An Office with All the Comforts of Home
Carpet Creates the Ideal Working Environment

Contact: CRI Communications Department, 706.428.2103

December 5, 2001, DALTON, GA With the explosion of high-speed Internet access and low-speed traffic jams, the number of telecommuters is expected to soar in coming years, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article. As home offices gain popularity, the people who work at home have to learn how to work and live in the same space. And with these lifestyle changes comes the growing trend toward creating personal environments to fit a more comfortable and tech-ready way of life.

Designing your home office involves inviting sense of warmth thats functional and stylish. A well-designed home office allows the flexibility of being able to work from home, whether it be telecommuting for a corporation, running a freelance business, or doing the family banking online. Yet home office set-up shouldnt sacrifice traditional comfort. It should be an efficient workplace, and blend with and flow into the rest of the home an intersection of both comfort and style.

Delivering comfort and style is easy with the many choices of carpet patterns. Carpet delivers beauty and comfort and minimizes the distraction of noisy computers, printers and phones. It also keeps you cozy when you have to pull the inevitable all-nighter. With carpet, your home office provides a highly durable surface for traffic and offers the ultimate cushion for working feet. Carpet industry designer Linda Wilkins Frazier, ASID, IIDA, recommends loop, multi-level loop, or cut and loop in a home office because these constructions are best for durability and comfort. A low profile, dense cut pile is also good for the home office. The low profile, dense loop pile is generally considered the most durable under rolling chairs. When selecting your floor covering, also consider the chosen fibers resiliency. According to the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI), nylon is the most durable and resilient fiber. And if the room has ample windows that produce intense light, a solution-dyed fiber would be a good choice to minimize fading.

Many people who work in the home environment are merging commercial carpet styles with the homes residential styles that may already be in place. Commercial carpet has a wide variety of patterning, making it easy to combine your work space with any residential dcor. Pin dots, graphic geometrical patterns, florals, and scrolls are just a few possibilities.

Begin creating your office space by selecting the proper room or work area. Take into account your work style, equipment and space needs and consider your offices main uses, and design the space with those in mind. According to Frazier, there is no "best place" in the home for an office. "You can put your home office wherever you have space," she says. "This could be in a converted workshop, garage, basement, nursery or bedroom. It may even be in a converted walk-in closet!"

In some homes, it may be possible to carve out space on the ground floor or basement, away from family areas, to make two rooms for an inner-office and a waiting area or meeting space. This allows your workspace to perform as a real working office while not disrupting the organization of the house. If such a physical division is not possible, carpet can be used to define spaces. In an open space, you can vary your floor covering to set apart a working office space from a living room area. For instance, you may choose to carpet your workspace with a multi-level loop in a neutral tone or in a shade that echoes the area rug on the adjoining living room floor.

With telecommuting, you have the home advantage you can avoid the office cubicle look and choose your furniture, your spatial arrangement and even have a window office. Select a desk that is broad enough to spread out your work and sturdy enough to handle the weight of equipment on it. It should also leave efficient space under the desk that gives you room to move your legs. Your chair should be adjustable for height and have a high back that supports in every position. With your desk as the rooms focal point, arrange it to face the most inspiring, advantageous view, such as a window or doorway. Provide for efficient floor space around the desk for free movement or viewing if there is a television or projector screen.

An important part of assimilating your workplace into your home and vice versa is to add elements that give your home office personality while still maintaining its professional feel: artwork on the walls, an area rug over any hard surface flooring, fresh flowers, and a few personal pictures of family members. Include fabrics, texture and plants in the design, but limit clutter. Go for softer, more home-style furniture. You might choose to bring an element of home into your office with a favorite furnishing. A much loved chest or ottoman, or a relatives chair collecting dust in the attic, for example, and use it for visiting guests.

"The important thing to remember, is that you are designing a place to work," says Frazier. "It should be as quiet as possible, as free from interruption as necessary, and preferably have a window to the outside. Proper lighting, adequate power sources, telecommunication and other office equipment requirements also must be met."

The CRI is the national trade association for the carpet and rug industry. Membership consists of manufacturers representing over 90 percent of all carpet produced in the United States, and suppliers of raw materials and services to the industry. The CRI is a source of extensive carpet information for consumers, writers, interior designers, specifiers, facility managers, architects, builders, and building owners and managers, installation contractors, and retailers.