Working from home… from your kitchen

One consequence of the pandemic has been that the business world has adapted so well to home working, it will now be a more permanent part of our working lives in the future. Research by the CIPD shows that the proportion of people working from home part of the time will rise to 37%, as opposed to 18% in the pre-pandemic period. The percentage of employees who will be working from home full time will rise to 22%, up from just 9% at the beginning of last year.

This new way of working will come with a requirement for a new way of living. Homes will be redesigned to adapt to our new practices, with the addition of space that’s suitable to work in, whether that’s in a garden office or a loft conversion, using the spare room as an office, or making room in the kitchen.

As a practical working space itself, the kitchen is often the lightest and brightest room in the house, which makes it ideal for people working from home. There will be a lot of counter space for you to spread out on, and, depending on how tall you are, the counters could be at the right height for you to work on a laptop while standing up, which would be a great advantage.

Standing up is good for you

There is a lot of research that shows the dangers to our health of sitting down all day, but for a lot of us, working on a computer is all we do. That’s why there is a movement encouraging office-bound people to stand up and work throughout the day, as well as take screen breaks. The health benefits are tremendous, including reduced risk of developing heart disease. In addition, you’ll burn, on average, around 50 extra calories an hour when you’re standing up. The organisation Get Britain Standing is on a mission to encourage us to adopt sit-stand working – if you’re working from home and haven’t got the room or resources for a sit-stand desk, then a kitchen countertop that’s at the right height will work just as well.

Get a garden view

If you’re fortunate enough for your kitchen to have a view of your garden, you could get the additional benefit of being able to look out onto a beautiful green space as you work, and watch the birds, bees and butterflies whenever you take a screen break. The benefits of green spaces to mental health cannot be underestimated, and even though you won’t be able to go for walks in the countryside or do some gardening while you’re working, just looking at your garden will have a calming effect.

Pros and cons of working in the kitchen

The great thing about working in the kitchen is that you’ll always be close to the kettle, biscuit tin and fridge. So making a cup of coffee or tea will be quick and easy, meaning it’s more likely that you’ll get up and move around to keep yourself refreshed and rehydrated and standing up more often.

On the other hand, the big disadvantage of working in the kitchen is that you’ll always be close to the kettle, biscuit tin and fridge! Willpower may therefore be something you’ll need to call upon more often in order to get a productive balance. But if you have a beautiful kitchen in which to work, it’ll all be worthwhile!

If you want some ideas for functional kitchens that are great to both cook in and work in, take a look at some of our customers’ kitchens and check out our ranges of high-quality kitchen products that will suit all pockets.

Then book an appointment to visit our Cheshunt kitchen showroom to get a better idea and talk to one of our designers about what we can do for you.

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