Productivity Unleashed: Designing Your Perfect At-Home Coworking Setup

By Paula Hernandez
Updated October 2, 2023

In the evolving landscape of work, the concept of a home coworking space has gained significant traction. As remote work becomes increasingly common, creating an efficient and comfortable workspace within the confines of your own home has never been more important. From freelancers to remote employees, the need for a dedicated area that fosters productivity and creativity has led many to explore the world of home coworking. In this comprehensive guide, we delve into the intricacies of crafting the perfect at-home coworking space, drawing insights from experts who have mastered the art of balancing work and living.

For those embarking on the journey of setting up a coworking space, the benefits are undeniable. The convenience of working from home can be coupled with the professionalism of a traditional office environment, resulting in enhanced efficiency and a more satisfying work experience. Additionally, a home warranty can provide peace of mind by offering coverage for essential appliances, ensuring that your workspace remains functional and efficient over time. As we navigate through the various aspects of designing your own home coworking haven, remember that a harmonious fusion of practicality, personalization, and attention to detail can make a world of difference in your remote work journey.

Why should you create a coworking space?

The real question is, why not start a coworking space? Shared resources, creative exchange with professionals, networking, cost savings or building a creative, vibrant community as an operator, maximum flexibility at affordable prices, and good return on investment. The trend toward flexible leases is on the rise, aligning perfectly with the dynamic nature of coworking spaces, a trend projected to continue.

The key to success lies in nurturing the communities. Coworking attracts individuals seeking more than just a workspace; they desire collaboration and sharing. When marketing your concept to potential tenants, emphasize the value of sharing – not only does it foster a sense of care, but it also multiplies ideas and innovations. Shared spaces, infrastructure, and equipment bring people closer together, transforming your coworking space into a hub for idea exchange, information sharing, and inspiration.

To streamline operations and enhance community engagement, consider utilizing community software like coapp.io, enabling plans and resource bookings, project collaboration, event planning, and social commerce to maximize the benefits of your coworking community.

– Stella | coapp.io

How would you define the concept of a coworking space, and what are its primary benefits?

Coworking spaces bring together people from diverse backgrounds and faculties. Hence, they have always been the breeding ground for ideas and creativity. In the post-pandemic era, coworking spaces have become a foundational platform for remote teams. At GoFloaters, we work with remote first organizations and help their teams gain instant access to coworking spaces across India. For these teams, coworking spaces now foster team bonding and collaboration and help them retain and build upon their culture.

-Shyam, Founder & CEO | GoFloaters

What Do Coworking Spaces Typically Include?

A coworking space is now more than just a place to work. These are spaces where like-minded people can come together to network, collaborate, and share life with ample focus time but also a social schedule to integrate into the community. Modern coworking spaces understand the diverse needs of coworkers and design their spaces accordingly. For example, rather than having one big room where everyone works, a recent coworking space we visited in Bali had two rooms – one room for quiet, focused work and another room where you could chat quietly.

When looking to join a coworking space, we look at these factors:

• Ergonomic, supported chairs
• Wide desks with enough space for monitors
• Meeting or call rooms
• Vibrant community after work hours
• high-speed internet

Coworking spaces are starting to see that these are the factors that make them great and keep their members happy. All digital nomads want is a space to focus on work but also a space to socialize, meet new people, and have fun!

– Matthew & Ashley | Two Tickets Anywhere

What factors must be included in a coworking space regarding the design?

We believe that a welcoming workspace that is designed with the needs of the people in mind is critical to creating a positive workplace experience. At JustCo, our design principles are guided by four key factors:

• “Work-from-hospo”: We strive to create coworking spaces that are welcoming and relaxing, reminiscent of cafes, hotels, and bars. This will contribute to stress diffusion at the workplace.
• Biophilic design: We incorporate nature-inspired elements, such as potted plants and wood-tone furnishings, into our coworking spaces because they have been shown to improve users’ health and well-being by providing a respite from the density of the urban environment.
• Purpose-built spaces: We design our workspaces to support a variety of needs, from quiet nooks for focused work to collaboration areas for discussions. We believe that purpose-built facilities are essential for helping users achieve optimal efficiency.
• Sense of place: We draw inspiration from the local community to create a coworking facility that feels like home to users, where they can feel at ease and bring out the best in themselves at work.

-Andre Chong, Vice President and Head of Marketing | JustCo

What areas do you recommend to be included in a coworking space?

As a coworking owner and operator for over six years, we have learned the highs and lows of the flow of a space. The areas that are critical to your space are private offices, meeting rooms, flex space, and storage areas. We also recommend adding at least an event space factor that will allow for flexible use. Market research related to the demographic you will or currently serve is also essential. We have two locations, and they each serve a different clientele. At our newest location, we are adding a creator space for podcast, video content, and so much more! This is not something we needed at our first location, but the market will tell you exactly what you need, and we are providing exactly that!

-Patricia Orange | The Nest Coworking

Why is design an essential factor when creating a coworking space?

