was covered with vitrefied tiles which are maintenance free and cost Rs 23,000.
A 5’ X 2.5’ white desk was placed near the laminated wall. Workstations for three members of staff were created on the other side with cupboard and storage space on top. All the furniture was made of plywood and laminate, mostly used for office purposes as it is cheaper. Four revolving chairs were provided, bringing up the cost to Rs 80,000. A Godrej locker was also provided adjacent to the table, at a cost of about Rs 6,500. Also added were some steel dustbins costing Rs 3,300 and a flower vase for Rs 500.
The electric wiring including wall fittings, telephone and LAN wiring came for Rs 19,000.
— Debaleena Sengupta
