Kitchen office, Working from home with Mowlem & Co tips, Property interior style guide

Kitchen Office, working from home with Mowlem & Co guide

31 May 2023

In a recent survey on kitchen trends by the homes website Houzz, 26% of respondents said they work from their kitchens. As bespoke kitchen and furnishing specialists, Mowlem & Co are often asked to create some form of office or study space within a kitchen, whether that be a simple reading/writing nook, a family computer hidden behind pocket doors, or a more professional set up in a dedicated zone.

The Kitchen Office, working from home with Mowlem & Co

“I often work from home myself,” says Gary Mowlem “to catch up on admin. Increasingly, so do many of our clients. Sometimes it’s just about having a comfortable place for research and inspiration, somewhere to think clearly and to get into the right mindset, or perhaps somewhere to help the kids with their homework.”

“But that question of ‘space’ is so often the main challenge,” Gary adds, “Obviously the kitchen’s primary functions take priority, but even if you (or rather your designers, because that’s their job after all) can find room for a nook, say under a window, or in what would otherwise be a transition space, then that can actually work really well. If you prefer a tidier life, we can fit a study or an IT area behind floor-to-ceiling pocket doors, perhaps as part of hidden storage for games and audio-visual equipment, or for coats, boots and bags.”

When there’s the room, however, (even if it has to be actively created by rethinking stud walls, stairs, doors or corridors) then clearly a more spacious and dedicated office area is ideal. This can be achieved, for example, by fitting L-shaped desking to the other side of bench seating in the kitchen thus creating a subtle divide while adding plentiful desktop space and storage beneath that.

Alternatively, crittal windows can help to create the ‘broken-plan’ setup that’s very popular now. Then why not have a beautiful freestanding desk custom-made especially, one you can take with you if you move home and something that could even become a family heirloom?

Perhaps a home office space would be better in a bedroom? There are many ways to fit this in, from hidden storage walls to elegant fitted or freestanding furniture solutions that take in exactly the way you will use the space and with which equipment.