In today’s fast-paced work environments, coworking spaces are more than simply offices; they’re microcosms engineered for connectivity, productivity, and well-being. Tailoring to varied roles and departments is essential. The Competing Values Framework contextualizes how diverse corporate factors like cognition, physical comfort, and emotion must be considered when creating great spaces.

Building with reconfigurable, accessible, and aesthetically appealing products enhances the occupant experience now and as new needs arise. Planning for in-person, remote, and hybrid solutions, where each occupant has an equal presence, is also a key requirement today.

-Free Taylor | Pacific Office Interiors

How did you incorporate personal touches and decor elements to make your home coworking space more inviting and motivating?

Creating an inviting and functional coworking space is not just about squeezing a few IKEA desks into a spare bedroom. Although ergonomics is always important, it’s not just about choosing furniture; it’s about fostering a space that encourages collaboration and productivity. You want to create a space that’s as visually stunning as it is functional. While basic furniture and tech gadgets are the backbone of any coworking setup, personal touches and decor elements breathe life into the space. These additions make everyone feel more at ease, inspire new ideas, and encourage collaborative efforts.

Here are some tips on how to turn some spare space in your home into a productivity-fueled coworking location.

Add Splashes of Color

Paint color does more than beautify a space; it influences mood. While neutral tones create a calm backdrop, vibrant splashes of color inject energy. Consider painting an accent wall in a favorite hue or bringing in colorful, patterned area rugs to brighten the workspace.

Make the Walls Talk

The walls of the coworking space are prime real estate for adding personal flair. Whether it’s framed artwork, inspirational quotes, or even a chalk wall where workers can jot notes or inspirational thoughts, the walls offer a canvas for imagination. While it’s tempting to over-decorate, balance is key. Aim for pieces that inspire but don’t distract.

Get Plant-Happy

Indoor plants do more than just purify the air. They’re natural stress reducers and make a coworking space feel more inviting. A mix of low-maintenance plants provides visual interest and a touch of the outdoors.

Don’t Forget Functional Decor

While decor adds aesthetic value to the coworking space, it should also serve a purpose. Think wall-mounted corkboards for communal announcements or multi-functional furniture like storage ottomans. Items like these offer utility while keeping the space clutter-free.

Keep It On-Brand for Corporate Cohesion

If the coworking space primarily serves individuals from the same company – like your own startup business – incorporating brand elements adds another layer of unity and purpose. This isn’t about plastering logos on every available surface but subtly weaving in the company’s color scheme, mission statement, or even its cultural values. Custom artwork or decor pieces that reflect the brand’s ethos serve as both a conversation starter and a daily reminder of shared goals.

– Paul Stainton | Art & Home

What appliances are necessary in a coworking space?

In a coworking space, several essential appliances under smart office system support are necessary to create a productive and technologically advanced environment: Smart lighting systems that can offer energy-efficient and customizable lighting options, smart security systems with features such as access control, smart power management outlets for efficient electricity use and device charging, and smart meeting room and hot-desking solutions comprising of display screens and scheduling systems for seamless collaboration. These appliances, when integrated into a smart office system, enhance comfort, security, and efficiency, providing a conducive workspace for individuals in the coworking space.

– Charles Ma | ONES Software Limited

What considerations would you recommend for desks and chairs for a coworking space?

Explore standing desks and innovative options like treadmill desks and balance ball chairs to enhance variety and well-being when outfitting your coworking space.

Standing desks offer flexibility, allowing users to switch between sitting and standing, reducing prolonged sitting strain and improving posture. Treadmill desks suit health-conscious members, combining work with light exercise to boost circulation and overall wellness. Balance ball chairs engage the core, encouraging better-seated posture and adding a fun, fitness-oriented element.

Allocate specific zones for standing or treadmill workstations to minimize disruption to traditional seating preferences. Variety is key; diverse seating accommodates different needs, ensuring each member’s comfort. You can offer usage guidance to maximize benefits and minimize discomfort or injury risks. This approach creates a dynamic, health-focused workspace that caters to various working styles.

-Helga Moreno | andcards

Why are coworking spaces a good place to network?

When management guru Ken Blanchard said, “None of us is as smart as all of us,” he was hinting at the power of collaboration, which enables professionals to tap into the collective intelligence, insight, and wisdom of a team working together. Companies that create coworking spaces for their talent, therefore, provide great collaborative opportunities for people to network, share ideas, bounce thoughts off one another, and feed one another’s thinking. No diamond comes out of the ground in an attractive format. Only when it is cut and polished does its true value emerge. Just so, very few ideas come out of the mind cut and polished. But when talented professionals enjoy a coworking space, they are able to refine and polish one another’s ideas. That’s when magic happens. As collaboration becomes the name of the game, coworking spaces will become a “must have” rather than a “nice to have.”

– Alan Hosking | HR Future

What are the benefits of designing your coworking space with virtual reality?

