The popularity of working from home skyrocketed during the pandemic as necessity made a rare form of working commonplace. Moreover, having discovered the lifestyle benefits of working without a commute and with the opportunity to access home comforts, there has been a widespread reluctance to return to the office.
Much of the discussion over this shift in working styles has focused on the impact on productivity, reduced demand for public transport and changes to company culture caused by remote and hybrid working. But there are implications for the home as well.
For those who had to make a sudden switch from the office to working at home in 2020, a lot of improvisation was required to create a workspace from scratch. However, now this is such a normal part of working life, you can dedicate a room accordingly. Some have even built garden rooms for this very purpose.
Finding The Right Floor For A Home Office
This is not just about having a desk, storage space for work stuff and an office chair (the last is optional, but good for comfort). You should also think about what may be the best option for your home office flooring. What you have there now may not be ideal, while if you are building a garden room for this purpose, you can approach this question from scratch.
For example, a soft, deep pile carpet in a room that used to be a small bedroom may not be so suitable, as an office chair will soon carve deep troughs in it, which will look unsightly if nothing else and leave the carpet looking very worn.
The kind of carpet you could use would be the sort normally used in an office. Makers like Balsan, Burmatex, DESSO, Gradus, Heckmondwike, Interface and JHS make the sort of hard-wearing carpets in the form of carpet tiles that are ideal for this purpose, offering durable surfaces made partially or entirely from recycled material.
Unlike a large office, there won’t normally be an area of your home office that acts as a thoroughfare with a high level of daily footfall. However, it is important to note that the room will still have a lot of use, not just from you walking in and out, but family members.
Moreover, there will always be times when you need to store something in there, or it is used on an odd weekend as a temporary bedroom when someone comes to visit. Much as you may have a purist idea that the room should be dedicated to one purpose and one alone, reality will often strike and you will be glad for having some versatility.
Laminate Options
Carpet is far from your only option in a home office. In particular, laminate planks can be ideal for this purpose.
For example, Quick-Step laminate floors come with a superb natural wooden look and all the durable qualities you need for such a room.
Examples of this include the Impressive 8mm 4-groove laminate planks. Measuring 1380 x 190 mm, they are 32 mm thick and easily installed using the click system. They are waterproof, have a wear classification of 32, and come with a lifetime warranty, demonstrating how hard-wearing they are and suitable for all circumstances.
Qualities of this type can be useful in so many ways. Not only will you be able to lay the floor down and not have to worry about replacing it a few years later, but its waterproof quality means if you spill a coffee in the middle of an online meeting you won’t be making frantic excuses online as you try to mop it up and stop the stain becoming bedded in!
Why Vinyl May Suit Your Needs
Vinyl offers another practical option. We offer several great wood-effect vinyl products that offer a great appearance as well as all the toughness and practicality you would want.
For example, there is the Gerflor Creation 55 wood plank, which comes in planks measuring 120 x 20 mm. These are suitable for castor chairs, so you won’t damage it while wheeling back and forth. It has a wear layer of 0.55 mm, an R10 slip resistance rating, 14 dB noise reduction and 4 mm thickness.
This product is also made using renewable energy and with 20 per cent of the material in it being recycled. At the end of its life, it is fully recyclable. This is a characteristic that other floors in our range have in common. This adds to the environmental benefits of home working, which takes commuter cars off the road.
With these and many more options, our range of flooring products is sure to include something that meets all the needs of your home office, helping you create the ideal place to do your job in the comfort of your own house – or garden house.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to get in touch with the CVT Direct team via our Contact Us page or give us a ring on 0345 121 1234.
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