Thoughts Basement Office

12 years ago

We are doing a lot of renovations in our home in April/May. One of the things we are finally getting around to is putting in a dedicated office for me. I work from home and am in my office 8-12 hours a day 5-6 days a week.

The goal is to have something nice and comfy for me in the basement. I am a night owl, so I don't need lots of big windows (and prefer not to), so the basement is perfect. The biggest issue currently is that the 10x12 room has 4 concrete walls and is COLD.

We will be framing it in 2x4 and using foam insulation in the walls and ceiling to help with thermal regulation, as well as noise reduction (since I like to turn up Pandora, and my wife's office is directly above mine).

I have a large computer and 3 large screens, so a large desktop area is important. I also need a decent "working" area that is not directly in front of the screens. I like lots of leg room as well since I'm one of those people who cannot hold still. I am constantly moving my legs, swiveling in my chair, etc. I was always banging my knees into the sides of my old desk. I have an L desk now that is OK, but it literally falling apart.

I have a large desktop computer, two printers, a scanner, and two (not small) phones, so I need a lot of desktop real estate.
I keep folders for each of my active projects, and archive them upon completion for later referral, so I need filing space.

Then of course I have my office supplies like reams of paper, ink cartridges, toner, drums, etc.

I am not sure what to do about the desktop. I originally had granite, but the budget is getting really tight, and I don't think I really need it in the office. In the kitchen it makes sense, but less so in the office. Other solid surfaces seem to be as expensive, so formica, or laminate top seems to make most sense. I'd appreciate other's thoughts on it.

Here is what I came up with and had a designer at cliq put together.

I have no idea what rules (if any) exist when designing a home office. So please critique away. Don't spare my feelings, I appreciate honest constructive criticism.

Overall Design:

View from the Doorway:

Backwall, 4 large filing drawers, shelves for books, and storage:

Side peninsula, printers will go here, cartridges, paper, etc in the cabinet under.

Front of room, side of my "desk" area. Drawers for pens, paper, and misc office things. Corner cabinet will hide most of the wiring/plugs:

Rest of my "desk". Open area for my desktop. Would be open in the front and back to allow for ventilation. Large area for my feet and so I can slide to the side to work on other things.

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Comments (5)

scrappy25
12 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Some thoughts-
-With 3 screens you might want a larger kneehole.Maybe get rid of that cabinet between the desk and the door and move the cabinet currently to the left of the kneehole over?
-Are you sure you need so much filing space? All our offices are going electronic and getting rid of the filing space.
-I would find granite very uncomfortable to work on for an office desk surface. Wood or laminate is best. Your layout allows standard prefab countertops to be used.
- with that much desk work you should give serious thought to a standing desk. There are many articles on how sitting all day is hurting all of us. I have been using a standing desk at work for 2 years now and my concentration, energy, and fitness have improved. It's also easier to view our 4 monitors since I can move my whole body not just my head. I think that because I am standing I actually move around a lot more during the day without even thinking about it. At work we have fancy electric workstations that go up and down. At home I purchased an used electric drafting table for the same purpose, just changed out the top.
scrappy25
12 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Also, assuming that you are running HVAC to the office. Once it is insulated and carpeted it will be cozy as long as you have good heating and ventilation. Our basement is now the coolest part of our house in the summer and the warmest in the winter, we love it.
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scrappy25
12 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
One more thing. With that much time in the basement, please consider egress options in case there is a fire that prevents you from exiting up the basement stairs to the first floor. We had an egress window put into our basement when we finished it for safety reasons and it transformed our basement into a daylight basement. I know you don't need the windows for light but safety is a prime consideration.
dizzy149
Original Author
12 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
1) The thought of a standing desk scares me. Some days I need to just sit and zone out (or take a power nap). I am curious what the electric drafting table set you back and how you incorporated it. Would make me nervous moving $3k worth of monitors up and down.

2) No, no HVAC, the house is build in the 30s and doesn't have any. We use a swamp cooler during the summer, and if I open a window it gets pretty cool in the basement. Last summer it was 100+ more often than not, and it was 70-74 in the basement (72-80 upstairs).

3) Due to a lot of factors (age, build, location on the lot, trees) adding egress to the home is EXPENSIVE! $10k-12k to put in a single egress window. Right now we are focused on some functional things that will give us a lot of return on the value of our home. With the additional value we plan to add an egress to one of the rooms in the basement. We expect our son to want to move into the basement in 3-5 years, and it will be a MUST for that.
scrappy25
12 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Hi Dizzy, I used to have to zone out also when I was sitting especially in the early afternoon, but no longer since I have been standing. There are a lot of articles now on using standing desks. Here is one.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/04/confirmed-he-who-sits-the-most-dies-the-soonest/256101/

We actually have five monitors (four high resolution) on our electric desks at work with two computers, probably 12+k equipment when it was purchased. The desks were additionally 3k each. All those prices have come down significantly in the last 5 years. I raise and lower the desks every day without problem. Of course you have to use some common sense in setup with cord management.

The old defunct Mayline digital drafting table was $150 on craigslist but the electric rise still works. We changed out the nonworking digitizer top for a wood table top, also purchased from craigslist ($100 for the table, we discarded the legs) . The mayline tables are angled but we had the metal supports shaved so that the table top is now horizontal. It goes up and down very smoothly.

I would personally hesitate to sink so much money into extensive cabinetry for an office that I would spend most of my life in without taking care of safety and health. However I understand that you have limitations.

Best wishes whatever you decide and hopefully someone will chime in on the layout.