Designing a coworking space with VR offers many advantages, including VR’s ability to show off size and scale. VR lets users immerse themselves in the environment in a more meaningful way than plans and renderings. Use it to assess lighting, space flow, and the right scale and placement of furniture to give each worker what they need to thrive.

Asking your architect or designer for VR presentations can save you significant costs and time. You won’t have to picture anything – you’ll have a complete understanding of the design and be able to sign off and make decisions faster, with more confidence. And, as someone investing in creating a space, you deserve to have full understanding. VR also empowers experimentation with various design concepts and layouts within a risk-free digital realm.

Additionally, by using VR to visualize the space prior to physical construction, designers and stakeholders can identify and address potential issues early in the process, reducing the need for expensive changes later on. This prevents budget overruns and avoids project delays. As an added bonus, any VR projects created can be powerful marketing tools for you to use when the project is complete to market your co-working space and show off what it feels like to work there.

Integrating virtual reality into designing your coworking space brings you precise spatial comprehension, cost-effective planning, enhanced collaboration, and overall project success. Look for architects and designers who can offer you VR previews that increase your understanding – a growing number of them have integrated VR and AR into their practice as the technology becomes simpler.

– Christine Bellefontaine | YULIO

Do you recommend adding a meeting room to a coworking space? Why?

Yes! Right now, we are in the age of online and remote work, where a lot of our meetings take place through webcams and screens. The truth is that a lot of people miss the human touch of working in-office. There is a sense of inspiration and productivity that can only be acquired by being surrounded by colleagues and peers. Adding a meeting room to a coworking space makes room for people to talk, bounce ideas, and work together. A meeting room can have resources that make collaboration easier in person, such as classic whiteboards for brainstorms and drawing boards, while TV screens and hookups make it easy to adjust your in-person meeting to the digital age. People don’t just want to work. They want to gather. A meeting room is just one of the many ways that can happen!

-Aleah Antonio | Trellis

What appliances are necessary in a coworking space?

To ensure a caffeinated kickstart to the day, and espresso machine like the Breville Barista Express will bring everyone together around a great cup of coffee. Once people have a hot drink, you need to make sure everyone can get a hot lunch. So make sure you have a good microwave or even a toaster oven. But too much heat is not good for anyone’s productivity, so if your space isn’t air-conditioned, you’ll need to get an AC unit to keep everyone comfortable. And finally, a surprise appliance that did wonders for our team building is a pancake grill. We used to start every Monday morning with pancakes to bring people together. They were easy to make and memorable and social ways to start the week. The great thing about these appliances is they not only impact your work but also foster social engagement, making them essential in enhancing your coworking experience.

-Chris Wagner | Deskfound

How can art and photography personalize a coworking space and give inspiration?

When considering coworking space design, personal preferences, brand needs, and current decor all have a role to play. Clever uses of art and photography can display the identity and values of a coworking space plus its members. Whether it’s through cultural pieces or local photos, these visuals can help create a sense of belonging and shared purpose among coworkers.

Art and photography have the power to stimulate creativity and enhance productivity within a workspace. Inspirational quotes alongside abstract images or vibrant colors can motivate individuals to work more effectively and think outside the box. Additionally, integrating local art and photography establishes a strong connection between the coworking space and its community. (This not only adds an authentic touch but also provides support for talented local artists and photographers!)

When thoughtfully chosen and integrated, art and photography can turn a generic workspace into a unique, inspiring, and personalized environment.

-Rachel Lappe | Frame It Easy

What are some tips to add security to your coworking space?

Coworking spaces are often a flurry of activity, and keeping track of who is in the building and why can feel daunting. However, it’s necessary for the security of the equipment and resources that exist in the space as well as for the safety of the people who work there. Many coworking spaces place their member suites and offices behind locked doors that are often only accessible with a fob, and they use visitor management systems to both keep a log of who enters the building and to notify members that a guest has arrived. This ensures accurate records exist and keeps out unwanted guests.

-Michael Ashford | The Receptionist

In the ever-evolving landscape of remote work, the at-home coworking space stands as a testament to adaptability and innovation. By meticulously curating an environment that marries functionality with personal flair, you’re fostering an oasis of productivity within your own abode. From furniture selection to lighting arrangement, ergonomic considerations to motivational touches, every aspect plays a pivotal role in shaping your work atmosphere.

As you embark on this journey to craft your ideal home coworking space, remember that the process is as dynamic as your work itself. Be open to experimentation, continuously seeking ways to enhance your environment and, by extension, your work output. Whether you’re a seasoned remote worker or just beginning to explore the possibilities, the insights shared by our experts provide a guiding light towards achieving a workspace that truly resonates with you. And with the added assurance of a home warranty, your investment in appliances and technology remains safeguarded, ensuring a seamless and uninterrupted work experience.

In the realm of remote work, your home coworking space becomes more than just a physical location—it’s an embodiment of your work ethic, aspirations, and dedication to your craft. So, go forth with inspiration, creativity, and a commitment to fostering a space that empowers you to thrive in the ever-changing landscape of modern work.