As we enter the final few months of summer, many of us will be turning our thoughts to the new academic year. For many, it is a time of new challenges and opportunities.
Scores of people, young and the not-so-young, will be off to the hallowed halls of academia, others will be entering their final years of GCSE and A Level studies and for some parents, there is the agony of taking their once-primary aged children to ‘big school’.
All these opportunities and challenges will play out over the coming months but there is one challenge that needs resolving: study space – and desks for home start to consume our every thought.
Essential for anyone undertaking a course of study, a home study is an essential place no matter whether it is a GCSE subject being studied or a PhD thesis that needs writing.
Need some help getting it all together? Here are our ideas…
1. Measure, Measure, Measure
A home study space doesn’t have to be gargantuan in size. In fact, most people find the more bijou and cosy the space is, the more they enjoy sitting at their desk, soaking up new information and ideas.
But to get the right study surroundings, you need to ensure you are surrounded by the right stuff in the right place. Thus, before you start ordering desks and filing cabinets, measure the space you really have available. As you do so, continually ask yourself, is the space or area accessible.
2. Start planning it NOW!
For a home study, planning is incredibly important. The conditions, the lighting, the outlook, the style, the desk, the chair… they all need to be right. But buying ‘off the rack’ in this case may not be the answer. A bespoke wooden desk may be what is needed, especially if you’re looking for a small office desk to fit in a tight corner, but because it is bespoke, it can take a few weeks to create.
The Oldman range of reclaimed wood desks is ideal for creating the perfect home office desk, in terms of height, breadth and width.
3. Consider Storage Solutions
The web is awash with all kinds of fancy solutions and creative ideas for storage but here’s the thing: storage is only as good as the access that is offered.
In other words, shelves are just as good as fancy cupboards and so on. In fact, they can be just as stylish too such as the industrial shelving look – smashingly simple to access the tombs of text books and brilliantly easy to keep clean.
4. Colour
In any office, no matter what it is being used for, the surroundings need to help maintain your focus but without being too distracting. However, opting for Magnolia or another bland-ish colour is not the only solution.
If you want light and airy, why not team your reclaimed Oldman desk and reclaimed wood shelves with light reflecting grey or a pretty, light pastel blue? Or ring the changes with a bright, but understated yellow.
5. Lighting
Whether you will be staring at your screen for hours (not recommended) or poring over text books, there is one component that cannot be left to chance: lighting.
As well as a central light, opt for a desk lamp and/or adjustable floor lamp to pair with your industrial furniture for when you have to focus on the printed words of scholars past.
With the prospect of spending hours at your desk, how will you make your home study a delightful, warm and creative place to be?
